Michael T. Sullivan

• Recognized in the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Construction Law and Litigation – Construction
• November 2021: Named to the Fellowship of the Construction Lawyers Society of America, an invitation-only, selective and limited membership international association of the world’s best construction lawyers.
• 2017 – 2023: Recognized by “Best Lawyers in America®” in the field of Litigation – Construction
• 2015 – present: Named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the field of Business Litigation

Michael has handled many significant legal matters including:

Construction

• Defended an engineering firm in a jury trial involving alleged property damage, obtaining a jury verdict against the plaintiff, and legal fee reimbursement from a co-defendant construction company.
• Defended an engineering firm against multiple lawsuits arising from the alleged failure of a municipal sewer system and $40,000,000 in repair-and-replacement damages, securing a modest settlement on the eve of trial.
• Defended an American engineering-design firm against a federal lawsuit involving alleged damages over $10,000,000 in connection with a construction project in Central America.
• Served as insurance-coverage counsel for an engineering firm sued by a western United States municipality seeking alleged damages exceeding $100,000,000, facilitating a settlement of the lawsuit requiring no financial contribution from his client despite numerous insurance-coverage disclaimers.
• Representing a major university in a lawsuit seeking repair-and-replacement damages arising from a defective artificial turf playing field.
• Representing a municipality in a lawsuit against construction and bonding companies, seeking the damages necessary to repair and complete a seawall and revetment project the construction project left incomplete.
• Defended mechanical engineering firm against federal lawsuit alleging over $10MM of design errors, securing a modest settlement on the eve of trial.
• Defended a general contractor in a lawsuit alleging multiple catastrophic injuries arising from a worksite incident, securing a settlement that involved no payments by (and legal fee reimbursement to) his client.
• Obtained a $1MM-plus recovery from a real estate developer in a lawsuit brought by a design firm to obtain compensation for unpaid services.
• Filed suit and obtained very substantial settlements for (1) a housing cooperative that suffered extensive damages from hundreds of defective windows installed during a construction-rehabilitation project, and (2) a major professional services firm whose world headquarters was not sufficiently sound-proofed during its new office fit-out.
• Represented and secured favorable settlements for multiple new-home owners seeking damages associated with latent defects.

Real Estate

• Prosecuted claims for two property owners against tenants who misused the owners’ properties, obtaining in each case a trial verdict for (and legal fee reimbursement to) his client.
• Represented a property owner in a lawsuit against a restaurant tenant who wrongly claimed it was entitled to a lease extension, obtaining a trial verdict mandating the tenant’s eviction and legal-fee reimbursement to the client.
• Represented numerous property owners seeking and opposing zoning relief before various local-regulatory boards and commissions.

Business Litigation

• Represented group of business owners in lawsuit deciding applicability of Governor’s COVID-19 pandemic orders, participating in one of the first-ever “remote” court hearings in Massachusetts.
• Prosecuted a defective software claim, handling the resulting arbitration hearing in Japan, on behalf of a Massachusetts technology company against its Japanese subcontractor.
• Represented two nurses in a lawsuit against their former employer seeking unpaid commissions, securing favorable settlement on the eve of trial.

Professional Liability

• Defended a podiatrist against a lawsuit alleging negligence resulting in an amputation, obtaining a jury trial verdict after a week-long trial.
• Defended numerous medical, legal, and other professionals against wrongful-death, unfair trade practice, and other serious claims.

Appeals

• Argued and briefed numerous appeals, including state Supreme Court matters involving issues of first impression regarding statutory expert-witness, settlement-payment, and insurance-priority requirements, and a Massachusetts Appeals Court matter addressing the Housing Court’s subject matter jurisdiction.
• Obtained Appeals Court reversal of Land Court decision granting summary judgment against his client on subject matter jurisdiction grounds.

• Past Chairman and Member, Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea Board of Zoning Appeals
• Coach and Board Member of local youth sports teams and organizations
• 1992-93: Trial Courts of Rhode Island, Law Clerk
• 1990-92: Catholic University Law Review, Member

• December 1, 2022: NACL Law Symposium, “Protecting Your Client’s Larger Business Interests Amidst a Construction Dispute”