Crusader Against Elder Abuse
by Geoffrey Goodman

After 6 years as a general business litigator, Lesley Clement found her true calling in April 1994. That was when she learned that her great aunt had been physically abused and mistreated in a Northern California nursing home. Lesley was sickened and fought back. She opened her own practice and immersed herself in the law (there wasn't much on elder abuse at the time) and the operation and economics of nursing homes. She met with ombudsmen and patient advocates. And, she sued the nursing home and its owner and won.

The experience changed her life. She now commits her practice exclusively to combating elder abuse any way she can. In addition to handling cases (over 100 so far), she trains other lawyers and works with advocacy groups, legislators and regulators to beef up oversight in the nursing home industry.

Lesley has seen the number of lawyers involved in elder abuse skyrocket since she began in 1994. She welcomes others to the field, but only if they are committed to change the system. To her this is a cause and reform movement as well as a law practice.

She also enjoys the challenge of the cases. "Everything is a big mystery" she explains. "Most of the victims are either deceased or unable to recall events. You have to reconstruct the events, usually through tracking down former employees."

Lesley has had some great successes in the field. In addition to obtaining the largest reported settlement in California, she was trial and appellate counsel in Delaney v. Baker (1999) 20 Cal. 4th 23. There the Supreme Court held that California's Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act applies to all healthcare providers, including nursing homes. Lesley graduated from University of San Diego Law School in 1988 and is chair of the Nursing Home Litigation Group of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.