Top Attorney – Julie Stoil Fernandez
Brooklyn, NY/Press/August 12, 2019 – Julie Stoil Fernandez, Esq., Co-Founding Partner of Finkel & Fernandez, LLP, was selected for inclusion into the Top Attorneys of North America 2019-2020 edition by The Who’s Who Directories.
“Julie Stoil Fernandez, Esq., is a highly experienced attorney with a 26-year history of litigation in elder law and mental health litigation and advocacy.”
At Finkel & Fernandez, LLP., co-founding partner, Julie Stoil Fernandez brings decades of experience in elder and mental health law to her practice. She provides an integrated approach to resolving the issues facing aging clients including addressing their legal needs while retaining their independence and control of their futures through estate planning, guardianship, disability planning and the drafting and execution of advance directives.
She is also adept at identifying the best mechanisms for protection and redress of harms to seniors and persons with special needs by advocating for mental health services, home care services, geriatric care management assistance and public benefits eligibility. Ms. Stoil Fernandez also represents clients in administration and probate proceedings and, as a certified elder law and family and divorce mediator, provides mediation services to families in crisis.
Ms. Stoil Fernandez skillfully analyzes the myriad issues which arise when a person’s legal capacity is in question, and she excels in creative solutions – effectively negotiating agreements between oppositional family members in contested cases, and when litigation is necessary, fiercely advocating on behalf of her clients.
Prior to starting a solo practice in 2000, Ms. Stoil Fernandez was a staff attorney at Mental Hygiene Legal Service, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, where she litigated hundreds of cases representing patients in both public and private psychiatric facilities in matters involving their involuntary retention and treatment over objection. Her work included representing persons held in mental health facilities while awaiting adjudication in criminal proceedings and persons deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.
Before law school, Ms. Stoil Fernandez was a counselor in various homeless shelters in Boston, Massachusetts, culminating in her position as Director of a 500-bed emergency overflow shelter for men.
Ms. Stoil Fernandez received her Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She received her Juris Doctor from Northeastern University Law School in 1992.
Since 2000, Ms. Stoil Fernandez been a member of the New York State Office of Court Administration’s panel of qualified experts to serve by court appointment as Court Evaluator, Counsel to Alleged Incapacitated Persons and/or Guardian of person and property. She is also a member of the County Law18B Panel of appointees for indigent defendants.
Ms. Stoil Fernandez is a Vice Chair to the New York State Bar Association’s Elder Law Section’s Committee on Mental Health and the former Vice-Chair of the Elder Abuse Committee. She is also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA),The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association and the Brooklyn Bar Association.
Ms. Stoil Fernandez appears regularly as a speaker for continuing legal education courses, and speaks at senior centers, home care agencies and bar association events. She presently serves as a mentor attorney for New York Law School, Brooklyn Law School and Touro Law School Elder Law Clinics.
Ms. Stoil Fernandez has been selected as a Super Lawyer for 2019.
The Top Attorneys of North America, a New York based publication, distinguishes and profiles leading attorneys who have reached a recognizable degree of success and leadership in their field. The directory is valued for promoting awareness of the accomplishments within the North American legal community.