Hon. Stephen E. Neel (Ret.) has extensive experience resolving a wide spectrum of complex civil litigation having served 18 years as a trial judge on the Massachusetts Superior Court and 19 years as a trial attorney in private practice concentrating in complex civil litigation. He was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court in 1992 and presided in the Business Litigation Session during 2008 to 2010. Moreover, Judge Neel served on the Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and chaired the Superior Court’s Subcommittee on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Presided over trials representing the full range of civil and criminal cases in Superior Court
- Presided in the successful Business Litigation Session (the “BLS”) of the Massachusetts Superior Court during 2008 to 2010, resolving complex litigation involving:
- Business torts
- Corporate governance
- Employment agreements
- Intellectual property
- Negligence
- Product liability
- Professional liability
- Public agencies
- Securities transactions
- Shareholder claims
- U.C.C.
- Unfair trade practices
- Other complex claims involving construction, real estate, insurance, banks, financial advisers, and brokerage firms
- Managed and tried hundreds of civil cases in more than 18 years as a Superior Court judge
- Served for five years as Regional Administrative Justice for Civil Business for Middlesex County
- Served on Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution
- Chaired Superior Court’s Subcommittee on Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Handled and resolved complex civil litigation, including construction, securities, broker-dealer, and products liability cases, as a trial partner at Goodwin, Procter and Hoar and Herrick & Smith in Boston
Representative Matters
Judge Neel has tried or otherwise adjudicated a wide variety of cases, including:
- Administrative Law
- Health insurers’ challenge of state agency’s denial of rate increases
- Appeals of administrative agency decisions
- Business/Commercial
- Dissolution of limited partnership and LLC
- Consumer fraud involving brokerage firm
- Claim by bank for breach of assignment agreement and violation of U.C.C.
- Close corporation shareholder freeze-out
- Derivative action against bank arising from crash of mortgage-backed securities market
- Claim for breach of long-term utility power purchase agreement
- Class Action
- Class action against pharmaceutical company alleging false marketing
- Class action against smokeless tobacco producers
- Construction
- Big Dig tunnel collapse/wrongful death claim requiring management of multi-party litigation and coordination with parallel state and federal criminal proceedings
- Multi-party claims arising from leaks in cladding of high-rise building
- Mediated settlement of death claim arising from construction site heavy equipment accident
- Various cases alleging breach of construction contracts
- Employment
- Claims against departing employees for breach of restrictive covenants
- Alleged sexual harassment, national origin, age, and gender discrimination, and retaliation
- Claim for termination without cause and breach of Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan
- Environmental
- Cases involving insurance issues, cost recovery, and leaking underground storage tanks
- Insurance
- Interpretation of policy exclusions and coverage provisions in claims alleging environmental contamination, asbestos/chemical personal injury, and construction accident
- Class action against automobile insurers seeking post-award interest on arbitration awards
- Intellectual Property
- Claims for theft of trade secrets, confidential information by departing employees and their new employers
- Professional Liability
- Claims of legal malpractice, fraud on court by law firm
- Alleged negligence/breach of contract by architect
- Claims for breach of duty by officers, directors
- Medical malpractice claims
- Securities
- Action to enjoin shareholder vote on merger because of alleged undervaluing of shares
- Claim under Uniform Securities Act for alleged material misrepresentations in solicitation by hedge fund
- Action to enjoin corporate acquisition because of alleged material omissions in proxy statement
- Special Master/Discovery Referee
- Numerous jury-waived trials and hundreds of discovery disputes in Superior Court/Business Litigation Session