Maya Murphy, P.C.

Attorney Joseph C. Maya

Mr. Maya grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He attended New York University. While at NYU, he worked as a paralegal for Brown, Wood, Ivey, Mitchell & Petty (now Sidley Austin Brown Wood). He also interned for the Legal Aid Society of New York and Legal Services of New York City. Upon graduating from NYU, Mr. Maya worked full-time as a paralegal prior to attending law school at the University of Michigan. Upon graduating from Michigan Law School, Mr. Maya began his legal career at Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) as an Associate Attorney. In order to pursue his passion for employment law, Mr. Maya joined the NYC Human Rights Commission, Law Enforcement Bureau, where he prosecuted claims alleging employment discrimination against employers. After five years at the Commission, Mr. Maya started his own firm practicing exclusively in the area of employment law. Over the years, many clients asked Mr. Maya to represent them in other matters involving various practice areas.

Eventually, Mr. Maya expanded the firm, adding lawyers with expertise in other practice areas. Today, Mr. Maya represents both individuals and corporations in employment contracts, severance negotiations, non-competition agreements, and in complex commercial contract disputes. Several decades ago, Mr. Maya began practicing in the area of education law. Today, he represents children and families in educational matters related to Special Education (IEP/504) and accommodations, discipline, expulsion, and suspension.

Mr. Maya is licensed to practice law in New York and Connecticut. He is also admitted to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of Connecticut. Mr. Maya also has extensive experience in arbitrations and dispute mediations.

Attorney Susan M. Maya

Susan M. Maya graduated Magna Cum Laude from Quinnipiac University School of Law, where she attended as a Dean’s Scholar. While at Quinnipiac, she received seven outstanding academic achievement awards. Attorney Maya was an academic invitee on the Quinnipiac Law Review, where she held the position of Associate Editor. Attorney Maya graduated Magna Cum Laude from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Attorney Maya practices in the areas of trusts and estates, special education law, and executive compensation law.

She is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut. 

Attorney H. Daniel Murphy

Dan is a Partner and Chairman of the Litigation Practice Group. He is a graduate of both Fordham University (Fordham College at Rose Hill, Bronx, NY) and Fordham University School of Law, where he was a member of the Fordham Urban Law Journal and recipient of the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award.

Before joining the firm, Attorney Murphy worked for the better part of a decade at a boutique litigation firm in downtown Manhattan, handling matters ranging from felony criminal defense to matrimonial law, complex civil litigation, personal injury, and immigration law, in courtrooms in all five boroughs of New York City — and many beyond.

Dan handles all levels of high-conflict litigation, including family law (dissolution of marriage, child custody, support proceedings, child protection matters, and mediation), employment law, complex civil litigation, and criminal defense in numerous state and federal district courts across the Tri-State area.

Dan has been repeatedly recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine, is a multi-year recipient of the “Client Champion” (Platinum) Award from Martindale-Hubbell, and holds a “Preeminent” Peer Rating for the Highest Level of Professional Excellence from that organization, having received accolades from clients, peers, and judges alike.

Attorney Murphy is admitted to practice law in the States of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, as well as the Federal Districts of Connecticut, New Jersey, and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is President of the Greenwich, Connecticut, Chapter of BNI (Business Network International). For many years, Attorney Murphy has served as a mentor and academic coach for Bridgeport high school students as part of Horizons at Greens Farms Academy. He is President of the Fairfield County Chapter of Fordham University Alumni.

Attorney William B. Westcott

Attorney Westcott is a partner in the firm. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he was a member of the International Law Journal and placed first in his class in the Alva P. Loiselle appellate advocacy competition. He was a member of UConn’s clinical programs, devoted to trial and appellate practice. In private practice since 1996, he has won acquittals in criminal trials of media interest and brought successful appeals resulting in the reversal of wrongful convictions and new trials ordered for his clients. He also dedicates a portion of his practice to personal injury cases, obtaining recoveries for clients suffering loss from the negligence of others. He is admitted in Connecticut state and federal courts.

Attorney Westcott’s representative experience includes the following:

• Briefed and argued more than 70 cases in Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts.
• Represented Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association with filings as Amicus in cases with issues of public interest.
• Admitted as an expert witness in the area of appellate practice in Connecticut legal proceedings.
• Obtained not guilty verdicts in high-profile criminal cases.
• Represented the largest federal internet case in the District of Connecticut.
• Represented victims of crime pursuant to Victims’ Rights provisions of the Connecticut Constitution.
• New trials ordered on appeal upon findings of error, including violation of state and federal constitutional rights, inappropriate use of evidence, and illegal jury instructions.
• Civil negligence litigation involving identity theft and allegations of mishandling of consumers’ personal information by state and national lending institutions.
• Counsel to members of the Connecticut Education Association, including issues implicating the impact of criminal proceedings on employment status.
• Administrative law practice with the Law Offices of Michael Corsello in DUI cases before the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, resulting in the restoration of suspended driving privileges.

