John is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer representing businesses, individuals and institutions with a focus on real estate-related civil litigation. This includes eminent domain and other real estate and business valuation issues as well as land use, permitting, environmental and other regulatory matters.

Prior to joining the firm, John was an Assistant Massachusetts Attorney General for over 20 years, where he practiced as a trial lawyer defending state agencies in a variety of civil lawsuits. For much of that time, John’s practice centered on eminent domain and related land use matters. John was appointed Senior Counsel and Supervisor responsible for overseeing and supervising the defense of all real estate cases filed against the state, including claims in Land Court and eminent domain jury claims in Superior Court.

Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, John practiced for over five years at Burns & Levinson in the General Trial Department, where he represented clients facing complex commercial and civil litigation in state and federal courts.

While John’s legal experience is predominantly in civil litigation, he has also handled criminal litigation, including trial and appellate work, both as a defense attorney and, for a short time, as a prosecutor.

John has lectured and given presentations about eminent domain to various groups and was invited by the Federal Highway Administration’s National Highway Institute to be a “Subject Matter Expert” as part of a team designing an eminent domain course to be offered nationwide to real estate professionals.

John attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine for his Freshman and Sophomore years. He then attended the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, for his Junior year, after which he took a “gap year” when he was awarded a one-year teaching fellowship by the German Academic Exchange Program. As part of that fellowship, John taught full time for a year in a German secondary school. He then completed his undergraduate education by attending the University of Rhode Island for his final year, from which he received his bachelor’s degree.