About Joanna
Business, Estate and Financial Services AttorneyMs. Adu is a Shareholder and Partner at Lyons & Associates, where she chairs the firm’s Somerville office and Trusts, Estates, and Financial Practice Group. Her transactional practice includes wills, trusts and estates, guardianships, business law, non-profits, family office matters, and complex discovery issues. With the variety of her experience, Ms. Adu also regularly consults on complex firm cases involving special needs children and sophisticated assets.Along with her legal practice, Ms. Adu is active in legal scholarship having co-authored the article “The Coming of Age of New Jersey Mental Health Courts: Addressing a Dilemma in the Criminal Justice System,” published in the February 2023 edition of New Jersey Lawyer, among other articles for various publications on topics such as estate planning for LGBTQ+ clients and posthumous litigation related to high-profile estates. She has also presented at professional conferences and other public events on topics such as basic estate planning, special needs planning, financial elder abuse, attorney ethics, pet custody, and more.In her personal life, Ms. Adu is the proud parent of a child with special needs. As a special needs mom, she brings to her legal practice an innate understanding of the issues and concerns of special needs families, including providing for their future care. Her work and unique perspective as a special needs parent were highlighted in an individual profile in the 2023 New Jersey Super Lawyers magazine. She also currently serves on the Boards of Eden Autism Services and SERV Connect, two New Jersey non-profit organizations providing critical supports and services to individuals with special needs.Ms. Adu has been recognized as a New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Star in family law from 2020–2021, and in estate planning and probate law from 2022–2024.Prior to joining Lyons & Associates, Ms. Adu completed a one-year clerkship for the Honorable Susan L. Reisner, P.J.A.D. (ret.). She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and graduated cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in 2016. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Business, Estate and Financial Services AttorneyMs. Adu is a Shareholder and Partner at Lyons & Associates, where she chairs the firm’s Somerville office and Trusts, Estates, and Financial Practice Group. Her transactional practice includes wills, trusts and estates, guardianships, business law, non-profits, family office matters, and complex discovery issues. With the variety of her experience, Ms. Adu also regularly consults on complex firm cases involving special needs children and sophisticated assets.Along with her legal practice, Ms. Adu is active in legal scholarship having co-authored the article “The Coming of Age of New Jersey Mental Health Courts: Addressing a Dilemma in the Criminal Justice System,” published in the February 2023 edition of New Jersey Lawyer, among other articles for various publications on topics such as estate planning for LGBTQ+ clients and posthumous litigation related to high-profile estates. She has also presented at professional conferences and other public events on topics such as basic estate planning, special needs planning, financial elder abuse, attorney ethics, pet custody, and more.In her personal life, Ms. Adu is the proud parent of a child with special needs. As a special needs mom, she brings to her legal practice an innate understanding of the issues and concerns of special needs families, including providing for their future care. Her work and unique perspective as a special needs parent were highlighted in an individual profile in the 2023 New Jersey Super Lawyers magazine. She also currently serves on the Boards of Eden Autism Services and SERV Connect, two New Jersey non-profit organizations providing critical supports and services to individuals with special needs.Ms. Adu has been recognized as a New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Star in family law from 2020–2021, and in estate planning and probate law from 2022–2024.Prior to joining Lyons & Associates, Ms. Adu completed a one-year clerkship for the Honorable Susan L. Reisner, P.J.A.D. (ret.). She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and graduated cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in 2016. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Ms. Adu is a Shareholder and Partner at Lyons & Associates, where she chairs the firm’s Somerville office and Trusts, Estates, and Financial Practice Group. Her transactional practice includes wills, trusts and estates, guardianships, business law, non-profits, family office matters, and complex discovery issues. With the variety of her experience, Ms. Adu also regularly consults on complex firm cases involving special needs children and sophisticated assets.
Along with her legal practice, Ms. Adu is active in legal scholarship having co-authored the article “The Coming of Age of New Jersey Mental Health Courts: Addressing a Dilemma in the Criminal Justice System,” published in the February 2023 edition of New Jersey Lawyer, among other articles for various publications on topics such as estate planning for LGBTQ+ clients and posthumous litigation related to high-profile estates. She has also presented at professional conferences and other public events on topics such as basic estate planning, special needs planning, financial elder abuse, attorney ethics, pet custody, and more.
In her personal life, Ms. Adu is the proud parent of a child with special needs. As a special needs mom, she brings to her legal practice an innate understanding of the issues and concerns of special needs families, including providing for their future care. Her work and unique perspective as a special needs parent were highlighted in an individual profile in the 2023 New Jersey Super Lawyers magazine. She also currently serves on the Boards of Eden Autism Services and SERV Connect, two New Jersey non-profit organizations providing critical supports and services to individuals with special needs.
Ms. Adu has been recognized as a New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Star in family law from 2020–2021, and in estate planning and probate law from 2022–2024.
Prior to joining Lyons & Associates, Ms. Adu completed a one-year clerkship for the Honorable Susan L. Reisner, P.J.A.D. (ret.). She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and graduated cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in 2016. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