Attorney Lauren Jacobson

Lauren Jacobson is admitted to practice in the Connecticut and New York state courts, as well as the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Lauren's primary areas of practice are litigation in complex employment matters, education law issues, commercial cases, trust and estate matters, and criminal defense. She works directly with clients and is personally involved in all aspects of representation from client intake through trial.

Lauren graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law, Summa Cum Laude. While in law school, she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Probate Law Journal. In law school, Lauren earned the Academic Excellence Award, ABA Award for Excellence in Land Use and State and Government Law, Service to the Law School, Excellence in Clinical Work, and Academic Achievement Award in Trial Practice. Lauren interned with the Child Protection Department of the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and the Quinnipiac University School of Law’s Civil Justice Clinic, where she presented testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.

Lauren graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in political science, with a concentration in gender, race, and politics, and obtained a minor in public administration. While in college, she interned at The Equal Rights Center, a civil rights organization that seeks to eliminate unfair discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Prior to joining Maya Murphy, Lauren was a civil litigation associate with a regional litigation firm, representing businesses and individuals in a variety of matters, including negligence, product liability, and professional liability matters in Connecticut and New York courts.

Super Lawyers Magazine has named Lauren to the Connecticut Rising Stars list as one of the top up-and-coming attorneys in Connecticut for 2018, 2019, and 2020. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state receive this honor. The selection for this respected list is made by the research team at Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters business) which is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. The Rising Stars lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers magazines, in leading city and regional magazines across the country.

In addition, in 2020, Lauren was named on The National Trial Lawyers’ Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers in Connecticut for Criminal Defense.  Membership into The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40 is by invitation only and extended exclusively to those trial lawyers practicing civil plaintiff and/or criminal defense law.  Membership is extended solely to the select few of the most qualified attorneys from each state who demonstrate superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and public profile measured by objective and uniformly applied standards in compliance with state bar and national Rule 4-7.  Invitees must exemplify superior qualifications, trial results, and leadership as a young lawyer under the age of 40.  Selection is based on a thorough multi-phase objective process which includes peer nominations combined with third-party research.

Lauren is a member of the Fairfield County Bar Association, co-chair of the Women in the Law Committee, and is a member of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.  She lives in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband, is actively involved in her community as a student mentor with Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF), is a member of the Stamford Democratic City Committee and Chair of the Fundraising and Events Committee, and is a member of Stamford’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

Attorney Ruth Israely

A battle-tested attorney who has prevailed against top litigation firms, Ruth Israely is a seasoned attorney practicing in several areas of the law. Ruth is adept in every phase of litigation, including demands, negotiations, arbitration, mediation, and fierce advocacy in the courtroom during jury trials when relationships collapse. Ruth is also an experienced appellate brief writer, making her skilled at overseeing a case at every level.

Ruth’s experience in a range of forums, from administrative law matters to business disputes, equips her for battle in a wide variety of engagements.  From traditional motion practice to e-discovery disputes, Ruth stays on the cutting edge of litigation and can make sense of it all for clients in easily digestible terms.

Ruth is a graduate of Brandeis University and obtained her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she was a member of the nation’s top moot court team, and where she and a teammate were awarded Best Brief at the Whittier Juvenile Law Moot Court Competition.

Ruth is admitted to practice before the bars of California and Connecticut, as well as in federal court, and is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association.  Before becoming an attorney, Ruth was a high school teacher.  In addition to being a mother of two children, Ruth volunteers on the Town of Weston’s Board of Ethics, promoting a culture of transparency and candor in local government.

Attorney Joseph H. Corselli

Joseph is a Partner in the firm. He began his career representing clients in a wide range of disputes, including intellectual property, complex commercial litigation, and products liability. He practices in the areas of real estate, commercial transactions, corporate governance, entity formation, and business litigation.

Prior to joining Maya Murphy, Joseph worked for a Boston-based global law firm and practiced in its Intellectual Property and Complex Commercial Litigation Sections. There, a substantial focus of his work involved patent and trademark litigation.

Joseph is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and before the United States District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the Bridgeport Bar Association.

Joseph received his B.A. from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, was awarded his M.B.A. from Stetson University School of Business Administration in Deland, Florida, and was awarded his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law, in Gulfport, Florida.

Joseph currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Fairfield Youth Football and Fairfield Athletic Association. Joseph formerly served on the Boards of Directors of the Child and Family Guidance Center of Greater Bridgeport and LifeBridge Community Services.