Noteable Cases

I successfully represented a client seeking to uphold a potentially multi-million-dollar alimony award. To uphold the award, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held for the first time that, under the state's alimony law, a pattern of savings during the marriage should be treated as part of the parties' "marital lifestyle" when determining the amount of alimony.

Oral argument video available at https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/pop.php?csnum=SJC_13473 

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https://www.umassd.edu/news/2025/law/shaun-spencer-lawyer-of-the-year.html 

https://masslawyersweekly.com/2024/07/23/the-most-important-opinions-january-june-2024/ 

https://bostonbar.org/journal/openshaw-v-openshaw-savings-can-be-considered-as-a-part-of-a-recipient-spouses-need-for-calculating-alimony/ 

https://www.connkavanaugh.com/articles-and-resources/openshaw-v-openshaw-decision-sets-precedent-by-considering-savings-in-massachusetts-alimony-calculations/ 

I successfully secured reversal of summary judgment in wrongful death action against asbestos manufacturers. In the opinion, the Massachusetts Appeals Court articulated for the first time the standard that plaintiffs must meet to prove causation in asbestos exposure cases. In recognition of the difficulty facing victims of decades-old asbestos exposure, the court allowed recovery based only on evidence that the victim was exposed to the defendant's asbestos-containing product and that the exposure was a "substantial contributing factor" to the plaintiff's disease.

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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=38ea668d-450b-4575-b5c9-28f89b4e6628 

https://www.eckertseamans.com/app/uploads/Mass-Tort-Litigation-Alert-May-2011.pdf 

https://www.harrismartin.com/publications/1/asbestos/articles/12734/mass-court-reverses-judgment-for-2-defendants-affirms-for-another/ 

I successfully preserved a life insurance payment for my clients, who had been awarded the policy proceeds of their late son's life insurance policy in light of his failure to designate a policy beneficiary. In the case, the United States Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by the decedent's ex wife, who claimed that the policy proceeds should have been awarded to the decedent's estate.

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Amelia Dantzer, District Court Permitted to Take Place of Administrator After Granting Interpleader, 23 Journal of Compensation and Benefits 8 (Mar.-Apr. 2007)

https://www.lifeinsurancebeneficiarydisputelawyers.com/blog/2023/4/1/massachusetts-court-decides-that-parents-instead-of-spouse-receive-life-insurance-benefits 

On brief with Jonathan M. Albano and Bingham Dana, LLP, we persuaded the appeals court to vacate a trial court order holding the Boston Globe and a Globe reporter in contempt for failure to disclose confidential sources for a newspaper article. 

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Sacha Pfeiffer, Court protects anonymity of Globe sources in Dana-Farber case, Boston Globe, Feb. 27, 1999, at B4.

On brief with Jonathan M. Albano and Bingham Dana LLP, we persuaded the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reject Microsoft's attempt to subpoena the confidential research notes of Harvard and MIT professors conducting interviews for a book on the "browser wars" between Microsoft and Netscape. To reach this result, the First Circuit had to extend the existing "reporter's privilege" to the academic context.

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Hiawatha Bray, Microsoft loses bid for research notes; Appeals court rules professors' notes for book on Netscape are protected, Boston Globe, Dec. 16, 1998, at C2.