Having grown up in a family of lawyers, Susan Filan learned at an early age about law and the impact it has on everyday citizens.

Filan, a former television legal analyst who recently became of counsel at Cohen & Wolf in Westport, said her father, retired Appellate Court Judge Frederick Freedman, taught her to “never humiliate or embarrass another lawyer” and to “always be completely candid toward the tribunal.” Filan is also the niece of retired U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas and her late great uncle Leo Nevas practiced law until he was 97.