Elder Law
Original Program Date :
Description v OD1, Brochure Version 12
-Born Harrisonburg VA. Attended US Military Academy, West Point NY, graduating in 1979. Served in US Army, to include service with XVIII ABN Corps, Second Infantry Division, Tenth Mountain Division, and Third Army. Multiple deployments, including Haiti and several to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, and the Emirates).
-Graduate, with honors, US Army Command and General Staff College and follow-on attendance at US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, with an advanced degree in Strategic Planning. Then multiple planning assignments in the Army, to include Third Army, focusing on the Middle East. Received separate Master’s Degree in Management while on active duty.
-Graduate JD, cum laude, from Georgia State University and currently of counsel with Shewmaker and Shewmaker for probate and related matters, focused on veterans assistance and elder law. Practicing veterans law since 2008.
-Adjunct professor at Emory University's College of Law.
-Executive Director of Emory School of Law’s Volunteer Clinic for Veterans.
Accreditations and Admissions:
Published:
Awards:
Professional Associations:
Expertise:
Kelley Napier is a partner at Georgia Estate & Elder Law in Atlanta. Kelley holds the Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) designation from the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF), the only organization approved by the American Bar Association to offer certification in elder law. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, where she currently serves on the board of the Georgia Chapter. She also participates in the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the Stonewall Bar Association, and the Planned Giving Council at Oglethorpe University. She has been selected as a Super Lawyer Rising Star each year since 2020.
Prior to joining Georgia Estate & Elder Law, Kelley worked with another local firm specializing in Medicaid Planning. It was this legal work and Kelley’s experience navigating the long-term care system for her grandmother that prompted her enrollment in law school. Prior to her legal work, Kelley worked in the construction industry for several years.
Education:
Juris Doctor, Georgia State University (GSU) College of Law, May 2015: Honors in pro bono service
Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Piedmont College, May 2009
Bachelors of Arts in Sociology with Concentration in Social Work, Oglethorpe University, August 2004, cum laude
Personal:
Kelley grew up in Gwinnett County. She currently lives in Atlanta with her family. She is active with her church and enjoys spending time at Lake Lanier.
Heather Durham Nadler is one of just 11 attorneys in Georgia to be certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, as accredited by the American Bar Association. Her practice is concentrated in the areas of special needs law, elder law and estate planning. Prior to establishing her own law firm, Heather was a senior associate with the Law Office of Ruthann P. Lacey, P.C.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Heather attended undergrad at Auburn and received her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law, where she was on the editorial board of the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law. While in law school, she also clerked at the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia for the Honorable Justice Hugh P. Thompson.
Heather enjoys volunteer work, serving as a member of the board of directors for Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett. She was recognized by the DeKalb Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for her service with the 2020 Leading the Change Award. She also helps with Backpack Buddies, an organization that provides food for the weekend to economically disadvantaged kids in Dekalb County.
When she’s not working, Heather spends time with her husband and two children, keeping up with a busy slate of kids’ sports events, Auburn football and season tickets to the Fox Theatre. As a lifelong Atlantan, she looks forward to eventually retiring out of state—preferably someplace with water!
Jeffrey Williamson is the founder of J. L. Williamson Law Group, LLC. The firm specializes in elder law, asset protection, tax planning, and tax controversy. Prior to starting his own firm, Jeffrey served as an Internal Revenue Agent, and he is an expert in the audit policies and procedures of the IRS.
A frequent lecturer, Jeffrey has presented many seminars on taxation and estate planning issues to various civic groups, investment professionals, attorneys, and certified public accountants. Jeffrey received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Mercer University and both his Juris Doctor and Master of Accountancy from the University of Georgia.
Skip focuses practice on sophisticated business litigation in a variety of areas. Nearly twenty years of experience handling complex cases in federal and state courts throughout Georgia and the United States representing both companies and individuals involved in a variety of different types of litigation. Served as lead counsel in cases involving breach of restrictive covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets, and business torts, such as breach of fiduciary duty and duty of loyalty; lead counsel in numerous cases involving fiduciary litigation, including trusts and estate cases; lead trial counsel in a valuation proceeding involving the judicially determined value of shares in a publicly traded company; lead counsel defending a hedge fund in multiple cases involving claims of fraud, breach of contract, and other tort claims with millions of dollars in alleged damages; lead counsel in numerous cases involving claims under the federal employment statutes such as Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Significant experience handling cases involving fiduciary litigation in the context of wills, trusts and estate planning.
Prior to starting Sugarman Law, LLP, Skip was the Managing Partner of Bloom Sugarman, LLP and earlier in his career worked in the Labor and Employment Group of Alston & Bird, LLP. Skip began his legal career with federal judicial clerkships in the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Specialties: Employment Litigation, Restrictive Covenant Litigation, Business Torts and Trade Secrets, Estate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation, Partnership Disputes.
Kim McRae, FCTA is a consultant, speaker, educator, and advocate. She is also an Educator and Mentor for The Eden Alternative®. Through her company, Have a Good Life, Kim works with organizations as a thought leader, change agent and subject matter expert on caregiving, culture change, person-directed living, and person-centered dementia care. She is also the founder of About Face Technologies, which is focused on simple and intuitive assistive technology products for those needing simplicity. Kim is the inventor of and holds five US and one UK patents.
