Professor Richard Kaplan (University of Illinois, College of Law) developed one of the first law school courses on Elder Law, an emerging specialty dealing with the legal implications of extended life, and is the co-author of Elder Law in a Nutshell (4th ed. 2006). He has served as faculty advisor for the Elder Law Journal since its inception in 1992. He has also been recognized with the Outstanding Professor in the College of Law several times and has received the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching at the University of Illinois.Professor Kaplan is a Fellow of the Employee Benefits Research Institute and a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He served on a 12-member panel on The Future of the Health Care Labor Force in a Graying Society, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin. In 2002, he was a delegate to the National Summit on Retirement Savings organized by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Stacey Tutt earned both her Bachelor of Science (Psychology 1999) and Jurist Doctorate (2003) from the University of Illinois. After law school, she served as the Associate Director of Career Services for the University Of Illinois College Of Law. Stacey joined Prairie State in March 2005 as a Staff Attorney and in May 2007 she became Managing Attorney of the Bloomington office. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Illinois Legal Aid Online. She is licensed in both Illinois (2006) and Washington State (2004).

Susan Dawson-Tibbits received her B.A. from Illinois State University, and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She was a legal aid attorney for 19 years, and opened her own law practice in 1999. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, a past chairperson of the ISBA Elder Law Section Council, and has been a frequent lecturer on elder law issues at continuing legal education seminars for both the ISBA and the Illinois Institute on Continuing Legal Education. She is a past President of the Peoria County Bar Association, and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Central Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Ms. Dawson-Tibbits’ website is located at www.peoriaelderlaw.com.

DANIEL G. DENEEN is a sole practitioner in Bloomington, Illinois, where his practice focuses on probate and estate planning, fiduciary fraud, and commercial, real estate, and consumer law. He is a member of the Illinois State and McLean County Bar Associations.  

Mr. Deneen has written articles for the Illinois Bar Journal, Loyola Consumer Law Review, Advancing the Consumer Interest and National Association of Consumer Advocates Newsletter.  In the past several years he has spoken on Probate and Estate Planning issues in Bloomington, Springfield, and Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas.   
           
Mr. Deneen is the author of Chapter 44 of IICLE Illinois Causes of Actions—Elements, Forms and Winning Tips, Breach of Fiduciary Duty
  
Mr. Deneen received his B.S. from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from the University Of Illinois College Of Law. Illinois State Bar Association: Member, Former Chair of Mental Health Law CommitteeMcLean County Bar Association: Member and president (2010-2011)Illinois Attorney General’s Disabled Persons Advocacy Division Advisory Council 

Dr. Robert Sawicki serves as the Medical Director for OSF Home Care Services and the Medical Director of Supportive Care for OSF HealthCare. Dr. Sawicki began practicing medicine in Bloomington/Normal in 1983.  Dr. Sawicki has served as the Hospice and Home Health Medical Director in Bloomington and has been an active member of the OSF Home Care Services Quality Council, Professional Advisory Board, Ethics Committee and Patient Safety Committee. 

He earned his Bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He earned his Medical Degree at Rush University and completed his family practice residency at the University of Illinois at Rockford in 1986. 

Dr. Sawicki is Board certified in Family Practice. He was Board certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2001 and again in 2008. He is certified in EPEC (Education for Physicians in End of life Care), is a member of the OSF Supportive Care Governance Council, and leads the OSF Supportive Care Collaborative Teams. He is a member of the AMA, the Illinois State Medical Society, the American Academy of Family Physicians and its Illinois Chapter, where he has served on the Board of Directors.