Ferrier R. Stillman

Ferrier represents individuals in her family law and divorce practice and health care companies in her senior housing, long-term care, and health law practices.  She is co-chair of Tydings’ family law and health care practice groups.

She has been named to The Daily Record’s Circle of Excellence, a distinction earned by being named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women three times.  Maryland’s Top 100 Women was created to recognize outstanding achievement by women as demonstrated through professional accomplishment, community leadership, and mentoring.  The Circle of Excellence is awarded for sustained achievement.  She is also a recipient of The Daily Record’s Leadership in Law award, given for significant accomplishments in the legal profession and the community.

Family Law

With offices in downtown Baltimore and Towson, Ferrier and the family law team have been representing men and women in complex domestic relations cases for decades.

She regularly negotiates sophisticated separation and property settlement agreements that involve the valuation and division of assets such as businesses, partnerships, investments, and retirement plans.  She often handles cases in which custody, visitation and access, alimony, and child support are in dispute.  When issues such as the valuation of businesses and real estate, tax consequences, and estate planning arise in divorces and premarital agreements, Ferrier has the resources of other Tydings' lawyers in various areas of law at her disposal.

A trial attorney as well as a negotiator, Ferrier has tried numerous family law cases throughout Maryland.  In one of the largest divorce cases on the Eastern Shore, she argued successfully for the appointment of a receiver to control the opposing party’s assets – a rare ruling in a divorce case in Maryland.

Ferrier negotiates and drafts sophisticated prenuptial and post-marital agreements.

She has also represented parties in international and interstate custody disputes involving the Hague Convention and other international treaties, as well as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.

Ferrier has represented clients in same-sex marriages in drafting and negotiating marital settlement agreements, pre- and post-marital agreements, and domestic partnership agreements.

Ferrier is experienced in all areas of family law, including:

  • All aspects of divorce cases;
  • Property division and monetary awards;
  • Custody and visitation disputes (domestic, interstate, and international);
  • Child support and related issues, such as payment for children’s health care expenses and private school;
  • Alimony;
  • Pre- and post-divorce planning;
  • Separation agreements, marital settlement agreements, and parenting agreements;
  • Visitation and custody cases for grandparents, other relatives, domestic partners, and step-parents;
  • Adoptions (foreign and domestic) and second parent adoptions;
  • All aspects of divorce and pre-martial agreements for same-sex couples;
  • Guardianships for special needs children and incapacitated relatives;
  • Paternity cases;
  • Appeals; and
  • Mediation.

Health Care and Senior Housing

Ferrier represents senior housing and long-term care facilities as well as other health care providers before state and federal regulatory agencies, as well as in commercial transactions and litigation.  Her health care background is extensive.  Prior to joining the firm, she served as Assistant Secretary for Business and Regulatory Services at the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DHMH) (now the Maryland Department of Health (MDH)).  In this position, she oversaw the regulation and licensing of all of Maryland’s health care facilities and individual health care practitioners. She also was the Governor’s representative for passage of the most significant revisions to assisted living law in many years and oversaw implementation of significant new nursing home regulations that are still in effect today.

Highlights of her health care experience include:

  • Representing nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, ambulatory surgical centers, group homes for the developmentally disabled, home health care agencies, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), hospices, and other types of health care facilities before the Office of Health Care Quality in many different types of regulatory procedures, including, but not limited to, initial licensure, involuntary discharges, preparing for surveys, drafting plans of correction, preparing clients for IDRs, case resolution conferences, settlements, civil money penalties, findings of deficiencies and sanctions up to and including license revocation and decertification from the Medicaid and Medicare programs, and all regulatory procedures necessary to buy and sell health care facilities of all types in Maryland;
  • Representing skilled nursing facilities and other health care providers before the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on reimbursement, civil money penalties, and other issues;
  • Representing national and Maryland corporations in the acquisition, financing, and sale of senior housing and long-term care facilities in Maryland;
  • Obtaining quick review and approvals of licensing requirements for senior housing, long-term care, and health care providers from MDH;
  • Representing CCRCs throughout the process of obtaining a Certificate of Registration from the Maryland Department of Aging;
  • Handling all the health law aspects of a bankruptcy case in which a company that owned more than 40 nursing homes was put into a receivership, resulting in the sale of the remaining assets, the outstanding Medicare and Medicaid cost reports going back numerous years, as well as litigating a wide of variety of issues affecting this health care company;
  • Negotiating settlements with various divisions of MDH and CMS;
  • Representing health care businesses and practitioners in HIPAA and other confidentiality issues;
  • Representing a national Maryland-based pharmaceutical company in regulatory issues before the Maryland Board of Pharmacy;
  • Representing senior housing, long-term care, home health, and other health care clients before the Office of Administrative Hearings on issues such as Medicaid reimbursement, revocation of licenses and other sanctions, Medicaid enrollment for residents, and other regulatory actions;
  • Compliance counseling for senior housing, long term care, and other health care companies, such as compliance with the Affordable Care Act and other federal and state regulations and reimbursement requirements;
  • Negotiating and drafting Managed Care contracts, vendor contracts, and other agreements;
  • Litigating in federal court, on behalf of a major Maryland nursing home, against CMS over nursing home enforcement regulations, resulting in CMS changing a key Medicaid regulation in favor of skilled nursing facilities;
  • Advising companies on employment issues in health care facilities;
  • Being appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to serve as a health care ombudsman in the bankruptcy of a residential services agency;
  • Representing individual practitioners, including, but not limited to, physicians, psychologists, social workers, and professional counselors before the Health Occupations Boards;
  • Representing senior housing, long term care, and health care companies in investigations by various government agencies; and
  • Representing a cannabis industry business before the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.

