Complex Tort Defense

• Obtained a Norfolk Superior Court defense verdict for the subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company. Plaintiff subrogated insurance company had sought recovery for a significant property damage loss at a construction site. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour. Judgment entered, dismissing the claim, and awarding the firm’s client its costs.
• Successfully defended a Fortune 500 company in a fire case. Court dismissed case following cross-examination of plaintiff’s “cause and origin” expert and conclusion of plaintiff’s case. Court also enforced award as to client’s costs and a partial award for attorneys’ fees

Professional Liability

• Obtained a Suffolk Superior Court verdict for a prominent structural engineering firm. The client had sought recovery of significant professional fees and faced a counterclaim for malpractice relating to the design and construction of a retail superstore. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before awarding the firm’s client the full amount owed, and rejecting the counterclaim.
• Successfully defended a $7 million professional liability claim that Lloyd’s of London and a major subprime lender had filed in the Delaware Chancery Court against the insurer broker for the lender. The decision was affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court.
• Successfully enforced an attorney’s right to a shared contingent fee under a contract with attorney’s former co-counsel. Defeated the defense that the firm’s client had committed malpractice in the handling of the underlying matter, and convinced the trial court that the former co-counsel had falsified evidence and committed perjury. Judgment entered for the full amount of the client’s fee, plus all legal and expert witness fees.

Corporate / Transactional

• Represented an investor in acquiring a $200 million loan package from a major lender. Representation included negotiating an agreement with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office that permitted the client to acquire the loans free from an injunction that had issued against the seller of the loan portfolio.

Employment Litigation / Counseling

• Obtained summary judgment in the Suffolk Superior Court Business Litigation Section (Van Gestel, J.) invalidating client executive’s post-employment restrictions as unreasonably broad.
• Represent numerous senior executives, from mid-management to CEO level, in the negotiation of employment and severance agreements.
• Advise clients and negotiate agreements with respect to stock options and related rights, change-in-control provisions, fringe benefits, and post-employment restrictions, and other fiduciary obligations.
• Regularly advise small and large businesses on employment issues, and file or defend suits where necessary to enforce or protect client’s rights and interests.
• Obtained summary judgment in the Suffolk Superior Court Business Litigation Session for a senior executive, reforming the non-competition obligations in the executive’s employment agreement by reducing the restrictive period from five years to eighteen months.

Business Litigation

• In March 2021, Russell tried the second post-Covid Middlesex County jury case under full safety precautions and involving a dispute between two neighbors involving cross-allegations of trespass, nuisance, and negligence arising from flooding of the properties, among other issues. Russell reported his experience in a feature article in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Following trial, Russell persuaded the court, after hearing, to order the opposing parties to tear down a portion of fence that the court determined was erected in violation of the so-called Massachusetts Spite Fence statute.
• Obtained a Middlesex Superior Court verdict for two dentists who performed a scientific study based on alleged false representations of the defendant. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before awarding the firm’s clients the full amount sought and then doubling the award under chapter 93A (unfair business practices). The Court further awarded attorneys’ fees and costs.
• Represented a minority shareholder in a derivative action under Delaware law alleging claims against the majority shareholder for breach of fiduciary duties. After a two-week trial, the court ordered the majority shareholder to issue a significant dividend and to credit the corporation for excessive interest charges on loans.

Insurance Coverage Disputes

• Russell obtained summary judgment for a major insurer in a case litigated in the Connecticut Superior Courts holding that a $44.2 MM liquidated damages penalty following a power plant explosion was not covered by a standard comprehensive general liability (“CGL”) policy.
• Obtained summary judgment in the Superior Court of New Jersey (Somerset County) for a major professional liability insurer that its $5MM policy did not provide coverage for an underlying federal suit but that coverage instead was with the successor carrier. The court further awarded all attorneys fees incurred by the firm’s client in defending the underlying claim. The case was resolved just before the court was about to rule on the client’s motion for attorneys’ fees in prosecuting the coverage action.
• Obtained summary judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts for a major professional liability insurer defeating coverage for a $3 million claim against an errors and omissions policy. The decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Reported Cases

• Underwriters at Lloyd’s vs. National Installment Insurance Services, Inc. 2007 WL 4554453 (Del. Ch. December 21, 2007) and 2008 WL 2133417 (Del. Ch. May 21, 2008) (and both affirmed summarily on appeal by Delaware Supreme Court on November 18, 2008)
• Massamont Insurance Agency, Inc. v. Utica Mutual Insurance Co., 489 F. 3d 761 (1st Cir. 2007) (affirming district court)
• Massamont Insurance Agency, Inc. v. Utica Mutual Insurance Co., 448 F. Supp 2d 329 (D. Mass. 2006) (Young, C.J.)
• Herbert A. Sullivan, Inc. v. Utica Mutual Insurance Co., 439 Mass. 387 (2003)
• Utica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Hall Equipment, Inc., 73 F.Supp. 83 (D. Mass. 1999)
• Heno v. FDIC, 20 F.3d 1204 (1st Cir. 1994)
• Heno v. FDIC, 815 F.Supp. 507 (D. Mass. 1992)
• Saltwater Sportsman, Inc. v. B.A.S.S., Inc., 685 F.Supp 12 (D. Mass. 1987)
• Technical Facilities of America, Inc. v. Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc., 24 Mass. App. Ct. 601 (1987)
• Bibbo v. Mulhern, 621 F.Supp. 1018 (D. Mass 1985)

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts

Court Admissions

• Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
• United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• United States Court of Appeals for the First and Fourth Circuits
• United States Supreme Court
• United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Numerous pro hac vice admissions throughout the United States

Education

• Boston College Law School, J.D. magna cum laude (1977)
• Harvard College, B.A. cum laude (1974)

Awards & Recognition

• Best Lawyers in America® (2021-2025), Specialties: Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Construction, Litigation – Insurance, Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Massachusetts Super Lawyers in Business Litigation (2004-2024)
• Designated as “Top Lawyer” by Boston magazine under Insurance (2022) and Commercial Litigation (2024)
• Recognized as a “Top 100 Super Lawyer” in Massachusetts (2006, 2008, 2009, 2017, and 2018) and in New England (2008 and 2009)
• Chambers USA, Labor and Employment Law (2007-2009)
• Received an AV Peer Review Rating, the highest rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Lawyers Directory

• International Association of Defense Counsel, Member
• American Bar Association, Member
  • Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Member
  • Labor and Employment Practice Section, Member
• Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
  • Judicial Administrative Counsel, Former Member
• Boston Bar Association, Member
• Massachusetts Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
• Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, Former Hearing Officer
• Structural Engineering Certification Board (SECB), Board of Directors, Stakeholder Director

Articles & Publications

• Co-author, “No Case is Too Big to Notify a Claims-Made Insurer,” November 21, 2022
•  Author, “Jury Trials in Time of COVID: One Lawyer’s Account;” Originally published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, April 15, 2021
• Frequently quoted/interviewed in media, including Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, New England Cable News, and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
• Co-author, “Massachusetts Passes New Lien Law to Protect Design Professionals“, Structural Engineers Association Massachusetts (SEAMass) Newsletter, 2011
• Co-author, Defending Your Client’s Choice of Forum, 66 DEF. COUNSEL. J. 562, 1999

Presentations

• Instructor, Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop
• Numerous lectures to client groups
• Panelist, legal education programs for the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations.
• Panelist, legal education programs in the areas of business and tort litigation for the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE)