Attorney Profiles

As one of the few Certified Elder Law Attorneys in Western Pennsylvania, Carol Sikov Gross offers her clients unparalleled experience in dealing with the important issues that affect senior citizens and their families.

Carol Sikov Gross, CELA, is a partner in the Pittsburgh law firm of Sikov and Love, P.A. She received her B.S., her M.B.A. and her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Ms. Sikov Gross served a clerkship with the Honorable Glenn E. Mencer of the United States District for the Western District of Pennsylvania before joining Sikov and Love, P.A.

Carol Sikov Gross, Esquire, CELA, is an Elder Law Attorney who has been certified by the National Elder Law Foundation as recognized by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She is one of only 3 CELAs in Allegheny County and one of approximately 400 certified elder law attorneys in the United States. She has participated in numerous symposiums and institutes of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Ms. Sikov Gross has once again been named as one of the Best Lawyers in America in 2008 as well as being named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.

Carol Sikov Gross, Esquire, CELA, is a frequent lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, speaking annually at its Annual Elder Law Institute. She spoke most recently at the Eleventh Annual Institute in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and has spoken at the ten previous Institutes. This year her topic was on "Medicaid – Calculating for Annuities, Monthly Income and Spend Down" under Pennsylvania law and under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Attorney Sikov Gross discussed how the calculations are performed for clients to determine what assets can be protected with regard to Medicaid eligibility, what income clients might be entitled to receive and how annuities might be a part of the these calculations. She also participated in the final panel discussion of the Institute on the "Graying Areas of Elder Law" along with certified elder law attorneys Jeffrey A. Marshall of Williamsport and Robert Clofine of York.

In addition to educating attorneys in the area of elder law, Carol Sikov Gross, Esquire, CELA, also teaches a course on Elder Law at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (formerly the Academy for Lifelong Learning) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh on "Being Prepared on One Grows Older." Her course covers estate planning, which deals with wills, trusts, powers of attorney and living wills, as well as long term care planning, Medicaid, probate and estate administration and financial fraud. This course has been well received and appreciated by the Osher members. Ms. Sikov Gross also makes numerous presentations to other groups in and around Allegheny County.

With regard to public service, Attorney Sikov Gross serves as Treasurer of the Senior Action Coalition, a non-profit corporation established to help combat financial fraud against seniors by educating seniors and their caregivers about financial fraud, by serving as a clearing house for the reporting of financial fraud and by directing individuals who have been the victims of financial fraud to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. SAC is made up of representatives from the United States Attorneys Office, the State Attorney General's Office, the Postal Inspection Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the PA Securities Commission, the Center of Retired Executives (CORE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mullen Communications, AARP and local elder law attorneys.

As part of her dedication to public service, Carol Sikov Gross, CELA, recently completed service as a Trustee for the Allegheny County Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the Allegheny County Bar Association, which provides funding and resources to numerous legal public service projects. She also helps in grading examinations for the National Elder Law Foundation.

Carol Sikov Gross, CELA, also developed and implemented the "Very Important Papers" Project for the Elderly for the ACBA in 1991, which, through the services of volunteer attorneys has educated an estimated 34,000 elderly people and their caregivers at over 700 presentations since 1991.

In 1998, Ms. Sikov Gross became the founding Chair of the Elder Law Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA), serving in that position for 3 years. Ms. Sikov Gross is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She serves as Treasurer of the Council of the ACBA Probate and Trust Law Section as well as on the Council of the Elder Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA).

Ms. Sikov Gross is a past President of the University of Pittsburgh Law Alumni Association and has also served on the Council of the PBA Probate and Trust Law Section and as Chair of its Fiduciary Services for the Aged and Infirm Committee.

She writes for the Pittsburgh Legal Journal, the Pennsylvania Lawyer and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Carol Sikov Gross, CELA, has spoken for the ACBA, the PBA, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Pittsburgh Paralegal Association, the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Older and Wiser Program of the Neighborhood Legal Services Association as well as at numerous locations around Allegheny County.

Writings:

• Writer, Pennsylvania Bar Institute
• Writer, Pittsburgh Legal Journal
• Writer, Pennsylvania Lawyer

Carol Sikov Gross, Esquire, CELA (a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation) recently attended the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Symposium in Memphis, Tennessee.

Carol Sikov Gross spoke at the Eleventh Annual Elder Law Institute of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in July, 2008. She has spoken at the ten previous Institutes. This year's her topics include: "Determining Eligibility for Medicaid: Interviewing Your Client" and "How the Medicaid Application Process Works – A Step by Step Guide." She will be speaking with Attorneys Kemp Scales of Titusville and Thomas J. Dempsey, Jr., of Pittsburgh. She spoke recently at the 5th Annual Estate and Elder Law Symposium in Pittsburgh and at a seminar on "Representing the Incapacitated Person – A Basic Guide to Guardianships in Pennsylvania."