Dear Friends of VOLS’ Elderly Project

I have good news. Alex Ryley has accepted our offer to succeed Diane Lutwak as Director of VOLS’ Elderly Project.

Alex is a smart and passionate advocate who has devoted his entire career to serving low-income elderly people. He has been a Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society’s Brooklyn Office for the Aging (BOFTA) since 2007, where he has represented low-income elderly Brooklyn residents facing a variety of urgent civil legal problems. Alex also created BOFTA’s first-ever practice in guardianship litigation, representing elderly clients who wished to become guardian of their incapacitated loved ones – often the only option where advance directives were never executed. Prior to joining The Legal Aid Society, Alex worked at Neighborhood Legal Services in Massachusetts, where he was a housing attorney and Director of the agency’s Lawyer for a Day Program.

After graduating from law school, Alex worked as an associate at an elder-law firm in Boston, where he specialized in estate- and Medicaid planning for elderly clients. Before and during his first year of law school, Alex supervised a team of police-misconduct investigators for the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board. Alex is an experienced mediator, having trained at Mediation Works, Inc., in Boston, and the Center for Mediation in Law in Manhattan. Alex has for many years volunteered for a variety of organizations that serve elders, most recently as a hospice volunteer with Hospice of New York. He is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Brooklyn Law Review, and the State University at Stony Brook.

Diane will leave VOLS to become Legal Director at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House on January 22nd, and Alex’ first day at VOLS will be February 24th. During the transition period, please do not hesitate to contact Nelson Gutièrrez at ngutierrez@volsprobono.org if you have any questions or concerns.