Quincy Attorney Thomas R. Mullen
Attorney Thomas R. Mullen
Thomas R. Mullen has been an attorney since 1977 and has devoted his practice exclusively to elderlaw since 1988. He is nationally recognized as one of the foremost experts on Medicaid planning. His additional Practice areas include estate planning and trusts for disabled people, as well as assisting attorneys with Medicaid lien allocations and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. In the Spring 2013 issue of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) Journal, Attorney Thomas R. Mullen of Quincy, Mass. was described by the Academy’s Massachusetts past president and law professor William J.Brisk as being “a prominent and innovative elderlaw attorney.”
Tom’s sense of commitment started at an early age. In 1965, while still in high school, he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. In 1997 he helped introduce a Federal Bill in the U.S. Congress insuring that attorneys could continue to advise seniors of their Medicaid rights. A few years later in 2003 Tom Mullen successfully tangled with then-Governor Mitt Romney, and helped the Massachusetts State Legislature repeal a law that could have forced widows out of their homes if their husband had been on MassHealth. In 2005 Tom Mullen visited Chicago to learn about that city’s FLAG (Financial Law Enforcement And Government) program. FLAG is a joint partnership of police, prosecutors and banks which is designed to educate bank personnel on how to prevent their senior customers from being exploitation victims. Tom successfully lobbied Norfolk County District Attorney (now U. S. Congressman) Bill Keating, who fully embraced this program.
In 2008 one of Tom’s elderly clients was illegally denied MassHealth. Tom sued the State and after a four year court battle the judge ruled MassHealth had violated his client’s Constitutional Rights. The judge ordered MassHealth to pay retroactive nursing home coverage for those four years!
Tom was first drawn to this specialized practice when his father, a retired school teacher and U.S. Navy veteran of the War in the South Pacific, asked him to protect his limited savings. Because of early planning, all of Tom’s parents’ hard-earned assets were protected when his mother had to enter a nursing home. Since then Tom has helped thousands of other deserving families do the same. He is dedicated to putting his extensive experience and technical expertise to work on behalf of families who are worried about preserving their assets. He derives both personal and professional satisfaction from his ability to alleviate the stress seniors and their loved ones feel when facing the overwhelming specter of nursing home care.
Tom received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science in 1971. During the college summer recess, he worked as a union laborer with Local 22 which was then located in the North End of the City of Boston. He became a school teacher at Charlestown High in Boston, teaching by day and attending Suffolk University Law School at night where he earned his Juris Doctorate degree in 1976. In addition, he was a Juvenile Probation Officer and Assistant District Attorney for then Norfolk County District Attorney-and former Congressman-William D. Delahunt.
Tom has been an active member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys since 1992. In addition to being admitted to practice law before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the United States Supreme Court, he has been admitted to practice pro hac vice in the following United States Federal Courts: U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Long Island, New York); and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria, Virginia).