Why Christina Lesher

Hello, I am Christina Lesher. Before I became an elder law attorney, I worked as a caregiver for my grandfather. Upon graduating from social work school in 1997, I took care of my 93-year old grandfather, Everett, who had dementia and very little short-term memory. Everett needed 24-hour care and supervision.

My family and I arranged for Medicaid benefits, adult day care, in home care, transportation, and eventually Hospice care. We struggled with communicating with and caring for the once independent and strong family patriarch. Caring for my grandfather brought out many feelings and emotions. I was proud of the amazing cooperation and care that my mother, siblings and I provided, while at the same time I grieved for a man who was living, but was no longer the strong Grandpa I knew growing up.

During this time, I was working as a social worker for an Austin Elder Law attorney. I worked with families who were also struggling to care for loved ones with Alzheimer's and dementia. These families were wrestling with the decision of whether to place a loved one into a nursing home and with the difficulty of paying for the high cost of nursing home care.

As a legal assistant and social worker, I helped families gather the appropriate documentation in order to apply for governmental assistance for nursing home benefits. After working as a legal assistant and social worker for several years, I applied to law school and began my judicial studies at the University of Houston Law Center.

During my first two years of study at the Law Center, I clerked for another Elder Law attorney, again working with families who had loved ones needing nursing home care. While in my final year of law school I clerked for Baylor College of Medicine, researching ethical issues related to health care. In my last semester of law school, I clerked for Harris County Probate Court Number One for the Honorable Russell P. Austin, researching probate and guardianship matters. I gained a valuable expertise in probate administration and guardianship.

Now I bring together the skills learned as a social worker, caregiver and attorney in order to provide quality Elder Law services in a caring and empathetic manner. Through my work as a lawyer, I help people going through struggles similar to what I have been through myself.

My law office is founded on compassion and care for the elderly, and it is one of the few law firms in the Houston area that focuses almost exclusively on elder law. If you have an elder law question, please contact my office. I'm here to help.