Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

For twenty-five years, the firm has represented an array of outstanding corporations, nonprofit institutions and individuals in highly complex and urgent matters.  Clients come back to us, again and again, because they know that the firm will act quickly to protect and advance their interests in tough going. They know that they will get clear advice and the execution of a well-conceived legal strategy. We know that when the dust settles, our clients must be certain that they've received the very best representation. That's the challenge and satisfaction of our work.

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). Since 2004, Law & Politics has recognized Mr. Fitch as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in its annual list published in Boston Magazine. Only 5% of the lawyers in Massachusetts are awarded that designation. He has been ranked at the highest level of legal ability, "AV", in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory for twenty-five years.

Mr. Fitch has tried approximately 30 cases in the federal and state trial courts of the Commonwealth. He also has extensive experience representing clients in International Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration and Mediation.

Mr. Fitch 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 clients in complex real estate litigation, (including title disputes, zoning, environmental, and land use matters), and probate litigation, (for instance, will contests, actions for breach of fiduciary duty, petitions for partition and other equitable proceedings).

In recent engagements, Mr. Fitch:

-obtained a settlement of $18,250,000 for our client Kington Holdings Limited.  Mr. Fitch had previously won a partial final award of liability on behalf of Kington in proceedings before an Arbitrator appointed by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution. The Arbitrator found that LoJack Equipment Ireland, Ltd. wrongfully terminated an agreement with Kington pursuant to which Kington was granted an exclusive right to create and operate a LoJack stolen vehicle recovery system in the People's Republic of China. The settlement was reached before the damages phase of the arbitration commenced.

- won an award of $2,943,320 for the firm's client, a museum, against its former president, who had stolen assets of the museum by means of a sophisticated, fraudulent scheme.

- 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.

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.

Areas of Practice

• Real Estate and Land Use Litigation
• Business Litigation
• Bank Litigation
• Insured's Coverage Litigation
• Employment Litigation
• Probate Litigation
• Litigation of Financially Complex Divorces
• Tort and Product Liability Defense

Representative Cases

• Podell v. Lahn, 38 Mass.App.Ct. 688 (1995)
• FDIC v. Elio, 39 F.3d 1239 (1st Cir. 1994)
• Latino PAC, Inc. v. City of Boston, 716 F.2d 68 (1st Cir. 1983)
• McCord v. Jet Spray International Corp., 874 F.Supp. 436 (1994)
• Conte v. Marine Lumber Co., Inc., 66 Mass. App. Ct. 505 (2006)
• Conte v. Marine Lumber Co., Inc., 447 Mass. 1109 (2006)

West Practice Categories

Banking & Finance Law, Business & Commercial Law, Employment Law -- Employer, Family Law, Insurance Law, Litigation & Appeals, Federal Trial Practice, State Trial Practice, US Supreme Court, Probate & Estate Administration, Products Liability Law, Real Estate Law, Land Use & Zoning, Toxic Torts

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts, 1982
• Rhode Island, 1995
• U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court District of Rhode Island
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Dover Conservation Commission (Member)

Classes and Seminars

• Title Insurance, MCLE - Panelist, 1996

Past Employment Positions

• Bingham, Dana & Gould, 1982 - 1984

Education

• Boston College Law School, Boston, Massachusetts, 1982
  J.D.
• Williams College, 1974
  B.A.
  Honors: cum laude
• Yale University, 1978
  M.P.P.M.

Published Works

• Author, "The Enforcement of Foreign Money Judgments in Massachsetts,", 81 MASS LAW REVIEW 65, 1996

Address

One Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108

Phones

(617) 830-1221
(866) 643-0550 (Toll Free)

Faxes

(617) 542-1542

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.sally-fitch.com