Working closely with professionals in the financial and health care fields, Deborah’s elder law and estate planning practice includes planning for disability, estate and long term care planning, public benefits counseling, Medicare and Medicaid claims, applications and appeals, preservation and transfer of assets, facilitation of long term care placements, end of life decisions, estate and trust administration, special needs planning, and guardianships.

Deborah’s practice is based on the philosophy of helping her clients to maximize their resources in order to achieve the best possible quality of life.

Born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut, Deborah graduated with honors from Boston College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and received her Juris Doctor degree in 1984 from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago.  In 1993, she completed intensive training in Mediation.  She is admitted to the state and federal court bars of Illinois (1984)(now on inactive status) and Massachusetts (1986).  Because Elder Law is such a broad and ever-changing practice, Deborah devotes many hours each year attending formal and informal continuing legal education programs so that she stays on top of the latest developments.

Prior to founding The Shore Law Firm with her husband Peter Shore in September, 2000, Deborah was a member of the Litigation Departments of the Boston firm of Warner & Stackpole, and the Chicago firm of Arnstein, Gluck, Lehr, Barron & Milligan.  Her practice at those firms concentrated on defense of products liability matters, representation of health care providers in regulatory, medical malpractice, quality assurance, risk management and premises liability matters, and representation of corporations and individuals in general civil and commercial litigation.  She joined a small elder law firm in Medfield, Massachusetts after a hiatus from the practice which she spent being a full-time mom and devoting time to civic and charitable activities.

Deborah is an active member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (“NAELA”) and the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA (“MANAELA”).  She has served as a member of the Board of Directors of MANAELA, and co-edited the chapter’s monthly legal publication from 1999-2006.  She is a Past President (2004-2005) and current member of the Bristol County Estate Planning Council.  She has also served on the Boards of Directors of The Arc of Bristol County (where she was Chairperson of the Guardianship & Trust Management Committee), HealthCare Options, Inc., a local private duty health care agency, and the Hebron Food Pantry, Inc. Since November, 2009, she is one of only a handful of attorneys in northern Bristol County who has been accredited by the VA to prepare, present and prosecute veteran’s benefits claims.

Deborah is a frequent lecturer on elder law, long term care issues, and estate planning for legal, financial, and health care professionals, seniors, caregivers, support groups, and other civic audiences.  She was recognized in 2011 by the Massachusetts Teachers Association Retired Teachers for her many years of service to the organization.

When Deborah is not practicing law, she is cooking, yard-saleing, reading, and party and event planning. She and Peter live in North Attleboro and are the proud parents of Michelle (a 2012 summa cum laude graduate of Brandeis University with a Masters in Social Work from University of Maine, currently working in NYC) and Heather (a 2016 summa cum laude graduate of Binghamton University, now in rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College in NYC).