Primary Practice

I counsel families that are navigating the legal, financial and emotional process of family separation or loss.

My approach to divorce is centered on the strategic restructuring of a shared household into two distinct entities — each positioned to thrive independently. This encompasses not only the equitable division and allocation of assets/debts and income/expenses, but also thoughtful attention to child custody, well-being and stability.

My approach to estate administration focuses on the orderly settlement of a decedent's affairs, principally the meticulous marshalling, accounting, and retitling of assets, as well as thoughtful attention to the decedent's legacy and intent.

Clients and their families benefit from specialized experience in complex asset structures, intellectual property, and nuanced valuation, and they similarly benefit from specialized experience with children as an educator. Additionally, in most family transition cases I work in concert with wraparound professionals, including financial advisors, accountants, appraisers, insurance and real estate specialists, consultants, health experts, other educators, and other lawyers.

Case Types

Family

• Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements

• Divorce Mediation & Litigation

• Asset & Debt Division

• Alimony & Spousal Support

• Contempt & Modification

• Child Custody (Legal & Physical)

• Child Support

• Child Welfare (DCF)

• Guardianship

• Surrogacy & Assisted Reproduction

• Grandparents' Rights & Visitation

Estate

• Testate & Intestate Administration

• Formal, Informal & Voluntary Probate

• Marshalling, Inventory & Distribution

• Estate Accounting & Reconciliation

• Resolutiuon of Debts & Taxes

• Will Contests

• Trust Administration

• Trust & Fiduciary Litigation

• Guardianship & Conservatorship

Constitutional

Briefing the U.S. Supreme Court on constitutional sovereign immunity as applicable to arms of state in maritime actions

Fifth Amendment right to remain silent analysis in police officer misconduct investigation

Counsel to public school on applicability of constitutional search and seizure law for the institution of a breathalyzer test at school functions

Federal appeal on constitutional issues attendant to Department of Labor rulings and conflicting workers’ comp precedents

Constitutional litigation treating public teachers’ union contract renewal during fiscal crisis

Appellate

Briefing federal appeals court on ownership of artifacts recovered from shipwreck Titanic

Defense of national and international law firms against claims for malpractice and breaches of fiduciary duties, including novel, precedent-setting theories won before the Louisiana Supreme Court (e.g., fn.5, p.13)

Appellate review of substantial tort liabilities for abuse of process and invasion of privacy on multiple grounds

Family/Divorce

Complex international divorce with substantial offshore assets and conglomerate business interests

Equitable reformation of domestic separation agreement based on mutual mistake and judicial estoppel

Divorce with four children, significant assets, second family support, and overturning DCF findings of neglect

Defense of contempt action on school choice and funding with contemporaneous child support modification

Divorce with five children, DCF involvement, diverse assets, and long-term periodic/gross alimony dispute

Amicable divorce mediation with three children, multiple properties with in-law tenancies, and competency/fitness issues

Custody dispute regarding child born out of marriage, competency/fitness issues, and GAL involvement

Divorce with one child, one child from prior marriage, and QDRO of public pension and annuity

Chapter 119, § 39D grandparents' visitation rights involving DCF and competency/fitness

Trust reformation to segregate benefits owed to disabled sibling from benefits owed to other siblings, including qualification for state benefits

Real Estate

Declaratory action and trial of Chapter 140, § 32R right of first refusal case involving manufactured housing community and substantial media presence

Pre-trial litigation concerning six consolidated cases on municipal land licensing, including dismissal of pending appeals and coordinated catalog of motions in limine, and drafting of settlement agreement for the resolution of all interconnected matters

G.L. c. 61A conversion of agricultural land for development in conjunction with strategic procedural approach derived from financial counsel

Prosecution of G.L. c. 40B appeal of comprehensive permit, including leading and defending depositions of developers and public officials, drafting and coordinating discovery program, procuring expert materials, pre-trial motion practice, drafting project settlement agreement, and analysis of agency discretion and interlocking state/local regulatory standards

Defense of specific performance action concerning conveyance and financing of commercial real estate, including prosecution of counterclaims for fraud, stringing, slander of title, and abuse of process

