How a Successful Elder Law Attorney Chose Non-Retirement

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:

For more than 25 years, Judith Grimaldi served as a Certified Elder Law Attorney, devoted to representing the rights and needs of the elderly and disabled New Yorkers. A Founding Partner of the Grimaldi Yeung Law Group, she’s now semi-retired from her firm, but continues to lead an incredibly varied and vibrant life. In today’s conversation, Judie talks about her unique perspective on issues facing the elderly, shaped by her experiences as an attorney, aging advocate, and social worker. She remains an active supporter of three nonprofits in her local community, including the Bay Ridge Center, which has grown from a basement space to a state-of-the-art building, offering programs that serve as a best-practices model for older adult centers in New York City and across the country. Judie will tell her still evolving story—which may serve as a “best practices” model for many unretiring professionals—not only making time for family, but continuing to be curious, studying and learning about life, and working to change the way people think about aging and develop options to thrive in their later years.

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Judith Del Rey Grimaldi is a founding partner of Grimaldi Yeung Law Group. As a Certified Elder Law Attorney for over 25 years, representing the rights of the elderly and disabled, she has special expertise in Medicare and Medicaid, health law, trusts, wills, and estates. New York Magazine has named Ms. Grimaldi one of New York’s “Best Lawyers” 2008 to the present. She has also been designated a “Super Lawyer” since 2009. In her career as an aging activist, Ms. Grimaldi served in many capacities, including Director of Community Care Organization of Lutheran Medical Center (now known as NYU Langone), family coordinator at South Beach Psychiatric Center, Brooklyn and as a director of the Foster Grandparents program at NYC Aging and for Citymeals on Wheels. Ms. Grimaldi has served on the Board of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). And was a past Chair of the New York State Bar Elder Law & Special Needs Section, a Charter member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and a past Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Legal Problems of the Aging Committee. Ms. Grimaldi is also active in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and in the development of the new Bay Ridge Center. While serving on New York City’s Community Board 10 for over 20 years, she developed the Age-Friendly Bay Ridge initiative focused on opening a new Bay Ridge Center. She was recently honored for her long career of service to the elderly residents of Bay Ridge by the Center. Ms. Grimaldi is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and earned an MSW from Hunter College of the City of New York and a BA from Marymount Manhattan College with a special certificate in Gerontology. She has served as an adjunct professor at her alma maters, Marymount Manhattan College, CUNY’s Hunter College school of Social Work and Brooklyn Law School.

CONTACT: jgrimaldi@gylawny.com