Mary Alice was born and raised in Winter Park, Florida, and attended Florida State University and Stetson University College of Law.  MA Jackson practiced in her home state of Florida for the first 20 years of her practice, and is now the sole shareholder in the firm of Mary Alice Jackson, P.C. in Austin, Texas.  Her practice focuses on elder law and special needs planning, including estate planning for individuals with disabilities and their families.  She has an AV+ pre-eminent rating from Martindale Hubbell.  

Mary Alice's husband, Bob, is the State Director for AARP Texas. She is board certified in Elder Law by the Florida Bar and is a past President of the Florida Bar Elder Law Section and the Sarasota County Bar Association.

Ms. Jackson is a Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and a recipient of the NAELA Powley Award for Public Service.  Ms. Jackson also serves on the NAELA public policy steering committee which identifies public policy priorities for advocacy on the federal level.  She is a member of the Special Needs Alliance, a national association of special needs planning attorneys, and serves on its Board of Directors, its public policy and long range planning committees.

Ms. Jackson has been an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 1994.  Stetson was also her father’s alma mater.  She currently teaches Long Term Care Planning in the Elder Law L.LM program.  She is also a member of the Advisory Board the Center for Excellence in Elder Law at Stetson.

Public speaking has always been one of Ms. Jackson’s interest, and she has made presentations on elder law and special needs related topics since the beginning of her practice in 1992.  She has been a speaker at the National Conference on Special Needs Trusts, sponsored by Stetson University, since its inception in 1998.  Her topics have varied from the Fundamentals of Special Needs Planning, Fee Agreements, Drafting for Trustees, and the Future of SNTs.  In addition, she has spoken at the annual Special Needs Conference sponsored by the University of Texas for the past several years, where her topics have included Fund Raising and Public Benefits Recipients, the Affordable Care Act and annual SNT case law updates.

Elder law is a complex field, especially in today's world - families are no longer "traditional" and long term health care costs are skyrocketing with little assistance from any source.   Clients fear financial impoverishment in addition to personal indignities and stress.  Our staff is tremendous and works hard to get the job done professionally and with compassion.  Nothing is easy, and certainly there is expense involved, but we provide a holistic look at clients, their families and their legal issues, and offer the counsel we believe best serves their objectives.  Ultimately, clients and their designated decision makers have to make the choices which are right for them.