- Find a Lawyer
- /
- United States
- /
- Commercial Litigation
- /
- Massachusetts
Find Lawyers in Massachusetts, United States for Commercial Litigation
Practice Area Overview
Litigation increasingly occurs in various venues, from state and federal courts to private arbitrations and administrative hearings. Proceedings can involve business-to-business disputes or any number of government agencies. Understanding the motivations and outlook of each of the litigation participants is important for determining weak points to exploit and strong points that will persuade the audience in question. During the past decade, commercial litigators have seen a dramatic uptick in multidistrict and inter-disciplinary litigation, making the stakes higher, the cases more complex, the parties more numerous and the discovery more complicated and unwieldy. Firms that are able to develop and implement a creative legal approach to each individual problem, efficiently focus on the key legal and factual issues, and master and manage the various aspects of these complex matters will be the busiest in the years to come.
In the current challenging economic climate, commercial litigators are under increasing client pressure to keep costs in check, which has both sides testing the efficacy of alternative fee arrangements and the scope of reasonable discovery. Whether the “death of the billable hour” is ultimately realized, the keys to a commercial litigator’s success will continue to be strong client relationships, thought leadership, practical management skills, deep experience, and personal commitment.
Select a city from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
Cities
Jeffrey Alitz is Chair of Freeman Mathis & Gary’s Construction and Design Law national practice section and is a partner in the Boston office. For over two decades, he has been a nationally recognized A&E attorney who has tried cases throughout New England defending an array of construction and design professionals. Mr. Alitz ‘s mediation and arbitration experience, particularly concerning construction and real estate disputes is extensive. Over his multi-decade career, Mr...
Lisa G. Arrowood is a Founding Partner of Arrowood LLP. Previously a Founding Partner of Todd & Weld LLP and a partner and associate at Hale and Dorr, she has over thirty years' experience practicing law in the areas of business litigation, employment disputes, medical malpractice, personal injury and legal malpractice. She is well known for her ability to try to a jury, judge or arbitrator breach of contract claims, medical malpractice cases, legal malpractice cases, sexual harassment an...
Ray Ausrotas is a founding partner of Arrowood LLP. He has a diverse commercial and general litigation practice, representing individuals, shareholders and corporate officers, and governmental and business entities, in a broad variety of disputes (including over non-competes and trade secrets), and administrative agency matters. He handles all manner of claims through trial and appeal, in state and federal court, including those sounding in breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of confid...
Russell Beck is a business, trade secrets, and employee mobility litigator, nationally recognized for his trade secrets and noncompete experience. He was invited to the Obama White House to develop guidelines for the proper use of noncompetes and has been cited as an expert on trade secrets and noncompetes by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the White House, the Treasury Department, National Public Radio, PBS, the BBC World News Service, Le Monde, and many others. Russell has over...
A seasoned litigator and certified mediator, Phil Brown handles complex disputes—in business, trade secret, employment, zoning, security and appellate cases—with creative and effective strategies that have won him the respect of other attorneys and the appreciation of his wide-ranging clients, both plaintiffs and defendants. Since his career began over 20 years ago at the internationally recognized law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Phil's skills have helped him ac...
James R. Carroll heads the litigation practice of Skadden’s Boston office. Mr. Carroll has broad experience — including jury trial experience — in consumer products, insurance, subprime-related issues and securities class action defense, as well as a broad array of complex civil litigations. Mr. Carroll is handling a number of purported class actions for major national life insurers and is defending a variety of purported class and individual actions in the life, disability ...
Moving between the public and private sectors, Bill Codinha has led some of the highest profile governmental investigations conducted in the past 20 years and now defends corporations and individuals caught up in similar investigations. Bill brings his unique and effective experience to the defense of all of his clients. What do you focus on? I leverage my 30+ years of experience defending individuals and corporations who are the subject of government investigations. As a prosecutor, I tried ...
Michael F. Connolly, Partner and Co-Chair of Rubin and Rudman’s Litigation Department and a member of Rubin and Rudman’s Executive Committee, is a seasoned litigator with extensive civil and criminal trial experience. Across federal, state, and administrative courts and agencies, Michael has tried numerous cases involving complex securities, commercial and real estate litigation. He has represented clients in shareholder litigation, securities fraud, management disputes, business ...
Career Overview Partner and co-founder of Arrowood LLP, Jed DeWick is a litigator and trial lawyer who has successfully represented businesses and individuals in federal and state court, as well as before arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Jed’s broad range of experience in complex and high stakes civil litigation includes cases involving claims of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriat...
Sandy Dibble is a member of the Litigation, Health Care and Employment practice groups. Prior to joining the firm, Sandy served as a law clerk for Justice Francis J. Quirico of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Since then, he has concentrated his practice in resolving problems and disputes for individuals and for-profit and non-profit enterprises through advice, negotiation, litigation, arbitration and mediation involving a wide range of matters including health care, antitrust, trade...
Jonathan W. Fitch, managing partner, has over 30 years of experience representing clients in complex domestic and international business disputes involving: international commercial agreements; intellectual property; technology license agreements; trademark and patent agreements; distribution and supply agreements; software licensing; technology support agreements; executive employment contracts; employment discrimination; proprietary information; invention assignment; non-solicit and non-com...
