Portner, Valeria F.

Bernard A. Poskus has practiced law since 1978, with most of his practice being devoted to representation of the elderly, the disabled, and those persons who are otherwise disadvantaged.

Mr. Poskus received his Bachelors degree in 1974 from the University of Notre Dame, and his Juris Doctorate in 1978 from the University of Akron. He began his career with Prairie State Legal Services in Ottawa, Illinois, providing free legal services to poor and elderly persons.

In 1981, he became Managing Attorney for Colorado Rural Legal Services in Grand Junction, Colorado, where, among other things, he began a nursing home advocacy project which brought legal services into nursing facilities for the residents. In 1985, he became Supervising Attorney of the Senior Citizens Law Center of the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver. As Supervising Attorney, he handled several major cases involving public benefits eligibility and the rights of garnishees under Colorado 's garnishment procedure. He supervised several attorneys and paralegals providing legal services to elderly individuals throughout the Metropolitan Denver area, and supervised a special grant program providing legal services to the elderly statewide.

He started his private practice in 1989, and since then, has litigated numerous issues concerning probate and Medicaid law, has lectured frequently on legal issues concerning the elderly and disabled to both professional and lay audiences, and has published several articles regarding these issues.

Mr. Poskus has devoted a substantial amount of time to public service, including having served on Governor Roy Romer's Commission of Life and the Law, and the Boards of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, and Total Longterm Care, Inc.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and has chaired its Public Policy Committee since 1997.  He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations, and is a member of the Elder Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association. 

In 2005, Mr. Poskus was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.  He was further honored by the National Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association when, during its 21st Annual Public Policy Forum in Washington, D.C., it awarded him its 2009 Maureen Reagan Outstanding Advocate Award for his twenty years of service as an educator and spokesperson.