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 MICHELLE N. O'BRIEN
SHAREHOLDER
Michelle N. O'Brien is an accomplished litigator who obtained one of Massachusetts' highest trial verdicts in 2005. She has more than twenty years of experience in environmental law in legislative, regulatory and litigation settings.
Ms. O'Brien handles environmental and land use permitting and related litigation for various types of development including residential homes, commercial buildings, waterfront properties, and solid waste facilities. She defends companies in environmental enforcement matters at the federal, state, and local levels. Ms. O'Brien represents private parties in cost recovery and property damage claims involving releases of oil and hazardous materials. She also assists clients with real estate transactions involving contaminated properties.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. O'Brien was a Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General in both the Environmental Protection Division, where she brought cost recovery and enforcement actions under M.G.L. Chapter 21E, and the Trial Division, where she represented state agencies and employees in state and federal courts. She was a law clerk to the Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court and a legislative aide to the House Chairman of the Massachusetts Legislature's Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture.
Ms. O'Brien is an appointed member of MassDEP's Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee. She is a former co-chair of the Boston Bar Association Environmental Law Section and a former chair of its Solid and Hazardous Waste Committee. She is an associate member of the LSP Association, the organization for licensed site professionals and others involved in contaminated site assessment and remediation. In 2007 Ms. O'Brien received the LSPA Member Award for her contributions to the association. She volunteered her time to prepare an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of the association, and their position prevailed. She is also a founding member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Society for Women Environmental Professionals.
Ms. O'Brien has been actively involved in the Lesley University Alumni Association, where she served two terms as president, and the University's governing board. In 2004 she received the Alumni Achievement Award for her service to the University. She is currently co-chair of the Lesley University Centennial Steering Committee. Ms. O'Brien is also a former vice-chairperson of the Saugus Planning Board. She is a frequent speaker on environmental law topics before bar associations and industry groups.
Ms. O'Brien is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for environmental law. Chambers USA, publishers of America's Leading Lawyers for Business, notes her "tremendous successes in litigation." She is also listed in America's Registry of Outstanding Professionals and has been named a Massachusetts SuperLawyer by Boston Magazine.
Ms. O'Brien graduated magna cum laude from Lesley University and earned her J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Maine, and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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