Boston Municipal Law Attorneys
Attorneys at Louison, Costello, Condon & Pfaff, LLP in Boston have unique and extensive experience representing the interests of municipalities; public employees, including police and teachers; public officials, both municipal and county; public agencies and school boards; and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The firm currently serves as town counsel for the towns of Mashpee, Blackstone, Chatham, and Foxborough.
Our law firm’s representation in the area of municipal law includes rendering legal opinions to municipal departments and officers and interpreting town bylaws and state statutes; defending civil rights, employment, complex and general negligence, property damage, public construction and contract claims; eminent domain and land use; assessment/Appellate Tax Board cases; collection of delinquent real estate taxes; and tax-title foreclosure actions. We also provide experienced representation in collective bargaining and labor dispute proceedings.
Partners Douglas I. Louison and Patrick J. Costello began their legal careers in 1985 as assistant corporation counsels for the City of Boston, representing the city in a wide range of administrative and judicial proceedings and engaging in the preparation of contracts, litigation documents, real estate instruments, and other miscellaneous matters on behalf of the city. Attorney Costello has extensive experience with the town meeting form of local government and has provided hundreds of opinions to city and town boards, commissions, and officers on a wide range of municipal legal issues. He also has extensive litigation experience in the fields of land use, construction, contract, eminent domain, and land damages.
Louison, Costello, Condon & Pfaff, LLP also serves as special counsel to municipalities and counties in a variety of areas, in addition to serving as negligence and civil rights defense on the county level as special assistant attorneys general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The goal of our firm is to provide each of our clients with top-quality, personalized legal services in a timely and cost-effective manner. While experience in municipal affairs is certainly a significant qualification for a town counsel, and our lawyers’ combined experience in municipal affairs speaks for itself, we believe that an equally important qualification is our ability, as a small firm, to provide direct communication and timely legal counsel from the individual attorneys a town expects to handle its affairs. It is not our goal to be counsel to as many municipalities as possible. Rather, our goal is to establish a town counsel relationship with a limited number of communities and to provide those communities with the comprehensive representation they expect.
We believe that an aggressive and proactive approach minimizes legal costs and our clients’ exposure to unnecessary litigation. While all attorneys at our law firm provide relevant services, accountability always lies with the partners. It is imperative that direct lines of communication be established between designated town officials, including boards of selectmen and town administrators, and the town counsel, avoiding duplication of effort and misunderstanding as to the intent and/or scope of services requested.
Our town counsel services are typically billed on an hourly fee basis. However, we can discuss alternative arrangements, including a flat-rate/retainer agreement or a split-fee/retainer agreement.
If you would like to speak with a member of the firm or if you have any other questions, please contact our Boston office. Our practice serves communities throughout Massachusetts.