DeWitt Resident Does Her Part to Contribute to Law Firm’s Goal to Provide 125 Hours of Service Per Month in 2010

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Mackenzie Hughes law firm, its attorneys and staff will together provide 125 hours of community service each month in 2010.

DeWitt resident Anne Ruffer, a trusts and estates attorney at Mackenzie Hughes since 1987, is doing her part in providing the desired community service hours each month. Ruffer serves as trustee of the Vera House Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence. Ruffer provides free advice to people dealing with domestic violence and unhealthy relationships during the Vera House’s Monday Night Legal Clinic. She actively works on the Vera House annual white ribbon campaign, persuading fellow attorneys and friends to participate in the campaign that raises awareness and funds to stop domestic and sexual violence.

Ruffer also organizes the free legal clinic offered at the Elder Law Fair in Onondaga County which provides free seminars on legal issues of interest to older adults and their families including estate planning, Medicaid, and financial abuse. In addition, Ruffer serves as the vice-chair and a trustee for the Onondaga County Bar Foundation, a philanthropic arm of the Onondaga Bar Association that, among other things, assists the Lawyers Assistance Program by providing funds to assist lawyers that are facing personal issues.

In 2005, Ruffer was the recipient of the Onondaga County Bar Association’s Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award. She received the award for her work representing a Syracuse woman suffering from a rare skin disease and then winning a landmark case against Medicaid. The pro bono case ensured that the young woman receive the special bandages she needed and set a precedent prohibiting Medicaid’s reliance on a pre-set list to cap reimbursement costs to medical supplies.

In 2006, the New York State Bar Association awarded Ruffer the President’s Pro Bono Service Award in recognition of her pro bono service. Ruffer presently is also an active trustee on the DeWitt Community Library Board.

Anne Ruffer specializes in estate and trust administration, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, elder law and long-term care planning.

Ruffer graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1983, and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1980.