"Our clients often need immediate assistance in matters of great urgency. We are a team of professionals accustomed to time pressure, who are prepared to advocate for our clients on short notice. We pride ourselves on responding quickly, efficiently, and effectively when a client contacts us with a pressing need."

Jennifer E. Greaney has spent a decade lawyering in Massachusetts courts, during which time she has represented clients at all phases of litigation - from pre-litigation negotiation through trial and appeal. Jennifer has appeared on behalf of clients in courts throughout the Commonwealth, including Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Hampden, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Worcester Counties. She regularly argues substantive motions in Superior and District Courts, and recently completed a jury trial in Middlesex County in a commercial contract case. Jennifer has also argued before a three-member panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Jennifer's litigation practice is varied and has included defense of utility companies in personal injury actions, employment law matters, and general commercial contract matters. The bulk of Jennifer's practice has, however, been focused in two substantive areas: real estate litigation and bank defense.

Real Estate Matters

Jennifer represents landlords and tenants in both complex and simple commercial lease disputes, including eviction proceedings brought in summary process sessions. Jennifer has also handled a variety of title problems, such as those involving easements and adverse possession of land. She handles planning and zoning appeals, including appeals from rulings of Historic District Commissions. Jennifer has handled conveyancing disputes, most typically cases involving attempts to enforce purchase and sale agreements. Matters representative of Jennifer's real estate dispute practice include:

• Winning summary judgment ordering remand in an appeal from a Historic District Commission's decision to refuse Sally & Fitch's client a certificate of appropriateness for a driveway;
• Winning a motion to dismiss that fully disposed of an appeal from an Historic District Commission's ruling in favor of another Sally & Fitch client;
• Successfully opposing a motion for lis pendens on the ground that a purchase and sale agreement was not enforceable against Sally & Fitch's client, resulting in the plaintiff's voluntary dismissal of the case at its outset;
• Serving as lead author of an Appeals Court brief in a complicated title case involving unusual restrictive covenants and a claim for adverse possession;
• Representing a commercial landowner regarding an easement for a shared driveway in a densely-developed urban area; and
• Representing the proposed purchaser of a hotel property who sought to enforce a purchase and sale agreement.

Bank Defense

Jennifer has defended banks in disputes involving checks, wire transfers, and automated clearing house transfers. She is also experienced in representing banks in their capacity as trustee process defendants. Jennifer's bank defense practice has included briefing and arguing several recent summary judgment motions, all three of which resulted in dismissal of all claims brought against Sally & Fitch's client. In one case, the plaintiff sought to recover on an allegedly-stolen cashier's check that had been indorsed by the plaintiff as payee. The Court agreed that the instrument was properly accepted by the defendant bank. In another matter, the Court dismissed claims concerning allegedly fraudulent withdrawals from the plaintiff's account made through transactions at teller windows and automated teller machines. In the third recent matter, the Court enforced a 60-day notice requirement in the former account holder's agreement, barring all claims brought in a "check fraud" case arising from alleged theft of checks from the plaintiff's home.

Educational and Professional Background

Jennifer spent two years as a litigation associate with Goulston & Storrs, P.C. prior to joining Sally & Fitch in 2001. A lifelong resident of Massachusetts who grew up in the Pioneer Valley, Jennifer is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross. Prior to beginning law school, she worked as a daily newspaper reporter for four years, including more than three years spent covering the Blackstone Valley for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Jennifer earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 1999. At graduation, she was awarded the Melville M. Bigelow Scholarship Award, presented to the student showing the greatest promise as a scholar and teacher of law. Jennifer is an elected town meeting member and a youth sports coach in her community. She is a member of New England Women in Real Estate and a Director of the Holy Cross Lawyers' Association. She is also active in the Women's Bar Association, serving as both a committee co-chair and a senior member of a mentoring circle.