Attorneys

"The relationship between a client and his lawyer is an intimate one based upon trust and confidence. Clients typically turn to us for representation in highly complex and urgent matters, which are vitally important to them. My promise is that their trust and confidence in us is not misplaced. We aggressively and intelligently attack the problems brought to us to acquire a firm grasp of the facts and identify all of the legal theories that advance the client's interests, as soon as possible. The satisfaction of my work is in finding the right strategy, whether through litigation in the courts or by way of alternative dispute resolution processes, which obtains an outcome that my client and I firmly believe is the best. That's what this is all about."

Jonathan Fitch founded the firm with Francis Sally in 1984. Prior to that both had been trial lawyers at the Boston firm of Bingham, Dana & Gould. He is a graduate of Williams College (B.A., cum laude, 1974), Yale University, (M.P.P.M., 1978) and Boston College Law School, (J.D., 1982). For the last three years, Mr. Fitch was named a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer" by Boston Magazine. He has been ranked at the highest level of legal ability, "AV", in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory for over twenty years.

Mr. Fitch has tried approximately 30 cases in the federal and state trial courts of the Commonwealth. He focuses his practice in business litigation including, for instance, commercial contract litigation, officers and directors litigation, executive employment and non-competition litigation, and disputes among the stakeholders in closely held corporations, trusts and other private business entities. The institutional clients he has appeared for include The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, Fleet National Bank, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Massachusetts Electric Company, Boston Edison Company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, PAREXEL International Corporation, J. Baker, Inc., Lycos, Inc., Airgas Corporation, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Sankaty Head Golf and Beach Club, Inc. and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Mr. Fitch also represents families and individuals in complex real estate litigation, (including zoning, environmental and land use matters), probate litigation, (for instance, will contests, actions for breach of fiduciary duty, petitions for partition and other equitable proceedings), and divorce actions involving complex financial issues.

In recent trials, Mr. Fitch:

- obtained a jury verdict on multiple counts in Middlesex Superior Court on behalf of individuals who had been defrauded in the purchase of a home. The jury found the lawyer who represented our client in the purchase of the home liable for legal malpractice and that the lawyer and the law firm representing the seller had committed fraud. The Court later ruled that the law firm and a real estate brokerage company had violated the consumer protection act, (Mass. Gen. Laws Chapter 93A), and awarded our clients double damages and attorneys fees.

- obtained a judgment in the Land Court awarding the firm's client specific performance of an agreement for the purchase and sale of an historic residence on Nantucket. The Court found that the Seller had not used reasonable efforts to remove a federal tax lien and ordered the property conveyed to our client free from the lien.

- obtained a judgment in the Land Court on behalf of the owner of valuable undeveloped land near Dionis Beach on Nantucket. Over the objection of a neighbor, the Court found that the Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals did not err in finding the premises entitled to grandfathered status and therefore suitable for the construction of a single family home.

- obtained a judgment for divorce in the Probate and Family Court. In a case involving substantial marital assets, the Court ruled in favor of our client regarding the interpretation and unenforceability of certain provisions in a prenuptial agreement.

Mr. Fitch's reported appellate decisions run the gamut of complex civil matters; examples are Latino PAC, Inc. v. City of Boston, 716 F.2d 68 (1st Cir. 1983), stay denied, 463 U.S. 1319 (1983), (election enjoined because districts violated one person, one vote), Heghnian v. Parexel International Corp., 2003 WL 25586579 (1st Cir. 2003)(upholding dismissal of employment discrimination claims), FDIC v. Elio, 39 F.3d 1239 (1st Cir. 1994) (appointment of trustee in fraudulent conveyance), McCord v. Jet Spray International Corp., 874 F.Supp. 436 (1994)(enforcement of foreign judgment), Conte v. Marine Lumber Co., Inc., 66 Mass. App. Ct. 505 (2006), Rev. Denied, 447 Mass. 1109 (Sept. 11, 2006)(claims of estoppel by deed and adverse possession defeated) and Poddell v. Lahn, 38 Mass. App. Ct. 688 (1995) (methodology for determining common area allocations). His publications include "The Enforcement of Foreign Money Judgments in Massachusetts," 81 Mass. Law Review 65 (1996).

Mr. Fitch is admitted to practice in State and Federal Courts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.