Practice Areas

Complex Criminal Litigation

Employment Law and Litigation

Environmental Litigation

Representation of Attorneys and Other Professionals

Plaintiffs' Personal Injury, Product Liability, Civil Rights and Consumer Litigation

Businesses and Other Civil Litigation

Academic Law

Representation of Juveniles and Persons with Mental Disabilities

Consultant and Co-Counsel Relationships

The Firm's Practice Areas

Complex Criminal Litigation

The firm has extensive experience in handling the most complex of criminal investigations and prosecutions, from murder cases turning on forensic evidence to complicated white collar criminal matters, including fraud, public corruption and money laundering cases.

Our approach, generally, is to take nothing for granted in the search for a just result for our clients. Thus, we customarily develop and present vigorous defenses to criminal charges. Our expertise in deconstructing the government's investigation and prosecution often results in the exposure of government misconduct and favorable relief for our clients.

We have established and implemented new constitutional rights for citizens, including rights of privacy and confidentiality in government investigations and the right of an accused to a "disinterested" prosecutor. In one celebrated case, our client was acquitted after we proved that police officers had committed perjury. We have, on many occasions, successfully challenged the admissibility of evidence against our clients on legal and scientific grounds. We argued the landmark case excluding all hypnotically-aided testimony as unreliable.

We have acquired a particular expertise in analyzing the methods used in government searches of computer media and in challenging the integrity of the results.

We are known for our "no-stone unturned" investigations and our persistence in seeking the discovery of exculpatory evidence in the hands of the government.

In sentencing, we utilize inventive approaches, and consult with skilled and knowledgeable experts to devise alternatives to strict sentencing guidelines and to achieve humane dispositions.

We often represent targets, subjects and witnesses in grand jury investigations. Through early investigation and intervention with the government, we have succeeded in avoiding or minimizing the charges and penalties, as well as the public embarrassment our clients would otherwise have suffered.

Employment Law and Litigation

Our comprehensive employment law practice involves representation of individuals, non-profit organizations and businesses. We handle discrimination and,harassment litigation in state and federal court and at administrative agencies, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and have successfully litigated claims of sex, race, age and disability discrimination.  We have represented many academics, both faculty and administrators, employed at local area colleges and universities in a variety of employment claims. 

We have obtained judgments or substantial settlements in cases ranging from race discrimination against the Massachusetts State Police to age discrimination cases against high-tech companies to sex discrimination cases on behalf of women working in non-traditional roles.  At the same time, we understand that litigation may not be the best method of resolving an employment dispute and regularly utilize other techniques, including mediation, to obtain the results sought by our clients in a less costly and more efficient manner.

We negotiate severance agreements and employment contracts, including non-competition agreements, with the same skill and knowledge of the issues that we bring to litigation.  We devote substantial time to counseling both employees and employers to resolve potential litigation matters. We also review employment policies and procedures and offer trainings for employees with respect to discrimination and harassment law.

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Environmental Litigation

We have significant experience in environmental litigation in the courts and before administrative agencies, in both the civil and criminal contexts. Our experience covers a broad array of environmental law and regulation, including oil and hazardous material releases and cleanup; hazardous waste handling; water pollution; asbestos abatement; wetland protection; and environmental insurance coverage litigation. We represent businesses, individuals, and citizen groups as both plaintiffs and defendants, and in private disputes as well as government investigations and enforcement actions. Our experience counsels that success for our clients depends on attending to the regulatory and scientific detail of these complex matters without losing sight of the "big picture", the ultimate objectives of our clients, their adversaries, and the law.

We represent the owners of property on Buzzard's Bay in a class action lawsuit regarding the April 27, 2003 oil spill.

For more information, click Buzzard's Bay Oil Spill or for frequently asked questions about the Buzzard's Bay Oil Spill, click here.

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Representation of Attorneys and Other Professionals

A significant part of our practice concerns the representation of professionals - including lawyers, doctors, nurses, psychologists - who are under investigation or accused of misconduct in disciplinary or judicial proceedings. We provide advice to attorneys on their ethical responsibilities in connection with ongoing matters.

We are well versed in the special problems posed by criminal investigations involving professionals, who often face parallel disciplinary proceedings.

We also defend professionals in civil liability actions, and provide advice as personal counsel when the client is defended by insurance counsel.

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Plaintiffs' Personal Injury, Product Liability, Civil Rights and Consumer Litigation

We have extensive experience and an impressive track record of monetary recoveries in civil litigation on behalf of clients who have suffered injury or death as a result of the wrongful conduct of individuals, businesses, government agencies and other institutions. We have a reputation for aggressive pursuit of our clients' rights to obtain full recovery for their losses, often on the basis of creative and innovative approaches.

Over the years, we have successfully represented scores of individuals who have been injured by harmful products or by negligent of other wrongful conduct of others,   numerous individuals who have been the victims of malpractice by their doctors, dentists and lawyers , and employees who have become ill from poor environmental conductions  in the workplace and. Ever since we opened our doors in 1973, we have been known for our advocacy of the civil rights of individuals who have been illegally discriminated against by employers and the government, who have been brutalized by police and prison officials, whose voting rights have been abridged and whose rights of free speech have been denied.

This area of our practice is driven by our commitment to see that our clients are fully compensated for the losses, injuries and injustices which they have suffered. Our clients can depend upon the many years of experience of the partners, and can be sure of their personal attention to each case. Because of our expertise, we are often asked by other lawyers to act as trial counsel in complicated civil litigation.

In an expanding area of our practice, we are becoming increasingly involved in class action litigation on behalf of groups of consumers, stockholders, mortgage borrowers, insurance policy holders and other persons who have been, injured by the deceptive, fraudulent and illegal practices of businesses.

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Businesses and Other Civil Litigation

We represent individuals and businesses in various commercial disputes, including claims and defenses of principals of closely held enterprises.  We provide a broad range of services for our clients' general civil litigation needs.  We also defend individuals and businesses who have been sued for a wide variety of alleged wrongs: such as, individuals and businesses sued for fraud, fiduciary violation, environmental contamination, premises liability, and numerous other types of claims. 

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Academic Law

We are known for our expertise in dealing with the unique and difficult legal problems that arise in an academic context. We represent professors, researchers and administrators in disputes with colleges and universities in connection with their appointment, promotion, tenure and discipline. We also represent students at both the college and high school level to ensure that they are treated fairly in connection with academic and disciplinary matters.

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Representation of Juveniles and Persons with Mental Disabilities

We represent juveniles in delinquency, disciplinary and educational and service entitlement proceedings.

We represent persons with mental health disabilities of various sorts, in criminal defense, mental health and service entitlement proceedings. These cases often require familiarity with a particularized area of both medicine and law, together with a sensitivity to the special needs of the client.

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Consultant and Co-Counsel Relationships

We are pleased to act as consultant or co-counsel to other firms or to represent co-defendants in areas of our expertise. In these cases, we make it a point to maintain a close collegial relationship with our fellow attorneys.

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