Art/Media

Establishment of nonprofit entity managing the theatrical rights of an Academy Award winning film

Drafting of technical production contract for art exhibition in major New York City museum, including extensive protections for highly controversial content

Counsel fine artist with piece permanently acquired for lobby of 7 World Trade Center (New York City) on creative independent contractor agreements

Negotiation and drafting of licensing agreement with a major media production company and Fortune 10 subsidiary

Corporate/Commercial

Negotiation and drafting of 20,000 sf commercial lease in Brooklyn NY

Drafting of profit-sharing compensation agreement for company executives, including designing formulaic computations drawing on the IRC

Obtaining of permission from the MA Division of Banks to use the prohibited word “trust” in a newly established corporate entity

Prosecution of loss recovery litigation on behalf of online equipment rental company, including design of master loss recovery file for integration with backend web platform to enable efficient extraction of determinative data

Corporate nonprofit start-up qualification, documentation and drafting, including IRS 1023, document retention, conflict of interest, and whistleblower policies

Labor/Employment

Injunctive relief for employer under non-disclosure agreement with former employee asserting counterclaims for discrimination and wrongful termination

Sexual harassment investigations and company-wide interviews in hostile work environment case that was favorably settled

Defense of state legal agency in employment discrimination matter concerning age and association, with extensive e-discovery utilizing custom coded metadata queries

Representation of city in union ERISA withdrawal litigation, including drafting of federal complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief

Representation of retrocessionaire in Department of Labor workers’ comp suit involving insolvent reinsurer and state guaranty entity

Drafting of public employment legislation for state senate finance committee

Personal Injury

Six-figure settlement of medical negligence action against largest healthcare provider in a New England jurisdiction

Defense of creative studio in personal injury suit through liquidation of claim and shift of coverage pursuit to plaintiff via arbitration, and coordinate stipulation of dismissal with prejudice

Environmental

Litigating the post-Katrina levee, flood and environmental catastrophes in New Orleans, and a broad array of matters proceeding through governmental systems disrupted to their cores

Monitoring of water testing on behalf of client sued for toxic leaching across commercial property lines, with motion in limine for suppression of improperly obtained evidence

Schools

Development and drafting of arguments for disposition of $250M in school property casualty proceeds due on losses caused by Hurricane Katrina

Regulatory contestation on behalf of charter school blocked from proceeding before the MA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Past Works

Affiliations

Education

• Harvard University (Policy)

• Emory University (Law)

• Providence College (Philosophy)

Teaching

• Harvard Law School (Litigation)

• Harvard College (Advisory)

• Phillips Academy, Andover (Law)

• Cardigan Mtn. School (English)

Fellowship

• Harvard Kennedy School (Center for Public Leadership)

• Harvard Kennedy School (Center for State and Local Government)

• Harvard Graduate School of Education (Program on Education Policy and Governance)

Licensure

• Massachusetts

• New York

• Connecticut

• Rhode Island

• Louisiana

• Mass. CPCS (Court Appointed — Children and Family Law Division)

• Mass. G.L. c. 233, § 23C Qualified Mediator

Organizations

• American Bar Association

• Massachusetts Bar Association

• Boston Bar Association

• Plymouth County Bar Association

• Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation

• National Council on Family Relations

Personal

I live in Duxbury MA with my five sons ages 3 to 13, and my wife Emily, who is the Chief Customer Officer of Plaid, a fintech firm based in San Francisco — we enjoy gardening on our property, making soundscapes in the family's music studio, and reading from among the 1000 books in our home library. I remain active in schools and education, and in supporting the Duxbury business and charitable communities, as well as the town's several churches.

My side-projects have included recording and touring internationally as a multi-instrumentalist, co-leading the Blue Mind 3 conference with Wallace "J" Nichols, lecturing in the MIT Architecture department on the design of public spaces for civil discourse, directing the Legal Studies program at Cape Cod College, twice addressing audiences in South Korea on modern leadership methods on behalf of LG and Samsung, and founding a non-profit organization that built a school in rural South Africa.