Business Litigation
Our Business Litigation practice group offers the experience of seasoned lawyers who recognize the value of solving problems to promote your business success.
Complex Tort Defense
Since its founding in 1988, a staple of Conn Kavanaugh’s practice has been the defense of business entities in serious and complex personal injury or property damage actions.Construction
Whether you are the owner, design professional, general contractor, project administrator, subcontractor, or supplier on a construction project, our Construction practice will assist you in achieving a successful project outcome.Corporate / Transactional
Our Corporate/Transactional practice has a broad range of skills. This versatility allows them to remain a principal point of contact with our business clients and to move freely across multiple disciplines to ensure continuity of representation.
Criminal / White Collar / Regulatory
We have extensive experience advising businesses and individuals who are the subject of criminal or regulatory investigations or proceedings.
Employment Litigation / Counseling
Employers and employees alike look to Conn Kavanaugh’s employment lawyers for advice in navigating the increasingly complex web of state and federal statutes,Estate Planning / Administration
Our Estate Planning attorneys help individuals and their families plan for the future and protect their assets. We handle all aspects of estate planning.
Family Law / Probate Litigation
Our experienced Family Law/Probate Litigation attorneys work zealously to ensure rightful asset distributions in these emotionally charged proceedings. Our group handles a wide range of areas including prenuptial agreements, custody disputes, and post-divorce support or estate modifications.
Insurance Litigation
Land Use / Real Estate Litigation
Our Land Use/Real Estate Litigation practice has extensive experience in handling real estate disputes of all kinds and at all levels. We can develop a strategy for your dispute.Mediation / Arbitration
Having litigated hundreds of cases, the Mediation/Arbitration practice is well-equipped to effectively value cases to resolve disputes according to your needs and goals.
Product Liability
Conn Kavanaugh’s lawyers regularly represent manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in defending against product liability claims.Professional Liability
Our trial attorneys are accomplished in defending claims against attorneys, health care professionals, insurance agents and brokers, and other professionals.Real Estate
Our Real Estate practice provides skilled representation in a variety of transactions, including the financing, leasing, acquisition and disposition of commercial properties.
- Business Litigation
- Complex Tort Defense
- Construction
- Corporate / Transactional
- Criminal / White Collar / Regulatory
- Employment Litigation / Counseling
- Estate Planning / Administration
- Family Law / Probate Litigation
- Insurance Litigation
- Land Use / Real Estate Litigation
- Mediation / Arbitration
- Product Liability
- Professional Liability
- Real Estate
Architects/Engineers
Conn Kavanaugh has a wealth of experience advising and representing architects and engineers in many aspects of their businesses.
Cannabis
Closely Held/Family Businesses
Conn Kavanaugh’s business attorneys have a broad range of skills and are very experienced in providing legal services to family-owned and other closely-held businesses.
Construction
Conn Kavanaugh has provided an array of services to private and public clients in the construction industry, including the manufacturers of building materials and systems.Financial Services
Conn Kavanaugh draws upon a wide range of disciplines to meet the needs of individual and institutional clients in the financial services industry.
Food and Beverage
Our decades of work in the food and beverage industry, including alcohol regulatory and distribution, have permitted us to gain expertise and insight into the typically fast paced and challenging world of our clients engaged in the food and beverage industry.Government
Conn Kavanaugh provides an array of services to clients in the public sector, including state agencies, municipalities, and public officials.Healthcare
The Conn Kavanaugh team has the skills and experience necessary to successfully maneuver our clients through the increasingly complex and highly regulated environment of the health care industry.Insurance
Our lawyers work with our insurance industry clients in a variety of ways. We represent their insureds in virtually every type of lawsuit for which insurance coverage is available. We represent insurance companies directly in bad faith actions, and in high-exposure losses or losses that present unusual or challenging coverage issues.Law Firms
Since the firm was founded in 1988, our attorneys have been known as “lawyers’ lawyers.”Manufacturing
Conn Kavanaugh has broad experience in representing the interests and needs of various manufacturers.
