Municipal/Administrative Law



Firm attorneys have broad experience in administrative and municipal law, representing clients with applications and petitions before myriad state and municipal authorities throughout the Commonwealth, such as the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Labor, the Division of Insurance, and the Department of Social Services, as well as municipal Planning Boards, Zoning Boards of Appeals, Conservation Commissions, Boards of Health, and Licensing Boards. In addition to individuals and small companies, firm attorneys have successfully represented large hotel, restaurant and retail operations, as well as commercial and residential real estate developers, in a variety of applications and petitions. The firm has the benefit of a number of attorneys who have served or currently serve as municipal officials in their residential communities, including the former Chair of the Ashland Board of Selectmen and the current Chair of the Westwood Zoning Board of Appeals, which provides our attorneys with the advantage of a municipal perspective.

Firm attorneys are adept at navigating clients through the often Byzantine application procedure of state and local authorities, while simultaneously working (and negotiating) with officials to ensure petitions are complete and compiled and presented in a concise and efficient manner that affords the maximum chance for approval. Among recent representative matters, the firm has:

  • Completed transfer of lottery agencies and liquor licenses for a chain of restaurants in connection with a transaction involving an $8 million sale of assets
  • Secured liquor licensing for a restaurant chain in the new Patriot Place development in Foxborough, Massachusetts
  • Obtained subdivision approval for a large South Shore residential development
  • Secured liquor licensing for a large MetroWest hotel
  • Obtained special permits for construction of North Shore dock
  • Obtained signage and setback variances for a large supermarket chain
  • Defended large Boston hotel in underage service of alcohol sting