McCarter & English today announced it is adding 10 lawyers and nine professional staff members from Burns & Levinson to three key practices in its Boston office, including seven partners, two special counsel, and an associate, the majority of whom are starting on October 1.
Joining the firm’s Trust, Estates & Private Clients practice are Partners Clifford Cohen, Steven Goodwin, Patricia Malley, and Mark Nowak; joining the Real Estate practice are partners Michael MacClary and Donald Vaughan; and joining the Business Litigation practice is partner Alan Lipkind. In addition, Special Counsel Lawrence Green and Peter Thomas will join its Business Litigation and Trust, Estates & Private Clients practices, respectively; and Talia Azzaretto will join as an associate in the Trust, Estates and Private Clients practice.
Also joining with the group are four paralegals—three in the Trust, Estates & Private Clients practice and one in the Real Estate practice—a fiduciary accountant in the Trust, Estates & Private Clients practice, as well as three legal assistants.
“We are excited about the opportunity to transition our practices to McCarter and support our valued clients from there,” said Steven Goodwin. “This firm has a strong history, a well-established platform, and a respected reputation for representing individuals and businesses in private client matters and real estate, and for achieving exceptional litigation outcomes. In addition, its core values and commitment to clients are well aligned with our own. We already feel at home in this welcoming, supportive environment.”
McCarter’s 20-member Trusts, Estates & Private Clients practice advises high net worth individuals, closely held businesses, financial institutions, charitable and non-profit organizations, and other clients on a broad range of matters, including estate and personal tax planning; charitable giving; estate and trust administration; and estate, trust, and fiduciary litigation. The group is highly skilled in advising individuals and families on all aspects of transfer and income tax planning, as well as in the fulfillment of their philanthropic goals. Ranked in Chambers High Net Worth Guide, the group is also renowned for its fiduciary counseling services that enable clients to navigate challenging situations to avert litigation, but is equally adept in handling contested matters in court or through dispute resolution mechanisms. This includes counseling fiduciaries, beneficiaries, and charitable organizations to find creative solutions to tax, fiduciary administration, and beneficiary relationship issues.
The firm’s 28-member Real Estate team assists clients in closing real estate transactions that span all areas of real estate, including financing, development, land use, acquisitions, and leasing. It has strong, long-standing relationships with clients in many industry sectors and has successfully navigated them through the upswings and downturns of the real estate market for decades. It is currently poised to assist clients in buying and selling decisions in the wake of recent changes in interest rates expected to stimulate new transactional activities.
“The arrival of these 10 accomplished Burns & Levinson attorneys in our Boston office continues to fuel our recent growth in New England around strategic needs for our clients,” said Maria Laccotripe Zacharakis, the Managing Partner for McCarter’s Boston office.
“We will be adding additional lawyers in our New England offices in the coming weeks; we look forward to continued expansion of McCarter’s premier practices to serve the firm’s clients,” said Joseph T. Boccassini, McCarter’s Firmwide Managing Partner.
New Attorneys in McCarter & English’s Boston Office
Trust, Estates & Private Clients Partners
Clifford “Cliff” Cohen has broad experience in trust law, estate planning, and administration for estates with complex assets, distribution schemes, and tax issues. He counsels individuals, couples, and families on structuring assets for use during their lives and for their beneficiaries in the future. Cohen has supervised and served as a fiduciary on many substantial estates and continuing trusts. He also advises professional and non-professional fiduciaries on all aspects of trust and estate administration. His clients often face concerns involving family disputes, finances, taxes, creditors, aging loved ones, disability, and inheritance issues.
Cohen is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law.
Steven Goodwin provides advice on estate and asset protection, estate planning, the settlement of estates, and the administration of trusts. Banks, trust companies, and other professional fiduciaries in the administration of complex estates and trusts come to him to resolve complex challenges. Entrepreneurs rely on him for his experience with the estate planning problems faced by business owners whose wealth is principally in non-liquid assets. Goodwin also advises clients on purchase and sale agreements, funded irrevocable life insurance trusts, charitable remainder and similar split interest vehicles, and represents them before federal and state tax examiners.
