JAMES D. FUNNELL, JR. is a principal of Brody Wilkinson and a member of the firm’s Trusts & Estates Group. His practice is limited to trusts and estates planning, special needs planning, and trusts and estates administration. Jim is widely known for helping clients use special needs trusts to create a financial safety net for a family member with a disability.
Jim is admitted to practice in Connecticut and has practiced in Fairfield County for over thirty-five years. He is also admitted to practice in Texas. Prior to joining the firm, he was a partner at the former law firm of Hermenze & Marcantonio LLC in Westport, Connecticut.
Jim is a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated attorney and is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Estates and Probate Section, and for over twenty years served as the editor in chief of the Estates and Probate Section Notes & Commentary, a continuing legal education publication for Connecticut attorneys.
Jim has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in the field of trusts and estates since 2018. He has also been recognized as a “Connecticut Super Lawyer” in the areas of estate planning and probate tax since 2006.
Jim has written widely on special needs trust planning, including the “Special Needs Trusts” chapter in Irrevocable Trusts 4th published by Thompson Reuters. He has also spoken on special needs planning to audiences that include Connecticut Probate Court judges and clerks, Connecticut Bar Association, Fairfield County Bar Association, various Estate Planning Councils, NAMI, PLAN of CT, and the Fairfield School District.
Jim received his B.S. from Oklahoma State University in 1983; J.D. from Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1986; and LL.M. in Business and Taxation from McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento, California, in 1987.
Jim serves on the Board of Directors of PLAN of Connecticut, a charitable organization that acts as trustee of special needs trusts for individuals with disabilities, and is a member of its Trust Committee.
