Brown, Harriet - Atty At Law

Address

55 River St
Suite 100
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 460-1946

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Details

Harriet Brown has been practicing law for over 37 years. She has been zealously serving her clients in Santa Cruz County and throughout the greater Central Coast area since 1995 as an estate planning attorney. With a rich and varied background in civil litigation and business law, she specializes in crafting estate plans that address both complex legal issues and sensitive family dynamics.

Legal Experience

As a sole practitioner in downtown Santa Cruz, Harriet Brown’s emphasis since 1999 has been on estate planning and administration, probate, conservatorships and adoptions. Having previously worked as an associate attorney at a Santa Cruz law firm specializing in real property and business transactions, she gained experience in property and business litigation on the trial and appellate levels. Earlier in her career in Santa Cruz, she was employed as an associate attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Santa Cruz, where she was responsible for Social Security disability federal court appeals as well as managing and successfully arguing a major class action appellate action. While living in San Francisco, California, Harriet maintained a solo general practice including trial and appellate matters in torts, business, family law, real property and juvenile law. She served as an instructor at Hastings College of Law, University of California, teaching Writing and Research. She had been previously employed part time by major San Francisco insurance defense firms in litigation support. At the outset of her legal career in 1972, she worked as a legal aid lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio. She represented her clients in a variety of civil, criminal and administrative matters, including successful constitutional law argument before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Education

In 1972, Harriet earned her J.D. from Hastings College of Law. She was a member of the Thurston Honor Society as well as the Order of the Coif, one of the highest honors a law student can receive. In 2003, to support her practice as an estate planner, she earned her LLM from Golden Gate College of Law. She received her B.A. in 1967 from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and in 1981 she earned an elementary school teaching certificate from Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, Oregon.

Other Employment Experience

Before entering law school, Harriet has worked as a copy editor for a major publisher, an elementary school teacher in Chicago and Oregon and an accountant’s clerk in San Francisco, California.

Professional and Community Activities

Harriet Brown has served for a number of years as a board member of the Senior Citizens’ Legal Services of Santa Cruz County. She is presently a member of the professional Planned Giving Committee of Hospice Caring Project in Santa Cruz County. She has previously served as a board member of the Women Lawyers of Santa Cruz County. She is a member of the Santa Cruz County Bar Association and the Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of California. She is an avid bicyclist, hiker, swimmer, reader, moviegoer and sometimes artist.