I have practiced law since 1981, the first six years in Portland, OR, where I worked as in house counsel at two commercial banks. During that time I spent time collecting defaulted loans (mostly commercial), and two years as a personal trust officer administering trusts, and then two more years as counsel to the corporate loan department, which made large loans to corporations.
Before attending law school, I worked for a year as an orderly in the Jewish Home for the Aged in New Haven, CT, and much of what I experienced there has stayed with me, and I think of those days often, and especially when I visit nursing homes now, and work with clients who may be in such a facility, or facing the prospect of doing so.
I returned to my native State of Connecticut in 1987, and have practiced in the New London area since then, the last 26 years in my current firm. Over time my practice evolved from representation of financial institutions to representations of individuals, and with my partner Lois G. Andrews, we are actively engaged in the representation of those who want to put a plan in place for incapacity or death, and often those who wish to gain eligibility for medicaid / title 19, to help pay for care either at home, or in an institutional setting. So we frequently prepare Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and other such planning documents for clients. Often we are assisting children of elderly parents, and the parents themselves. We also help clients with Special / Supplemental Needs Trusts. And a goodly portion of our work is in probate of estates, and administration of trusts.
We try not to make assumptions about our clients or what they may want for their plans, and feel perhaps the most important thing we can do is to listen to what our clients share with us about themselves, their families, and their hopes and yes sometimes fears, and to make them comfortable doing so.