Goodwin is a graduate of Boston College Law School.
Patricia Malley advises individuals and families on estate planning and estate and trust administration. She focuses on helping transfer wealth to clients’ next generation through comprehensive gifting strategies and legal avenues while minimizing taxes, providing protection against creditors, and preserving assets. She also assists clients in managing the administrative details and legal transactions involved. Malley is also an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School.
Malley is a graduate of Albany Law School.
Mark Nowak’s practice focuses on strategic estate and tax planning, estate and trust administration, the operation of nonprofit organizations, and business succession planning. Additionally, he serves as a fiduciary for clients, helping them ensure the proper implementation of their plans. A contributing author of the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) practice manual “Drafting Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts” since its inception, Nowak was selected by MCLE to serve as one of three co-editors-in-chief of the manual’s revisions and served in that capacity through the 2022 revisions.
Nowak earned his L.L.M. in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. He is a graduate of Boston College Law School.
Real Estate Partners
Michael MacClary’s practice focus is retail leasing and general commercial real estate. He represents commercial tenants, including restaurant owners and franchisees in various retail industries, as well as landlords in Greater Boston. In addition, he has extensive experience with retail, office and warehouse leases, and subleases. MacClary counsels charter schools throughout New England on leasing, real estate conveyancing, financing options, and governance issues. He works closely with each school’s administration and trustees to help oversee the acquisitions and operation of their facilities and ensure compliance with state regulations.
MacClary is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School.
Donald Vaughan was formerly co-chair of Burns & Levinson’s Real Estate group. His practice focuses on the representation of parties in commercial and retail leases and subleases. He also represents lenders and borrowers in permanent, construction, and leasehold financing transactions, many involving tax credits and public or quasi-public financing sources. Vaughan’s experience includes commercial/investment real estate sales, acquisitions, and like-kind exchanges; commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions; residential real estate sales, acquisitions and development; and estate planning and administration, primarily with real estate as a major asset.
Vaughan is a graduate of Columbia University Law School.
Business Litigation Partner
Alan Lipkind has experience in litigation, arbitration, and mediation processes, representing clients in court and alternative dispute resolution proceedings as well as before local permitting boards. His clients often face disputes regarding property boundaries and use, waterfront legal concerns, including allocation of beach accretions and Chapter 91 issues, adverse possession claims, easements, and landlord/tenant disagreements. He also handles disputes regarding purchase and sale agreements, as well as construction and zoning matters. Lipkind has been a member of his local zoning board of appeals for more than two decades.
Lipkind is a graduate of Boston University School of Law.
Trust, Estates & Private Clients Special Counsel
Lawrence G. “Larry” Green is a seasoned litigator who has settled disputes and won cases in federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout the country in the areas of antitrust, bankruptcy and creditors rights, employment and non-competition, fiduciary duty, franchise law, intellectual property, and shareholders rights. During his career, he has developed deep knowledge of several industries, including commercial printing, equipment leasing, pharmaceuticals, restaurants/food service, and telecommunications. His clients range from closely held family-owned business to Fortune 100 entities.
Green received his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Peter Thomas’ practice focuses on all aspects of fiduciary litigation. A practical and candid counselor, he takes a personalized and multifaceted approach to addressing client needs. Thomas also enjoys the analytical aspect of practicing law, working through each case’s distinctive challenges to expertly formulate strategies, craft unique arguments, and creatively find solutions.
Thomas is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Law.
Trust, Estates & Private Clients Associate
Talia Azzaretto’s practice is focused on estate planning as well as estate and trust administration. She implements sophisticated planning strategies tailored to clients’ goals, including maximizing tax savings, planning for medical needs or long-term care, avoiding family conflict, carrying out charitable giving, providing financial security to loved ones, and keeping assets out of the wrong hands.
Azzaretto is a graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.