INSPIRED BY ELDERS IN OUR COMMUNITY, WE ARE COMMITTED TO SAFEGUARDING THEIR RIGHTS

Today, September 8th, we celebrate our beloved national Grandparents Day.

Let us all appreciate the wisdom, love, and inspiration that our grandparents and elders share with us, such as the beautiful smiling faces of senior athletes swimming in the San Francisco Bay with Alcatraz just behind them!

And, we want to thank you all for supporting our mission in 2025, which has allowed our team to continue our good work and grow.

This year we welcome our new attorney, Yohannes J. Moore, to our firm!

CASE STUDY: TRIAL VICTORY TO PROTECT LIMITED CONSERVATEE

One very powerful legal process to protect the most vulnerable in our society is a conservatorship proceeding. At De Vries Law, we represent fiduciaries to establish and administer conservatorships for elders, dependent adults, or persons with a disability who require a Court's protection and oversight.

It is rare for these matters to be contested at an evidentiary hearing, also known as a bench trial. In conservatorships, the standard that everyone involved should be working to meet is simple: the best interests of the conservatee. Regrettably, that standard is too often overlooked. This disconnect is why our firm continues to be requested to get involved in disputed matters to refocus all efforts to be focused on the only person whose interests are at issue -- the person in need of protection -- the conservatee.

We recently had to try a case to remove a co-conservator who refused to acknowledge his adult daughter's profound disabilities, yet had been appointed as her co-conservator when she turned eighteen years old. The limited conservatee has one of those smiles that would brighten your heart and light any room. She is also non-verbal, has autism, and enjoys the cognitive ability of a toddler. Despite her mother's decade-long attempt to collaborate with her father to identify and acquire the care their daughter desperately needed, he refused to acknowledge his daughter's many diagnoses or limitations. Instead, he insisted that only he knew how to care for her, now a young woman who was almost thirty years old, by isolating her in his home for extended periods of time during his limited "visitation" hours.

So why did the limited conservatee exhibit extremely troubling new behaviors, very serious new medical conditions, or require hospitalization for being dehydrated or worse after each visit?

Our team worked tirelessly and respectfully to prepare for and conduct a trial involving hundreds of documents and over two dozen witnesses to advocate for the limited conservatee's safety. We assembled a multi-disciplinary team of incredibly devoted professionals working with adults with autism and special needs to educate the Court and the parties about the severity of this situation. We also had to examine police and court officers, subpoenaed by the opposing party, to ensure this limited conservatee's protection. Ultimately we prevailed. Now the young woman is thriving without the terror of forced visits in a home where what actually happened can only be imagined as she cannot tell us other than through her behavior and dramatic health declines after each visit, either of which, tragically, spoke volumes.

The importance of this type of case and result cannot be overstated.

This Court's decision to appoint an appropriate conservator ensured that the limited conservatee's medical, emotional, and social needs, and, critically, her personal dignity, would be respected. Such rulings are not just about legal victories; they are about securing the safety, health, and quality of life for those who might otherwise be neglected, abused, or exploited. By removing decision-making power here and appointing a sole conservator who understands and cares for her ward's actual needs, this Court reaffirmed its role in protecting the most vulnerable members of society.

At De Vries Law, we are committed to fighting for the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves. Our work in conservatorship cases is a testament to our dedication to ensuring that every person, regardless of their circumstances, be treated with the dignity and grace they deserve.

WELCOME TO YOHANNES!

Yohannes brings his dedication to social justice, trial skills, and emotional intelligence to De Vries Law and our community. Yohannes tunes into, appreciates, and respects the spectrum of competing interests in our cases while realizing our firm's mission and core values, which we call ATHENA.

We are ...

Accountable, Team-minded, Empathetic, Honest, Nimble Advocates!

As Athena was the Greek Goddess of strategic warfare and wisdom, our core values spell out ATHENA to symbolize our unwavering commitment to wisdom, justice, and strategic advocacy.

JOIN OUR RANKS TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES

The California Lawyers Association (CLA) Trust and Estates Section invited Liza to speak to law school students live and to participate in a video the CLA produced to invite students to join our practice area. With our aging population in our beautiful Bay Area of great wealth, and thus a predator's feeding ground, we are going to need more help and a bigger boat -- join us to mentor the next generation!

LOOKING FORWARD: CONTINUING OUR COMMITMENT TO PROTECT THE VULNERABLE

At De Vries Law, we strongly believe in sharing knowledge to advance our mission of protecting vulnerable individuals. By collaborating and educating each other on best practices and emerging trends, we can better serve our clients and have a greater impact on our community.

We invite our colleagues to collaborate with each other and us in cases which involve disputed conservatorships, complex estate and trust matters, and civil rights issues. We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with you all.

And don't forget to reach out to your beloved elders and grandparents to acknowledge them today!