DOUGLAS R. BROWN is a principal of Brody Wilkinson and a member of the firm’s Trusts & Estates and Litigation Groups. Mr. Brown practices in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement, and probate, trust and fiduciary litigation. He represents individual clients in all aspects of estate planning and estate settlement to maximize the transfer of wealth, minimize the effect of estate and gift taxes, plan for incapacity, and plan effectively for disabled family members through the use of special needs trusts.

Mr. Brown has significant experience in guiding fiduciaries and beneficiaries through complicated estate settlement and trust administration matters. He represents clients in will contests, contested accounting proceedings, contested conservatorship and guardianship matters, insolvent estates, will and trust construction cases, paternity disputes, and estate disputes involving debt owed to the State. Mr. Brown litigates claims either for or against fiduciaries and represents clients in proceedings to remove fiduciaries. He also represents fiduciaries in complex estate and trust matters involving control of business entities and real estate with environmental problems. As a result of his experience, Mr. Brown serves in a general counsel role for some of his clients. In addition, he has been appointed to serve as the fiduciary in several complex estates.

He is admitted to practice in Connecticut, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Brown is a member of the American (Probate and Trust Litigation and Controversy Group), Connecticut, Fairfield County, and Greater Bridgeport Bar Associations. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Estates and Probate Section, and is past chair of the subcommittee on Probate and Trust Controversies. He has lectured at seminars on estate planning, estate settlement, and fiduciary litigation, including a presentation on will and trust construction before the Connecticut Probate Assembly.

He received his B.A. from Duke University in 1987 and his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1994, where he served as articles editor of the law review. Mr. Brown has been recognized in 2007-2009 as a “Connecticut Super Lawyer” in the area of Estate Planning and Probate and in 2010 in the areas of Estate Planning and Probate and Estate and Trust Litigation as published in Connecticut Magazine. “Connecticut Super Lawyers” is a peer-review based survey.

Mr. Brown is active in a variety of civic organizations, including The Kennedy Center, where he served as chairman of the board of directors, the Western Connecticut Council of the Navy League, Jewish Family Service of Eastern Fairfield County, and The Probus Club. Mr. Brown served as an officer on a combat ship in the United States Navy from 1987 to 1991. During his military service, he received a letter of commendation for superior communication with foreign military aircraft in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war.

Mr. Brown currently resides in Fairfield, Connecticut, with his wife, Kathryn Selig Brown, Ph.D., and their two sons.

Education:

  • Duke University, B.A. 1987
  • Washington University, J.D. 1994

Admissions:

  • American Bar Association
  • Connecticut Bar Association
  • Fairfield County Bar Association
  • Greater Bridgeport Bar Association
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Areas of Practice:

  • Trusts & Estates
  • Litigation

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