Benjamin Taylor

Hosted by Legal Aid Society of Louisville
Sponsored by U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime
Service location Louisville, Kentucky
Law school Quinnipiac University School of Law
Issue area Elder Abuse
Fellowship class year 2020
Program Elder Justice Program

The Project

Benjamin’s three-pronged project will consist of community outreach and education, volunteer recruitment and training, and direct representation of victims of elder abuse and exploitation in Louisville, Kentucky, and the surrounding counties.

The front end of Benjamin’s project will focus on raising awareness about elder abuse and expolitation to prevent future abuse, and community outreach to uncover the specific problem areas most impacting his host organization’s service area. Benjamin’s work will also involve stopping active physical abuse through civil protective orders and referrals for prosecution, stopping active financial exploitation through life planning documents and cease and desist letters, and repairing the damage from abuse and exploitation through civil litigation and criminal restitution.

Benjamin has always been pained by the wrong he sees in the world, so he decided to become an attorney to get off of the sidelines and be a force for change. Most of his legal career has been dedicated to fighting on behalf of vulnerable populations, beginning with victims of domestic violence, and most recently serving children negatively affected by social determinants of health. While this project will take him to the opposite end of the generational spectrum, the goals and the motivations remain the same: to help those members of vulnerable populations that are so often the targets of violence, abuse, and exploitation.

Fellowship Plans

Through his Fellowship, Benjamin will collaborate with County Attorney’s, Commonwealth Attorney’s, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices, with private firms and solo-practitioners in the field of elder law; and with public and private organizations directed at assisting elderly victims of crime (e.g. Adult Protective Services and ElderServe). Benjamin will also provide direct legal services that include civil protective orders, credit and debt repair, and the drafting, modifying, and/or voiding of life planning documents such as wills and powers of attorney.