New Law Provides Added Protection to Social Security BeneficiariesNew Law Provides Added Protection to Social Security Beneficiaries

Bernard A. Krooks is a founding partner of the law firm Littman Krooks LLP and Chair of its Elder Law and Special Needs Department. Mr. Krooks is a nationally-recognized expert in all aspectsof elder law and special needs planning. He is the President of the Board of Directors of the Arc of Westchester, the largest agency in Westchester County serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

Mr. Krooks is past President of the Special Needs Alliance, a national, invitation-only, not-forprofitorganization dedicated to assisting families with special needs planning. He is past President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), a Fellow of NAELA, pastChair of the NAELA Tax Section and past Editor-in-Chief of the NAELA News . In addition, he is certified as an Elder Law Attorney (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation and is an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP). He is a founding member and past President of the New York Chapter of NAELA. In 2008, he received the Chapter’s Outstanding Achievement Award for his lifelong work on behalf of seniors and those with disabilities. In 2007, his firm received the NYSARC employer of the year award for employing people with disabilities. In 2011, his firm received the Family Friendly Employment Policy Award from the Westchester Women’s Bar Association. 

Mr. Krooks is past Chair of the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) and past Editor-in-Chief of the Elder Law Attorney , the newsletter of the NYSBA Elder Law Section. He also is a member of the Trusts and Estates Law Section and Tax Section of the NYSBA . Mr. Krooks co-authors (1) a chapter in the NYSBA  publication Guardianship Practice in New York State  entitled “Creative Advocacy in Guardianship Settings: Medicaid and Estate Planning, Including Transfer of Assets, Supplemental Needs Trusts & Protection of Disabled Family Members.”; and (2) the NYSBA  publication Elder Law, Special Needs Planning and Will Drafting . He is chair of the elder law committee of the editorial advisory board of Trusts & Estates Magazine, and serves on the editorial boards of Exceptional Parent Magazine, and Leimberg Information Services. 

Mr. Krooks, a sought-after expert on elder law, special needs planning and estate planning matters, has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, Forbes, Investment News, Financial Times, Money Magazine, Smart Money, Worth Magazine, Kiplinger’s, Bloomberg, Consumer Reports, Wealth Manager, CBS Marketwatch.com, Lawyer’s Weekly USA, Reader’s Digest, Bottom Line, The Journal of Financial Planning, The New York Law Journal, The Daily News, New York Post and Newsday , among others. He has testified before the United States House of Representatives and the New York City Council on long-term care issues. He also has appeared on Good Morning America Now, National Public Radio, Sirius XM Radio, CNN, PBS, NBC, and CBS evening news, as well as numerous other cable television and radio shows.

Mr. Krooks is past President of the Estate Planning Council of Westchester, a member or the Advisory Board of the National Association of Estate Planning Councils Foundation, and the Hudson Valley Estate Planning Council. He also is Co-Chair of the Long Term Care, Medicaid, and Special Needs Trusts Committee of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section and a member of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association; a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and a member of the American Institute of CPAs. Mr. Krooks also is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serves on its Elder Law Committee. He is an Adjunct Professor at NYU Center for Finance, Law & Taxation and is a member of the NYU Institute on Federal Taxation Advisory Board. Mr. Krooks has presented on a variety of elder law and special needs topics at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, the premier estate planning conference in the country.

Mr. Krooks has served on the Board of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association Westchester/Putnam Chapter and the Bioethics Advisory Committee of New York Hospital. He is a member of the Blythedale Children’s Hospital Planned Giving Professional Advisory Board, a member of the legal advisory committee of the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program of Selfhelp Community Services, Inc., and a board member of the Caregiver’s Insights Foundation. He is listed in the Best Lawyers in America, New York Super Lawyers, Who’s Who  in America, the New York Area’s Best Lawyers, New York Magazine and The New York Times , and the Top 25 Westchester, New York Super Lawyers.

Arshi Pal is an attorney with Littman Krooks LLP. She focuses her practice on Special Education Advocacy and Elder Law. She has worked with children from diverse backgrounds and academic levels with a focus on after school activity for the past 8 years.

She was also an AmeriCorps Team Leader and organized many community service projects. Arshi received her Bachelors in Legal Studies from St. John’s University, where she interned at the Queens Volunteers Lawyers Project, St. John’s School of Law Securities and Arbitration Clinic, and the US District Court for the Southern District of NY, Docketing division.

Arshi graduated Brooklyn Law School in the Two year Accelerated JD program. Arshi is a Brooklyn Law Students for the Public Interest Fellow. She has interned for the NYC Department of Social Services and US Attorney’s Office Immigration department at the graduate level.

Arshi is a freelance writer; she likes to write poetry and short stories in her free time.