Harris Beach Murtha Bolsters Trusts and Estates Practice with Addition of Experienced, Connecticut-Based Attorney
(Nov. 3, 2025) — Harris Beach Murtha’s Trusts and Estates team is thrilled to announce that L. Joyelle “Joy” Maini has joined the firm as Senior Counsel and will be based in the firm’s Bantam, Conn., office, joining Mary M. “Molly” Ackerly, who has been practicing trusts and estates law in Litchfield for almost 35 years. Molly’s firm, Ackerly Brown, dissolved in 2024, at which time she joined Murtha Cullina and leads the Bantam office.
Joy brings almost 20 years of experience as an estate planner. She also serves as fiduciary and represents fiduciaries in the administration of complex trusts and estates and develops family succession and business plans.
She is the sixth attorney added to the firm’s Trusts and Estates Practice Group this year, as the firm’s private wealth business explodes with growth. Our Trusts and Estates team works with individuals with high net worth, families and business owners on complicated estate planning, tax, business succession, estate/trust administration and probate matters.
“We are so fortunate to welcome Joy, whose knowledge, experience and client-focused approach to wealth preservation will align perfectly with Molly’s,” said Suzanne Brown Walsh, co-leader of the firm’s Trusts and Estates Practice Group. “Our Trusts and Estates team members are committed to servicing clients in Litchfield County, many of whom have moved to the area from New York state, where the firm has numerous offices.”
About Harris Beach Murtha
Harris Beach Murtha formed in 2025 via the combination of Harris Beach PLLC and Murtha Cullina LLP. A forward-thinking and innovative partnership with the benefit of more than 250 years of combined history, Harris Beach Murtha’s New York roots reach back to 1856, and the firm has had ties to New England since 1936. Harris Beach and Murtha Cullina were separately among the country’s top law firms as ranked by The National Law Journal.
Harris Beach Murtha and its subsidiaries have a strong Northeast presence, but a global reach. Clients include Fortune 100 corporations, privately held companies, emerging businesses, public sector entities, tax-exempt organizations and individuals. The firm’s practice areas and industries served span appellate law, business litigation, cannabis, commercial real estate, construction, corporate, environmental, energy, financial institutions, financial restructuring, government compliance and investigations, health care, immigration, intellectual property, labor and employment, mass torts, medical and life sciences, political law, product liability, public finance, tax, and trusts and estates.
Harris Beach Murtha is the exclusive member firm in Connecticut for Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent firms with in-depth experience in more than 125 countries worldwide. As part of the Lex Mundi global network, Harris Beach Murtha can provide clients with preferred access to more than 22,000 lawyers around the world – all from a single point of contact. Lex Mundi allows Harris Beach Murtha to seamlessly handle clients’ most challenging cross-border transactions and disputes.
The firm’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, Niagara Falls, New York City, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts and Newark, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.harrisbeachmurtha.com.