JUSTIN Brown
38 | Sheehey Furlong & Behm P.C. | Partner/Attorney
Residence: Winooski
Career highlight(s): The career highlight I'm most proud of is successfully representing transactional lawyers in Delaware Chancery Court to reform a contract based on the doctrine of unilateral mistake (the first successful contract reformation case in Delaware’s history based on the doctrine of unilateral mistake). My clients made a mistake in drafting contracts on behalf of their real estate investor client. At trial, we proved that the party on the other side of the transaction was aware of the mistake in the contracts and purposefully remained silent to take advantage of the mistake. We 
obtained an opinion affirming the trial court’s decision on the merits from the Delaware Supreme Court and an award of attorney's fees on remand for defendants’ bad faith litigation conduct. Justice served!
Community Involvement: In his community, Justin serves on the board of the non-profit Green Up Vermont, the board of the Young Lawyers Division of the Vermont Bar Association, and as a Lieutenant and Judge Advocate General with the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont? I was motivated to live and work in Vermont by its people and nature. Vermonters share the strongest mutual connection based on place that I have ever experienced. Vermont's mountains, woods, and waters offer endless physical recreation and mental rejuvenation .
Favorite part of your job: Complexity, never ending professional growth opportunity, justice.
Most inspiring mentor and why: My most inspiring mentor is/was Judge Peter W. Hall who recently passed away. He taught me that professionalism and kindness can be the most persuasive form of advocacy in the adversarial litigation process.
What is the best career advice you have received? The best career advice I have received boils down to three points. First, to be an effective lawyer, it’s necessary to be so immersed in the challenges facing clients that at times those challenges will wake us up in the middle of the night. Living our clients problems allows us to provide the highest level of representation to our clients. Second, to be an effective lawyer, our personal lives must be in order. If something is amiss at home, we cannot focus and concentrate as required to provide the highest level of representation. Finally, no matter how high stakes our cases are there is always room (or should be room) for laughter and self-amusement.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: Few people know that I met my wife while ski bumming in Lake Tahoe and working the swing shift in the vault of a casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada. My future wife worked at the casino too and was responsible for collecting jackpot money from me in the vault and paying it out to those lucky winners on the slot machines. I was selfishly excited each time a jackpot was hit because it gave me another opportunity to convince my future wife to go out with me. As “luck” would have it, not long thereafter we eloped and married in Las Vegas almost 15 years ago (and no, neither one of us gambles!).
Favorite Vermont escape: My favorite Vermont escape is water skiing on Lake Bomoseen in the summer and skiing on the ski slopes in the winter followed by sipping a Vermont craft brew in front of the wood stove at our mountain top yurt.
Person you would most like to share a Vermont beverage with: The person I'd most like to share a Vermont beverage with is the late Senator George Aiken. My understanding is he was a "wise old owl" who greatly benefitted Vermont and the United States generally through effective bipartisanship. I think his advice would be timely given the current political polarization.
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support: The cause I would support is recruiting and retaining young people in Vermont. Our professionals are aging and new blood is needed to benefit the next generation of Vermonters.
How has your job changed since this pandemic? Darkened hallways and vacant bathrooms at the office.