Jeff Francis is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully represented clients in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation matters throughout the U.S. His practice includes litigation involving patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret disputes; technology development and/or licensing; large loss fire investigations, commercial property and business interruption insurance; and commercial disparagement, defamation and harassment. One focus of Jeff’s practice is ...
RICHARD M. GELB is a partner with the Boston trial firm of Gelb & Gelb LLP where he represents clients in civil and criminal litigation and regulatory proceedings in the financial services and health care areas. He received his B.A. from New York University and J.D. from Boston College Law School. Mr. Gelb is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Commercial Litigation and Securities Litigation and New England Super Lawyers . He is a co-author of MCLE’s Massachusetts E-Disc...
Thomas P. Gorman is a partner in the firm's Litigation Department and chair of the firm’s Probate Litigation Practice Group. Tom represents plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of matters. Tom’s litigation experience includes representing public bodies as well as private corporations, individuals, and associations in litigation matters such as probate and trust matters, insurance, personal injury, commercial disputes and torts, real estate, construction, and intellectual pr...
Neil Hartzell is a Partner in Freeman Mathis & Gary’s Boston and Providence offices. Mr. Hartzell is a trial and appellate lawyer and has extensive experience in a broad range of matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation including commercial disputes, antitrust, false claims act and state whistleblower, eminent domain litigation, real estate, securities litigation and investigations, FINRA proceedings, directors and officers, business torts, tr...
Warren Hutchison is a Partner in Freeman Mathis & Gary's Boston and Providence offices. He is a trial and appellate lawyer with experience in a broad range of civil litigation matters for both corporate and individual clients. Mr. Hutchison's areas of practice include unfair competition, trademarks, trade secrets, partnerships, breach of warranty, intellectual property, professional liability of architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, investment advisors, financial planners, real e...
Robert J. Kaler is a trial and appellate lawyer specializing in large-scale, complex commercial litigation, including business, financial, securities, trade secret, intellectual property, technology systems, healthcare, medical devices, fraud and unfair competition law, major project engineering/construction, and commercial contract cases, including jury and non-jury trials, arbitrations, class actions, and appeals on behalf of publicly-traded and privately held corporations; major banks and ...
Kevin G. Kenneally is a Partner and Office Chair in Freeman Mathis & Gary's Boston office. He brings over 25 years of local and national experience in complex litigation including multi-district mass tort and class action litigation. He has a demonstrated track record of success in high stakes trials, mediation and litigation management. Mr. Kenneally is a national counsel for exposure and products liability matters and represents an international franchisor. He repeatedly has been recogn...
Jason Kravitz heads up Nixon Peabody's IP Litigation group. Jason is a trial lawyer and his practice focuses on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, privacy, and false advertising disputes. He has litigated cases involving a broad range of technologies, including software and hardware, business methods, personal care products, wireless devices, footwear, dental implants, and online advertising applications. What do you focus on? I focus on litigating and resolving intellectual property...
John C. La Liberte is a partner in the firm's Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice in business litigation, bankruptcy related litigation, complex commercial disputes, including intellectual property and trade secret related litigation, product liability litigation, and commercial landlord/tenant disputes. John serves as the firm’s General Counsel. John’s expertise includes real estate litigation, employment discrimination/wrongful termination matters, insurance cove...
Roger A. Lane is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP where he serves as chair of the Boston Litigation Department. He is a member of the Securities Enforcement & Litigation and Private Equity & Venture Capital Practices and the Technology Industry Team. He has significant experience representing clients involved in complex commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on corporate law disputes, stockholder and federal securities litigation, and related risk management issues. M...
Steve LaRose is deputy chair of the Private Investment Fund Disputes team. He is a skilled commercial litigator who works with clients to resolve their business problems, particularly where disputes arise in the areas of private equity and hedge funds, the securities laws and SEC investigations, corporate governance, partnerships, tax credit investments and financial services. Steve also leads the pro bono initiative for the firm’s Boston office. What do you focus on? My practice focuse...
Ralph T. Lepore III is a partner in the Litigation Section and serves as chair of the Directors Committee. Mr. Lepore, a trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience, practices in the area of general civil litigation. He has experience in the areas of product liability, environmental litigation, toxic and mass tort litigation, general commercial litigation, aviation, drug and pharmaceutical, and insurance coverage litigation. Mr. Lepore has pro hac vice admissions in several states, includin...
Dan practiced at the firm between 1987 and 2005, before leaving to become General Counsel at GSI Group, a NASDAQ traded company with a highly diversified portfolio of laser, precision positioning, specialty optics and laser-based system products. He rejoined the firm in 2011 and manages the Litigation Practice. During his career, Dan has tried numerous cases throughout the country in both state and federal courts. His practice includes commercial business disputes involving mergers and acquis...
Thomas F. Maffei is Of Counsel in the firm’s Litigation Department and an experienced mediator. Tom has extensive experience in civil litigation, including legal malpractice cases, bar disciplinary matters, business litigation cases, insurance defense and coverage matters and construction cases. He often acts as a mediator or arbitrator and has been retained as an expert witness on civil litigation and legal ethics issues. Tom is a Fellow of the American College of Trial lawyers, Americ...
Matthew C. Moschella is chair of the firm's Litigation Department and partner in the Litigation and Employment Departments. Matt represents companies and individuals in a wide variety of civil matters in state and federal courts across the country, as well as in arbitration proceedings. His employment litigation practice includes representing employers concerning complaints filed against them with state and federal administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.