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Practice Focus
John has a complex business litigation and transactional practice. He provides representation to clients in a wide variety of settings including construction projects, business transactions, real estate ventures, bankruptcy and environmental remediation projects. He works closely with clients to minimize risk and avoid litigation through effective contract negotiation and selection of appropriate business structures.
A significant portion of John’s practice is devoted to entrepreneurial clients for whom he acts as an outside general counsel and business advisor in such diverse areas as formation of new business entities and divisions, developing employee policies and procedures, negotiating contracts and prosecuting or defending claims in litigation, arbitration or other forums. John’s overarching goal is to assist clients in avoiding claims and providing practical advice on how to do so. While John’s experience spans multiple industries, he has extensive background in representing members of the construction industry for whom he has, negotiated contracts, prosecuted and defended payment disputes, change order claims and lien claims. John’s construction expertise encompasses both the private and public sector.
John is an adjunct faculty member at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., where he teaches a graduate level course entitled “Managing the Legal Environment of Business.” He also served as Town Counsel for the Town of Maynard, Mass. and serves as Special Town Counsel for the Town of Wayland, Mass.
- Negotiated a $10 million contract for the construction of a new hotel and a $15 million dollar contract for brownstone renovation in downtown Boston.
- Following a multi-day trial, prevailed in an action to set aside a deathbed conveyance of a family farm, thereby allowing the family to continue farming the land.
- Successfully defended claims for environmental malpractice against a national environmental remediation and consulting firm.
- Negotiated a $10 million contract for the construction of a new hotel and a $15 million dollar contract for brownstone renovation in downtown Boston.
- Following a multi-day trial, prevailed in an action to set aside a deathbed conveyance of a family farm, thereby allowing the family to continue farming the land.
- Successfully defended claims for environmental malpractice against a national environmental remediation and consulting firm.
- Won a $360,000 arbitration award against a site contractor who abandoned a job following the reduction of a payment requisition. The site contractor argued that the reduction was pretextual and motivated by desire to engage a different contractor.
- Obtained a jury verdict in a contract dispute over the design and manufacture of a piece of machinery to be utilized in a clean room.
- Successfully defended a multi-million-dollar arbitration between feuding partners of a national travel agency.
- Brought an action for a determination that a 17-acre tract of land in the middle of a residential subdivision had been acquired by the developer through adverse possession. Court granted title company summary judgment, thereby saving millions of dollars in potential damages.
- Overturned a decision of the Architectural Access Board that would have required the installation of an elevator and other handicap access modifications to a two-story dental office condominium building. Decision effectively saved the dentists’ livelihood, as the cost of compliance would have been prohibitive.
Education
B.A., Cornell University
J.D., cum laude, Suffolk University Law School
Memberships and Admissions
John is admitted to practice before the federal and state courts of Massachusetts and the state courts of New Hampshire. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the First and Third Circuits. He is a member of the Massachusetts, Boston, and New Hampshire Bar Associations.
Community Involvement
John is a member of the Associated Builders & Contractors, the Construction Specifications Institute, and the Builders Association of Greater Boston. He is active in his local congregation and served on its board of directors. He served as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Town of Wayland, MA. John also teaches a graduate course at Babson College in Wellesley, MA.
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