Leadership

Ferrier has taken on a variety of leadership roles within the legal profession. She is a former co-chair of the Bar Association of Baltimore City's Family Law Committee, and is active in the Baltimore and Howard County Bar Associations' Family Law Committees.  She was a member of the Custody Subcommittee of the Maryland Judicial Conference. She has been appointed a Volunteer Mediator for family law cases in the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

In addition to her activities within the legal profession, Ferrier is a strong advocate for the Baltimore business community.  In 2017, she was elected to the board of directors of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and to its Executive Committee in 2020. 

In 2022, The Center Club recognized Ferrier as one of its recipients of the Women in Business Trailblazer award, which honors women who have demonstrated outstanding achievement through professional accomplishments in business, serving in leadership roles at non-profit and other community organizations, and providing opportunities for other women to fill similar roles.  Also, in 2022, The Daily Record named her to its Family Law Power List, which honors family law practitioners who have demonstrated outstanding achievement through professional accomplishments.

Additionally, she served on The Daily Record’s Editorial Advisory Board from 2012-2017.  By appointment of the Office of the Mayor, she also served on the Governing Board of Baltimore’s Head Start program.

Through her involvement in a variety of non-profit organizations, Ferrier advocates for health care, long-term care, and senior housing providers.  She served as a member of the board of directors of the Beacon Institute, a statewide organization specializing in education for the senior housing and long-term care industries.  She also serves on LifeSpan Network, Inc.’s (LifeSpan) Legislative and Public Policy Committee as well as being a member of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland (HFAM).  She was chair of the board of a statewide health care provider, Planned Parenthood of Maryland.  She is also a former board member of the Maryland Assisted Living Association, chair of the health law section of State Law Resources, a national organization, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Healthy Maryland (a part of Med-Chi).  She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the Health Law Section of the American Bar Association.

Ferrier has written numerous articles on a wide range of family law topics. She is also a frequent lecturer on many family law topics to fellow attorneys, accountants, financial advisors and planners, lenders, psychologists, clinical social workers, and other advisors, including the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants, the Financial Planning Association of Maryland, the Maryland Psychological Association, and Maryland Society of Clinical Social Workers.

She has also given presentations on a variety of health care topics to LeadingAge (the national association for non-profit senior housing and long-term care facilities) as well as both the HFAM, and LifeSpan at their annual conferences almost every year for the past twenty years.  She has also given presentations to LeadingAge Maryland, the Maryland Ambulatory Surgical Association, the Maryland Hospice and Home Health Care Association, and the Maryland Assisted Living Association.

Maryland Super Lawyers, a publication of Law & Politics, has recognized Ferrier for her family law practice, and in 2015 and 2016, named her one of the state’s top 50 female lawyers.  Best Lawyers in America 2024 has recognized her for her Family Law practice. She is AV® Peer Review Rated – the highest possible peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

 

                    

 

Attorney Profile
Education
  • University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D., 1987)
  • Vassar College (B.A., with honors, 1984) Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions
  • State of Maryland
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Activities
  • Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, Board of Directors 2017-; Executive Committee, 2020-
  • LifeSpan Network, Inc., Legislative and Public Policy Committee, frequent lecturer
  • Health Facilities Association of Maryland, frequent lecturer
  • American Bar Association, Family Law and Health Law Sections
  • American Health Lawyers Association, Post-Acute & Long Term Services Practice Group
  • Maryland State Bar Association
  • Bar Association of Baltimore City, Family Law Committee, past co-chair
  • Baltimore County Bar Association, Family Law Committee
  • Howard County Bar Association, Family Law Committee
  • Women's Bar Association
  • Maryland Judicial Conference, Custody Subcommittee
  • Maryland Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
  • Baltimore Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
  • Panelist, The Daily Record's "Generation Z Women: The Future of Politics" webinar, a part of its Women Who Lead series
  • Beacon Institute, Board of Directors, 2019-2021
  • Center for Healthy Maryland, Board of Trustees, 2012-2018
  • Baltimore Courthouse and Law Museum Foundation, Board of Directors, 1995-2017
  • The Daily Record, Editorial Advisory Board, 2012-2017
  • Planned Parenthood of Maryland, Board, 2006-2016; chair, 2010-2014
  • Baltimore's Head Start Program, Governing Board, 2010-2012
  • State Law Resources, Inc., Board of Directors, 2006-2009
  • Med-Chi, Privacy and Confidentiality Task Force, 1998-1999
  • Greater Baltimore Committee, Leadership Program, Class of 1999
  • Neighborhood Design Center, Board of Directors, 1988-1998; chair, 1994-1996