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Attorney Julia M. Brown

Upon admission to the Connecticut Bar in 1986 and the New York Bar in 1987, Julia began her legal career as a special investigative attorney for the City of New York. After relocating to Connecticut, Julia entered private practice and thereafter accepted a position as an attorney with Connecticut Legal Services (CLS). During her tenure at the CLS Waterbury office, Julia became very active in the legal issues of the elderly. In 1994, she opened the Law Office of Julia M. Brown, LLC in Waterbury and has been serving clients in the greater Waterbury area and the surrounding communities ever since.

 

Julia focuses her practice and has been a featured lecturer on topics such as:

  • Elder Law and estate and financial planning
  • Estate planning for those in crisis
  • Special needs planning
  • Medical decision-making and end-of-life issues
  • Using trusts, non-profits, and estate planning to achieve client goals
  • Assisting and advocating for elders and their families transitioning through health care and long-term care systems
  • Obtaining eligibility and accessing health and long-term care coverage
  • Medicaid (Title 19) eligibility and preservation of assets
  • Nursing Home resident rights, admission, discharge, and substandard care
  • Alternative housing
  • Conservator and capacity matters
  • Tax, retirement, and probate and in particular, the impact of long-term care issues

 

Connecticut Magazine has named Julia an Elder Law Super Lawyer every year since 2007. In 2012, Julia wrote the Medicaid Eligibility chapter of “The Practical Guide to Issues in Connecticut Elder Law” published by the CBA Elder Law Section.

 

Julia also has a long history of service to the community and the legal profession:

  • Chair and founder of the Central Naugatuck Valley (CNV) Senior Services Network
  • Executive Committee member of the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) Elder Law Section
  • Past Co-Chair of the CBA Elder Law Section Continuing Legal Education Committee
  • Past Chair of the CBA Elder Law Section Medicaid Committee
  • Member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and National Elder Law Foundation
  • Founding and continuing member of the Connecticut Chapter of NAELA (CTNAELA)
  • Member of the Elder Law Section of the Waterbury Bar Association
  • Member of the National Association of Social Workers
  • Past Chair of the Alzheimer’s Association Waterbury Memory Walk
  • Past member of the Advisory Committee for the Northwest Connecticut Area Agency on Aging
  • Past Board member of the South Central Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association
  • Past Chair of the Alzheimer’s Public Policy Committee
  • Current Board member of Quilts that Care

 

Prior to her legal career, Julia received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and served in a variety of positions within health care institutions including medical and psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, and residential treatment centers for adolescents with mental disorders and substance abuse issues. Julia discovered her passion for working with the elderly and other vulnerable populations and a desire to further assist, advocate for, and work with their families and health care institutions to resolve care and quality of life issues. It was these experiences, and her personal experience with her grandmother’s terminal illness, that led Julia to pursue a career in law and to advocate for the elderly and their families.

 

Attorney Amanda E. Smallhorn

Mandy joined the practice as an attorney in 2022, however, her history with the firm began in 1995—when she attended her first Alzheimer’s Memory Walk with her mother, Attorney Julia M. Brown.

 

While in high school, Mandy accompanied Julia to various speaking engagements and client meetings and worked in Julia’s office in an administrative capacity. After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 2010, Mandy worked for a non-profit agency and began volunteering with the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), a non-violent conflict resolution program that is taught in prisons all over the world. As a result of these experiences and her passion for advocacy, Mandy decided to go to law school in 2015.

 

While in law school, Mandy actively pursued opportunities to work in various public interest positions to stay connected to the community. Through her involvement in Quinnipiac Law School’s Civil Justice Clinic, she worked on a civil rights claim for an incarcerated client, and through Quinnipiac’s Sappern Fellowship she assisted low-income individuals with filling out applications for temporary restraining orders and pro se divorces. Her Law Review Note, Excusing “Women of Circumstance”: Redefining Conspiracy Law to Hold Culpable Offenders Accountable”, was published in the 36th volume of the Quinnipiac Law Review Journal in September 2018.

 

Upon being admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 2018, Mandy began her legal career as a Singer Connecticut Public Service Fellow hosted by New Haven Legal Assistance Association where she represented low-income clients in civil and collateral criminal matters, including successfully defending an elderly client at a Nursing Home discharge hearing. In 2019, Mandy accepted a position as a Deputy Assistant Public Defender with the Connecticut Innocence Project/Post-Conviction Unit where she represented low-income clients challenging the legality of their criminal convictions, including seeking compassionate parole release for elderly clients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Mandy is excited to return to the Law Office of Julia M. Brown, LLC as an attorney, and carry on Julia’s tireless advocacy for the elderly and their families. 

 

 

Dana A. Esposito, Legal Assistant & Accountant

Dana joined the Law Office of Julia M. Brown, LLC in September 2001 after graduating Summa Cum Laude from Post University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. Dana is currently responsible for processing home care and nursing home Medicaid (Title 19) applications; administering probate estates; assisting with the development of estate plans; preparing estate planning documents; acting as a witness and notary to the signing of legal documents; and assisting with tax matters. After being a tax preparer for over 10 years, in 2015 Dana earned her Enrolled Agent designation with the Department of Treasury giving her the authority to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service.

 

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