Program Details
2026-10-20 14:30:00
Over 1,000+ webinars
Course Overview
2026-10-20 14:30:00
2h CLE Credits
Intermediate
2
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm ESTThis session equips plaintiff-side attorneys with the statutory, evidentiary, and economic framework for building elder financial exploitation cases structured to recover mandatory attorney’s fees—but more importantly to help senior citizens who have often lost everything they carefully saved for retirement. Attendees will learn how to identify fee-shifting statutes in key jurisdictions, satisfy the preponderance standard, trigger burden-shifting presumptions, and assess case economics before filing. Attorneys leave with a replicable case-selection and pleading methodology.
Anne Marie MurphyTheresa E. Vitale 3:40 pm - 4:40 pm ESTThis session teaches plaintiff-side attorneys how to build and prosecute civil claims against the third-party institutions and fiduciaries that enabled elder financial exploitation — including banks, nursing facilities, POA agents, trustees, and guardians. Attendees will learn how to plead actual knowledge against financial institutions (Federal court standard), navigate the December 2024 interagency regulatory standards, and stack statutory remedies including mandatory fee-shifting, double damages under California Probate Code § 859, and potential trebling under Civil Code § 3345. Attendees will also learn how the 9th Circuit has adopted a more restrictive reading of California’s Elder Abuse Law than state court trial judges and how that impacts case selection and pleading. By the end of this session, attorneys will be equipped to identify the strongest enabler-liability theory for a given fact pattern, anticipate defense removal and preemption tactics, and structure multi-theory complaints that maximize both recovery and fee awards.
Anne Marie MurphyTheresa E. VitaleAnne Marie Murphy is a Partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, one of the nation’s premier plaintiff-side litigation firms, where her practice spans complex commercial litigation, class actions, consumer rights, securities and financial fraud, and elder abuse litigation. A recognized leader in the field of financial elder abuse, Anne Marie has tried elder abuse cases to jury verdict, published on holding financial institutions liable for elder exploitation, and spent more than a decade in leadership at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform — making her one of the most experienced voices in California on recovering losses for exploited seniors and using the fee-shifting provisions of the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act to make those recoveries economically viable.
Theresa E. Vitale is a Partner in the Los Angeles office of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, where she represents individuals, consumers, whistleblowers, employees, and public entities in high-stakes litigation in state and federal courts and in arbitration. Her practice includes elder abuse, financial fraud, consumer class actions, catastrophic injury and wrongful death, environmental and toxic exposure, whistleblower and qui tam matters, and municipal litigation. Theresa has recently been at the forefront of elder financial abuse litigation against major national banks, giving her firsthand experience in the pleading, discovery, and fee-shifting strategies that drive recoveries for exploited seniors.
Anne Marie Murphy is a Partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, one of the nation’s premier plaintiff-side litigation firms, where her practice spans complex commercial litigation, class actions, consumer rights, securities and financial fraud, and elder abuse litigation. A recognized leader in the field of financial elder abuse, Anne Marie has tried elder abuse cases to jury verdict, published on holding financial institutions liable for elder exploitation, and spent more than a decade in leadership at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform — making her one of the most experienced voices in California on recovering losses for exploited seniors and using the fee-shifting provisions of the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act to make those recoveries economically viable.
Theresa E. Vitale is a Partner in the Los Angeles office of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, where she represents individuals, consumers, whistleblowers, employees, and public entities in high-stakes litigation in state and federal courts and in arbitration. Her practice includes elder abuse, financial fraud, consumer class actions, catastrophic injury and wrongful death, environmental and toxic exposure, whistleblower and qui tam matters, and municipal litigation. Theresa has recently been at the forefront of elder financial abuse litigation against major national banks, giving her firsthand experience in the pleading, discovery, and fee-shifting strategies that drive recoveries for exploited seniors.
Requirements
The Alabama State Bar MCLE Commission requires attorneys to complete 12 credits, including 1 ethics, by December 31 of each year. All credits must be reported by February 15 of the following year. A maximum of 12 credits, including 1 ethics credit, may be carried over for 1 year only.
Formats
