David J. Brown began his professional career as a journalist. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a journalism degree in 1976. Then, he had a ten-year career as an award-winning reporter and editor before going to law school. His last post was as a copy editor at the Albany Times Union working for Harry Rosenfeld, the former Washington Post editor famous for his role in coverage of the Watergate scandal.
After graduating in 1989 from Albany Law School in New York, David moved to Lawrence. He taught for one semester at the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. Then he went to work for the Kansas Court of Appeals as a research attorney. He worked on that appellate court’s central research staff for about 18 months and then was hired as the research attorney for then Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe. (Judge Briscoe is now Chief Judge of the 10th Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.) He held that post until August 1992.
The Law Office of David J. Brown opened in August 1992. Since that time, David has been an active advocate for his clients as well as a promoter of professionalism for the bar. He has held various legal leadership roles in the community and has been an involved board member and advisor for non-profit organizations working to better life in Douglas County. At the same time, he has written and lectured extensively on the areas of privacy, family law, and ethics.
Since 1992, The Law Office of David J. Brown has gone through many changes. While it opened in an office on West 8th Street in Lawrence, it moved to its present location in 1994. The historic English Lutheran Church that now serves as home for the law office and its staff was renovated in 1993 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Initially, the firm focused primarily on providing criminal defense services and meeting the legal needs of non-traditional families. Over time, the focus has shifted and expanded. Now we meet the legal needs of traditional and non-traditional families by addressing issues of premarital and cohabitation agreements, adoption, separation or divorce, child custody, estate planning, wills and trusts, and family business concerns. Also, when clients face problems and have issues that are of critical social or political import, we work with them to reach just results.
The firm has fluctuated in size. At one point, as many as five attorneys worked or were associated with the office. Today, David J. Brown is the managing (and only) attorney in the office. Nevertheless, the firm regularly associates with attorneys in other firms, or refers clients to other attorneys, to ensure that those clients’ legal needs are met.
Since 2015, David has been an adjunct Faculty member at the University of Kansas School of Law. He teaches an LGBTQ legal seminar.
Contact info:
785 842-0777
djbrown@davidbrownlaw.com