Employee of the Month: Jadranko Tomic-Bobas

by Sandra Wisnewski, J.D., Director of the Legal Services

Jadranko Tomic-Bobas (Jay) is Elder Law of Michigan’s (ELM) Legal Hotline Managing Attorney. Jay started at ELM in 2011 as a hotline attorney. In June of 2014, Jay was promoted to the Hotline Managing Attorney. Since that time, Jay has helped to create, implement, and maintain a major change to our hotline process. Under this new process, clients call in to the hotline, leave a voicemail with their name, number, and a brief explanation of their issue, and then a hotline advocate returns their call within one business day. This procedural change has made it possible to assist twice as many clients, far surpassing the goal of 700 clients a month. The Legal Hotline for Michigan Seniors assists clients with legal issues for no cost to the client.

Jay’s managerial duties include hiring, training, and monitoring legal interns and volunteer attorneys. Because ELM is a non-profit organization, we have a very restrictive budget; therefore, legal interns and volunteers are an integral part of the hotline staff. In his role, Jay mentors these legal interns providing guidance on the legal issue and supervision in the providing advice to clients. While providing mentoring for these interns, Jay works directly with clients on the hotline, assisting over a 100 clients a month.

Jay also advises clients in housing matters as part of the Housing Rights Center of Michigan (HRCMI) team; he is a certified housing counselor. As part of the HRCMI team, Jay provides assistance on property tax issues, foreclosure prevention, and landlord/tenant rights.

Jay has done and continues to do an outstanding job as part of the ELM team. His enthusiasm, patience, knowledge, hard work, dedication, and professionalism is outstanding. Thank you Jay for being such a valued member of the ELM team!

Sandra A. Wisnewski is the Director of Legal Services, and has been a staff member of Elder Law since 2010. Sandra earned her Bachelor of Arts from Siena Heights University in applied science in electronic engineering technology, and graduated with her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Before coming to Elder Law, Sandra devoted her time as a volunteer at the Legal Services of South Central Michigan. As a volunteer, she answered hotline questions and advised clients on various legal issues. In 2009, Sandra started her own general practice, Wisnewski Law Firm, P.L.L.C. in Stockbridge, Michigan where she focused on family law, wills and trusts, and criminal law.