As a FCTA (Family Caregiver Turned Advocate), Kim comes to person-directed living and person-centered dementia care through a 12-year history as a family caregiver. Experiencing firsthand the system as it is with four parents/in-laws, and wanting better for her mother, who had young-onset Lewy body dementia and progressive supranuclear palsy, she has been studying long-term care, person-centered dementia care, and how to improve quality of life for elders and their care partners for more than twenty years. Prior to becoming a family caregiver, she was an integrated marketing professional for over fourteen years.
Since 2006, Kim has been involved with Pioneer Network, the national organization advancing the "culture change movement" to improve quality of care and quality of life for elders throughout aging services, long-term care, and the entire healthcare ecosystem. In 2008, she co-founded the Culture Change Network of Georgia whose mission is, "Changing the way we think and feel about aging and disability by creating the kind of care and support we want for our loved ones and ourselves."
Kim is contributing to numerous boards, task forces and committees focused on developing programs, providing education, and advocating for changes that will improve the quality of life for elders, their care partners, and those that care about them. She was one of the Founding Board of Directors for the national Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) which held the first North American “Re-Imagine Life with Dementia” Conference, and has been actively involved in the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias (GARD) State Plan Task Force since 2013. She is also serving as a member on the Milken Institute's Alliance to Improve Dementia Care, the Moving Forward: Nursing Home Quality Coalition, and the Rosalynn Carter Institute For Caregiver’s 4Kinds Caregiver Network.
She is currently a consultant on the $1.5 million CMP grant, A Trauma-Informed Approach to Improving Dementia Care in Georgia Nursing Homes and was a consultant on the $1.6 million CMP grant, Building Resources for Delivering Person-Centered Care in Georgia Nursing Homes. Both are a partnership between the Culture Change Network of Georgia and the Gerontology Institute at Georgia State University.
Her work has been featured in the book Culture Change in Elder Care, in Atlanta Magazine, and in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Kim has presented extensively throughout the country to all levels of stakeholders and has received numerous awards.
Drew N. Early was born in Harrisonburg VA. Attended US Military Academy, West Point NY, graduating in 1979. Served in US Army, to include service with XVIII ABN Corps, Second Infantry Division, Tenth Mountain Division, and Third Army. Multiple deployments, including Haiti and several to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, and the Emirates).
Graduate, with honors, US Army Command and General Staff College and follow-on attendance at US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, with an advanced degree in Strategic Planning. Then multiple planning assignments in the Army, to include Third Army, focusing on the Middle East. Received separate Master’s Degree in Management while on active duty.
Graduate JD, cum laude, from Georgia State University and currently of counsel with Shewmaker and Shewmaker for probate and related matters, focused on veterans’ assistance and elder law. Practicing veterans’ law since 2008.
- Adjunct Professor at Emory University's College of Law
- Executive Director of Emory School of Law’s Volunteer Clinic for Veterans
Accreditations and Admissions
US Supreme Court
US Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals for State of Georgia
Accredited to practice before the VA
Serving on DeKalb County Probate Court Court-Appointed list
Registered Mediator
Published
The Elder Law Journal, Volume 18, Number 1, 2010
Proceedings, US Naval Institute, November 1997
GA Bar Journal
Frequent CLE contributor within GA and to national veterans advocacy groups—CLEs to National Organization of Veterans Advocates conferences in Washington DC, Chicago IL, Las Vegas NV, San Antonio TX, Portland OR, Providence RI, and others. Separate CLEs in GA and VA.
Awards
2010 Marshall-Tuttle Award from State Bar of Georgia as outstanding lawyer for his service to military and veterans
Numerous US and foreign military awards and decorations
Professional Associations
Past Chair, Military and Veterans Section of the State Bar of Georgia
National Organization of Veterans Advocates
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
Veterans Benefits Practice and Development Council
Expertise
VA cases in multiple US states and possessions, to include Guam and PR.
Expert witness, Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings, 2009.
Nominee, US House of Representatives Veterans Affairs advisory sub-committee, Disability Compensation and Small Business Opportunities
Sarah R. Watchko, Esq., is an Estate Planning Advisor with BIP Wealth. Sarah developed a passion for working with aging and special needs clients at Wake Forest University School of Law’s Elder Law Clinic during the summer of 2007. This led her to the discovery of a career in estate planning, special needs planning, and elder law that could provide both intellectually demanding work and the opportunity to serve and improve the lives of others. Sarah finds immense joy in providing not only a high level of service, but a calm and comforting demeanor to those navigating life’s challenges.
An Atlanta native, Sarah lives in Roswell with her husband, Jeff, son Will, daughter Emma Claire, and their loving mutt, Hank. She and her brother, William, attended Marist School in Atlanta, and her husband attended Roswell High School. Both her brother and husband were collegiate athletes at Georgia Tech who went on to play professionally (the former football and the latter, baseball). Both families remain avid Georgia Tech fans.
Sarah loves reading, spending time with friends and family, staying active, traveling, and—in her rare free time—squeezing in a craft or baking project.