WASHINGTON – The National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) has hired Kate Lang as a staff attorney in its Washington, DC office. Lang, who was staff attorney at the Legal Aid Bureau in Riverdale, MD will be joining the NSCLC’s Income Team.

“We are pleased to welcome Kate to NSCLC,” said Executive Director Paul Nathanson. “Her working knowledge of the many issues facing the elderly poor will be extremely valuable in advocating for their better economic security.”

At NSCLC, Ms. Lang will initially focus on a project related to fixing problems with Social Security’s administrative appeals process for low-income beneficiaries of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.  Every year, about one million people lose SSI for a variety of financial or other non-medical eligibility determinations. They then often encounter a broken appeals system when they try to get their benefits reinstated. Illegal practices such as not continuing to pay benefits pending an appeal, failure to conduct a hearing or delays in processing are tragically very common, leaving many older adults and people with disabilities facing a sudden loss of income, possible homelessness, and mental distress.

Ms. Lang will be working to implement NSCLC’s recommendations to reform the process and, if successful, many SSI recipients – the majority whom depend on the program as their sole source of income -- will be treated fairly and not be forced into dire poverty.

In previous positions, Ms. Lang has worked as an advocate at National Legal Aid and Defender Association and Bread for the City Legal Clinic in Washington, DC as well as an attorney at Doherty, Cella, Keane and Associates, LLP. She has also served as a staff attorney for Legal Services of Northern California.

Ms. Lang is a member of Maryland Court of Appeals and U.S. District Court for Maryland bars. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and also has a master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages from the University of Pennsylvania.

The National Senior Citizens Law Center is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to protect the rights of low-income older adults. Through advocacy, litigation, and the education and counseling of local advocates, we seek to ensure the health and economic security of those with limited income and resources, and access to the courts for all.

Contact: Vanessa Barrington
510-256-1200 direct
vbarrington(dot)justiceinaging(dot)org

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