Blue jeans attorney` helps elderly

By Sandy Wright, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

 March 3, 2003

Lisa J.Tolda/Lisa J.Tolda
Attorney Lora E. Myles, left, answers legal questions Wednesday from Jo Ann Quessenberry at the Douglas County senior citizen’s center. Myles is a lawyer for RSVP Carson and Rural Elder (CARE) Law Program, where she does pro bono work for seniors in 15 rural Nevada counties.

You won’t find her behind a rich oak desk in a fancy office with a secretary to screen her calls.

Lora Myles calls herself the “blue jeans attorney,” and she travels to every county in the state except Washoe and Clark to assist senior citizens with their legal affairs.

Myles, 47, has been the lawyer for the Nevada Rural Counties Retired Senior Volunteer Program for seven years, helping seniors without compensation.

“Why do I do it? Because I’m nuts,” Myles said, laughing.

Myles grew up in Reno and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno before getting her law degree in 1994 from the Vermont Law School.

After graduating, she headed back to Nevada and began volunteering for RSVP in Carson City — just two or three days a week.

But when 80-year-old Pauline Beville retired in 1995, Myles slipped easily into the vacant slot as legal advisor to hundreds of seniors needing help.

“She couldn’t travel that much at her age, but as soon as the word got out that I could, the calls started coming in from all over the state,” Myles said.

“In a very short period of time, I was putting in more than 4,000 hours a year. Our demand in rural counties is tremendous,” she said.

Myles said she mainly prepares wills and handles other end-of-life issues. She also deals with Medicaid plans, nursing home placements and she helps people get their government benefits.

“Seventy-five percent of my clients are Medicaid- or welfare-eligible, and my clients are the ones on the lower end financially,” she said.

What keeps her going, she said, is the good time she has wherever she goes.

“My younger brother is an attorney who makes tons of bucks and we argue about it all the time,” she said.

“But I like hanging out in places like the Soda Springs Bar (between Fallon and Austin) and the Owl Club (in Battle Mountain). I like staying in hotels with 10 rooms where they know to look after you. As long as there are clean sheets and a clean bathroom, what more do you need?” Myles said.

“I like not being stuck in a single office, and I like being in the center of Nevada where the real people are,” she said.

She is able to support herself by living with her aging parents and taking a few side jobs.

“The only thing I do on the side is I do guardianships. I don’t make a lot of money. I’m lucky to make $20,000 a year,” she said.

“I live with my parents, and help care for them when needed. I’ve been married so I have all the geegaws I’d ever want,” she said.

Janice Ayers, excutive director of RSVP, can’t say enough about Myles.

“She’s dedicated to it. The seniors love her. She loves them. It’s strictly from her heart,” Ayers said at a recent meeting of the Carson City Board of Supervisors.

Supervisor Richard Staub, a lawyer, agreed, calling Miles’ dedication “phenomenal.”

“Doing it for as long as she’s done it really is beyond the call,” Staub said.

Ayers has applied for a $35,000 Community Development Block Grant to pay Myles for one year.

Three other groups also have applied for the funds, and supervisors are expected to rank the groups Thursday. The list then will be forwarded to the government for a decision.

“I don’t need the money. What I do need is salaries to pay employees, and we need a second attorney desperately,” Myles said. “We need income to get staff so my workload can be a little lighter.”

Right now, Myles' schedule is booked through April, and Ayers confirmed that the “blue jeans attorney” donated 4,113 hours in 2002.

“That’s 79 hours a week,” Ayers said. “She has a heart of gold.”

Myles said she wouldn’t trade her crazy schedule for any other career.

“I enjoy dealing with people who appreciate what I do for them. I get paid with hugs, appreciation and lots of prayers. I’m probably the most prayed for person around,” she said.