Julia Braverman-Graham (portrayed by Erika Christensen) is the wife of Joel Graham and the mother of Sydney Graham and Victor Graham. She works as a corporate lawyer.
Life
Character Traits
Julia is the youngest out of her siblings, but seemingly closest to her brother Crosby. She is intelligent and also caring. Julia attended Stanford University. She is very competitive, both at work and at home. Although she takes her job very seriously, she is very involved with her family and the raising of her daughter, Sydney.
Season 1
In Season 1, Julia is introduced as the youngest sibling of the Braverman family. She is married to Joel Graham, who is a stay-at-home-dad while she works as a corporate lawyer. Because of her job, she has to work long hours and often doesn't have much time for her family. She becomes jealous of Raquel, a woman who works with her husband, Joel, on the PTA. This causes Julia to try to be closer to Sydney.
Season 2
In Season 2, Julia and Joel decide to try to have another baby. They find out later that Julia has a condition where she is going to have trouble getting pregnant, so they turn to adoption.
Season 3
In Season 3, Zoe, who works as coffee barista at Julia's firm, is pregnant, and after having no success with adoption agencies, Julia jokingly asks Zoe if she can adopt her baby. Zoe tells her that she cannot, and Julia is absolutely embarrassed. Zoe tells her that it is because she wants a closed adoption, but through the season, Julia becomes a maternal figure for Zoe. As a result, Zoe tells Julia that she can have her baby, but at the end of Season 3, Zoe gives birth and decides to keep the baby, destroying Julia in the process. Julia and Joel then decide to seek other options. In the last minutes of Season 3, the adoption agency brings a 9-year-old boy, Victor, to stay with Julia and Joel after his mother is incarcerated.
Season 4
In Season 4, Julia works on being a better mother to Victor, and consequently, her job suffers. She makes a huge mistake, and then quits after realizing that her focus is not going to be on her clients. After the adoption of Victor, Julia and Joel are unsure how to parent him due to his behavior. Eventually, they decide to adopt him and the whole family joins them in the courthouse.
Julia quits her job to spend more time with her children. She finds this transition hard and bonds with a father from the children's school, Ed, who lost his job and is now a stay at home father.
Season 5
In Season 5, Julia and Joel struggle within their marriage, and she grows closer to Ed. Eventually, she realizes that her friendship with Ed has turned into an emotional affair and goes to his house to end it. When Julia is there, Ed kisses her. After a second, she pulls away, saying that she is married. Soon, she tells Joel, who gets angry, asking her why he wasn't told immediately after it happened. Julia insists that she felt nothing on her end.
Joel continues to be cold to Julia and she suggests marriage counseling. Joel responds that the marriage isn't the problem: Julia is. Joel then decides to move out. The two go to a counselor to decide how to tell the children. When she asks whether it is a trial separation with hopes of reconciliation, Julia responds that it definitely is but Joel says he's not sure.
After he tells the children, they are devastated. When Joel leaves, the children complain that they are sick and need to call their father. Julia takes them to her parents house where Crosby and his family are staying. Once the children are out of the room, she breaks down and admits to her parents that her marriage might be over.
Near the end of Season 5, Julia begs Joel again for him to forgive her, but he still won't. She then proceeds to sleep with Mr. Knight, the headmaster for Adam and Kristina's charter school.
Season 6
At the beginning of Season 6, Julia is seen sleeping with her co-worker, Chris. The two of them work together at a law firm, where Julia has begun working. Though their relationship is casual, Chris admits that he likes her and has liked her since their freshman year of college at Stanford. The two start a more serious relationship while Julia insists that she and Joel sign the divorce papers. Soon, Joel admits that he will fight for Julia, and eventually, the two get back together after Chris breaks up with Julia. Joel moves back in, and the family is stronger than ever. In the series finale, Julia and Joel adopt Victor's half-sister. It is also revealed that Joel and Julia have a fourth baby — a biological son.