Jane Coogan spends her days helping people make some of the biggest decisions of their lives. She is a partner at Coogan Smith, LLP in Attleboro, Massachusetts, where she focuses on estate planning, probate, and business succession for families and business owners.
Her story starts in the same city where she now practices. Jane grew up in Attleboro as the youngest of five children. She ran cross country and track at Bishop Feehan High School. Long runs and early practices taught her patience, habit, and how to keep moving when things feel hard.
She studied English at the College of the Holy Cross. From there she went on to Villanova University School of Law, where she earned both a J.D. and an LL.M. in Taxation. That mix of writing and tax work shows up in her career. She is comfortable with details, but she is also focused on how those details feel for real people.
Jane began her legal career at Feingold and Edelblum, LLC in New Jersey, working with high net worth families and closely held businesses. In 2014 she returned to Attleboro and joined Coogan Smith. Many of the people who sit across from her now are neighbors, former classmates, or families she has known for years.
Outside the office, Jane serves on the Sturdy Memorial Hospital Foundation board, the Attleboro YMCA board, and supports Friends of St. John the Evangelist School. She lives in Attleboro with her two daughters and their golden retriever, Clark. Her work and home life often cross paths in simple ways, as she tries to show her children what it looks like to care for a community over time.
Q&A with Jane Coogan
When you think about what inspires you, where does your mind go first?
I think of my parents and my hometown at the same time. My father practiced law and I watched how clients spoke about him long after meetings ended. They remembered how he made them feel steady. My mother created that same feeling at home. She was the one who kept five kids moving in the same general direction.
Growing up in Attleboro, you see the same faces in different roles. Your teacher is also a coach. Your neighbor is also on a board. That gave me a clear picture of what it means to show up for people in more than one setting. That still motivates me.
How do you try to inspire confidence in your clients when they are facing big decisions?
Most people do not come in for estate planning because they are bored. Something has happened. A new child, a diagnosis, a business change. They are already carrying a lot.
I start by turning everything into simple steps. We use a one page summary at the end of each plan. It lists who is in charge, what they handle, and where key documents are kept. I have seen clients hand that page to an adult child and say, this is what you need to know.
I also build what I call a “what if” page for many families. It covers things like selling the house, adding a business partner, or a child moving to another state. We walk through each scenario in plain language. People feel more confident when they can see how their choices hold up in different situations.
Can you share a moment when you saw someone around you gain confidence because of how you handled a case?
A few years ago I worked with two siblings who had just lost a parent. One lived nearby. The other lived several states away. They were close, but they were worried that distance would cause tension.
We set up a simple routine. Every Friday, the personal representative sent a short email with three bullet points. What was finished that week, what was next, and what decisions were coming up. I drafted the first few with them until it felt natural.
By the end of the estate, the sibling who lived out of state said something that stayed with me. She said, “I was afraid I would just be the person who got updates at the end. Instead, I felt like I was part of each step.” That is the kind of confidence I hope people carry into the next hard thing they face.
You work in an area of law that many people find intimidating. How do you keep yourself inspired over time?
I go back to the basics. I still run. Some of my clearest thinking happens on quiet runs with our dog, Clark, trotting a little ahead of me. I use those runs to untangle a tricky plan in my mind or think through how to explain something better.
I also stay involved in community work. Serving on the Sturdy Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Attleboro YMCA board puts me in rooms where health, money, and family all show up at once. It reminds me that legal decisions are never just legal. They land in real lives. That connection, between a document and the people it protects, keeps the work meaningful for me.
How do you try to encourage younger attorneys or law students who are just starting out?
I try to give them concrete tools, not just general advice. When a law student shadows me, I show them our color coded intake packets. Green for estate planning, blue for probate, yellow for business formation. Each has a checklist that matches our case management steps. It looks simple, but they can instantly see how systems reduce stress.
I also share a habit I use myself. I tell them to write the first paragraph last. Do the research. Build the plan. Then write an opening that tells the client, in two sentences, what is going to happen and what it means for them. It forces clarity. When young attorneys see how much calmer a client becomes after hearing a clear opening, they start to trust their own voice more.
People often talk about taking risks in business. How have you approached risk in your own career and life?
For me, risk has looked less like dramatic jumps and more like steady choices. Leaving New Jersey to move back to Attleboro was a decision that involved family, career, and community. It was not a flashy move, but it shifted my entire day to day life.
In the office, I try to name risks openly with clients. For example, with business owners, we talk about the risk of doing nothing. No succession plan is still a plan. It just leaves people guessing. When you treat risk as something you can describe and manage, rather than something to avoid thinking about, it becomes easier to act.
At home, I talk to my daughters about small risks they can take. Trying a new sport. Speaking up in class. Those moments build the muscle they will need later when the stakes are higher.
If someone is trying to inspire more confidence in their own work or ideas, where would you tell them to start?
Start with one person. Explain your idea or your plan to someone you trust, out loud, without slides. Pay attention to where you feel yourself rush or stumble. Those are the parts that need more work.
Then, build one small system around that idea. It could be as simple as a weekly time block to work on it, or a checklist you use every time. Systems are quiet, but they are what make confidence last. When you know what you will do next Tuesday at 9 a.m., even when you are nervous, you are much more likely to keep going.
I see that with clients, with my own work, and at home. Confidence usually follows clear steps, not the other way around.
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