Real Estate
Conn Kavanaugh has a wealth of experience in the real estate field.Staffing and Recruiting
Staffing companies and Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) are playing an increasingly important role in many aspects of human resource management, as employers are relying more and more on staffing companies and PEOs for payroll and employee benefit administration, risk management, and other increasingly complex administrative burdens.
George M. Ford
Of Counsel
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Print Full BioGeorge is one of Boston’s most accomplished trial lawyers whose practice concentrates in the areas of family law, probate litigation, and land use/zoning law.
George’s litigation skills were recognized when he was invited to be a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers in the early 1980s, an honor accorded to less than one-half of 1% of the trial lawyers nationwide. His unparalleled experience in the family law area is solving the complex financial issues that emerge in the context of divorce litigation. In the area of probate litigation, George is highly specialized, understanding all the responsibilities and duties of fiduciaries, the rights of beneficiaries, and the multi-faceted aspects of guardianships and conservatorships. Zoning and land development issues are emphasized in his civil litigation practice.
George’s probate litigation practice includes resolving disputes involving wills, trusts, estates and guardianships. While will contests and trust controversies are common, the firm also represents persons regarding misuse of powers of attorney, etc. Representation includes individual fiduciaries, personal representatives, trustees, executors, as well as beneficiaries, creditors and surviving spouses in dealing with the proper administration and distribution of estates, trusts, assets and entities.
As a leader in the legal community, George has been recognized with many honors, in addition to the American College of Trial Lawyers. Best Lawyers® in America, regarded by both the profession and the public as a definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States, has listed George, each year, since its inception in 1983, for family law attorneys in Massachusetts. He is one of a small number of family lawyers in Massachusetts who has been listed for 30 years. More than 16 million readers see the list in dozens of city publications including The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, and many more.
George has been named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” by the publishers of Boston Magazine every year since the designation was created in 2004. He has been further recognized regularly as one of the "Top 100 Massachusetts Lawyers" in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015, and as one of the "Top 100 New England Lawyers". George has served as President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers – membership of which is one of the highest honors a family lawyer can earn. In addition, George has received an AV Peer Review Rating, the highest rating, in The Martindale-Hubbell Lawyers Directory. Additionally, George has been named to The Best Lawyers in America® every year since its inception in 1983.
As a recognized authority on domestic relations and family law issues, George has earned a reputation as a strong and thoughtful advocate for his clients – providing reasoned settlement resolution of matters but when settlement efforts fail, he does not hesitate to assert his trial skills in the courtroom. He is well equipped to bring matters before judges and has earned, over the years, the respect of judges and other lawyers for his advocacy skills in the courtroom. He brings tenacity and strategy to divorce, alimony, custody, child support, paternity claims and more.
Practice Areas
Industries
Education
- Boston College Law School, LL.B. (1965)
- College of the Holy Cross, B.A. (1960)
Court Admissions
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, 1965
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- First Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Tax Court
- United States Supreme Court
Recognition
- Selected as Massachusetts Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine (2004 - 2018)
Representative Matters
- Probate Litigation
- Mr. Ford’s services are sought out in the area of probate litigation by fiduciaries who want to uphold the validity of a will in face of allegations of undue influence and lack of capacity; representing fiduciaries as well as beneficiaries of trusts in establishing the proper level of duty owed and the proper investment and handling of financial affairs of an estate. Mr. Ford has also, successfully, defended and challenged probate accountings filed by fiduciaries and has had extensive representation of fiduciaries of estates in the assertion or denial of claims of omitted children.
- Family Law
- Over the years, Mr. Ford has represented thousands of spouses in achieving an equitable division of marital assets and appropriate awards of spousal support – along with dealing with thorny issues of custody. In paternity matters, he has represented fathers to achieve parenting rights for the father and the appropriate level of support to pay for a child. Whether the marital estate is in the hundreds of millions of dollars or lesser amounts, Mr. Ford has brought success for his clients.
Professional Affiliation and Activities
- American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, having served as President of the Massachusetts chapter, Fellow
- Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
- Boston Bar Association, Member
- The Best Lawyers in America as a Family Law Specialist in every edition since its inception in 1983, 36 consecutive years., Listed
