Massachusetts Civil Litigation

Kenneth B. Walton is the Managing Partner of the Boston and Hingham offices of Lewis Brisbois and national chair of the Architects & Engineers Practice. Ken is also vice-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice, and a member of the Professional Liability, General Liability/Excess, and Complex Business & Commercial Litigation Practices. Ken focuses his trial practice in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York on the defense of professional liability, employment, and general liability matters, including the defense of architects, engineers, trucking and transportation companies, stockbrokers, lawyers, financial broker/dealers, healthcare providers, doctors, nurses, and professionals, directors and officers, insurance agents, and real estate brokers. Ken also handles complex commercial civil litigation matters for public and private clients. Ken is admitted to the bar and represents clients in Federal and State courts, in both jury and non-jury cases, in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York. Ken has handled hundreds of trials, mediations, arbitrations, and administrative hearings throughout the country. Ken is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and also serves as a panel member on medical malpractice tribunals and as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. Ken has been recognized for his expertise in civil litigation defense work in national and local Super Lawyers publications over twenty times, and has been recognized as a Go To Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyer Weekly, where one peer described him as “the best trial attorney in Massachusetts representing design professionals.” Ken graduated from St. Lawrence University with a B.A. in Economics, where he was the captain of the varsity basketball team. He graduated cum laude from New England School of Law, where he received numerous awards and served as the president of the Student Bar Association. Ken remains a member of the Alumni Board at New England Law and a member of the Board for two non-profit organizations. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Frank H. Freedman in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Matthew M. O'Leary is a partner in the Boston office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the General Liability Practice. Matt is a trial and appellate lawyer with experience in a broad range of civil litigation matters. He has significant experience in the areas of professional liability, premises liability, products liability, construction law, employment law, insurance coverage and business disputes. Matt has tried numerous cases in federal and state courts in Massachusetts and has been admitted pro hac vice in jurisdictions throughout the United States. He has appeared before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Matt also counsels clients on risk management and contract issues. Matt is known by his colleagues to be a thoughtful mentor, and a particularly knowledgeable and skilled litigator with impeccable writing and advocacy skills. He consistently succeeds in getting his clients dismissed from high stakes matters with a skillful maneuvering of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure, and is a master of the Summary Judgment Practice. 
During his time as an associate, Matt was consistently recognized as a Rising Star by the Super Lawyers publications. He has also been recognized by Law & Politics Magazine in the field of Professional Liability: Defense. Matt graduated from Tufts University with a B.A. in Philosophy and Northeastern University School of Law with a J.D. 

Rachel N. Costello is an associate in the Boston office of Lewis Brisbois. She focuses her practice on civil litigation defense work in New England, representing businesses and professionals in general liability and professional liability matters. Rachel began her career as a plaintiff’s lawyer, where she focused largely on wage and hour, discrimination, and personal injury matters, including representing victims of sexual assault and domestic violence matters. Rachel has represented clients in a wide variety of matters, including professional liability, products liability, administrative matters, personal injury matters, and an array of cases against pro se plaintiffs that truly cannot be categorized. She works on matters in both state and federal court, as well as numerous agencies, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Rachel graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in Psychology, and Temple University Beasley School of Law with her J.D. and spent her final semester of law school as a visiting student at Suffolk University Law School. During law school, Rachel was extremely active in various student activities, and was selected as a student director and author of the ABA's Third Circuit Media Alert Project, where she frequently published alerts of precedential Third Circuit Court of Appeals opinions.