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.
Carol A. Starkey
Partner
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Print Full BioCarol is a trial lawyer whose practice is concentrated in the areas of white-collar criminal defense and regulatory law, commercial litigation, and employment litigation. She has a wide range of experience handling complex matters before the federal and state trial courts throughout Massachusetts. Carol serves as co-chair of the firm's white collar and regulatory practice group and on the firm's management committee. In addition, Carol is the immediate past President of the Boston Bar Association and its governing council for the 2016-2017 program year. She has also served as the BBA's President-Elect, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, a member of the Council and Executive Committee, the Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Group Mentoring Program, and the Co-Chair of the BBA’s Criminal law Section. Carol is a past Chair of the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments and the former Vice Chair for the White-Collar Defense and Investigations Committee for the International Association of Defense Counsel.
Prior to joining Conn Kavanaugh, Carol was Chief of the Economic Crimes Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, where she concentrated her work in the areas of white-collar crime and public corruption, often involving complex financial crimes. She frequently coordinated her efforts with related state and federal agencies, such as the Board of Bar Overseers, the United States Attorney's Office, the Securities Exchange Commission, and the State Department of Revenue.
Carol has been named a 2017 “Top Women of Law Circle of Excellence” honoree by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Carol has been selected for inclusion in the 2016 - 2020 publications of The Best Lawyers in America©, regarded by both the profession and the public as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States. Carol has been recognized as one of the top lawyers in New England for white collar defense and one of the top 50 Women Lawyers in Massachusetts. Carol has also been recognized by Corporate LiveWire Global Awards 2015 as a winner in Commercial Litigation – Massachusetts, USA. Carol has been selected as one of the “Massachusetts Super Lawyers” by Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine every year since the designation was created in 2004. In addition, Carol has received an AV Peer Review Rating, the highest rating, in The Martindale-Hubbell Lawyers Directory.
Carol was recently interviewed by the Neighborhood Network News where she discussed the challenges faced by the Massachusetts criminal justice system.
Watch the full interview here: BNN News Interviews Carol Starkey
Practice Areas
- Criminal / White Collar / Regulatory
- Employment Litigation / Counseling
- Professional Liability
- Business Litigation
Industries
Education
- Suffolk University Law School, J.D. (1988)
- University of Colorado at Boulder, B.A. (1984)
Court Admissions
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Recognition
- Selected as Circle of Excellence Honoree by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2017)
- The Best Lawyers in America © (2016-2020)
- Selected to Massachusetts Super Lawyers by the publishers of Boston Magazine (2004 - 2018)
- Selected as Top 100 New England Super Lawyers by the publishers of Boston Magazine (2014)
- Selected as Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers by the publishers of Boston Magazine (2014, 2015, 2016)
- Selected as Top 50 Women New England Super Lawyers by the publishers of Boston Magazine (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016)
- Selected as Top 50 Women Massachusetts Super Lawyers by the publishers of Boston Magazine (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- Selected as Top Women in the Law Honoree by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2012)
- Awarded President's Award on behalf of the Boston Bar Association's (BBA) Mentoring Program (2011)
- Awarded Fraud Fighter of the Year by the Boston Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (2002)
- Awarded Outstanding and Invaluable Prosecution by the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts (2001)
Representative Matters
- During her government career, Ms. Starkey handled some of the most complex white-collar crime and public corruption cases occurring within the Commonwealth. Those matters included:
- Prosecuted charges against state treasury officials for public corruption and larceny of $9.4 million dollars from the Massachusetts treasury accounts, resulting in 6 co-defendants' guilty pleas.
- Prosecuted charges against the Chief of Cardiology from Children's Hospital and former Professor of Harvard Medical School for larceny and fiduciary embezzlement, resulting in conviction after trial.
- Prosecuted charges against the leader of an insurance fraud ring spanning to Lagos, Nigeria, resulting in conviction after trial.
- Prosecuted charges against a broker for investment/ securities fraud and larceny for more than $6 million dollars from clients, resulting in guilty plea.
- Fraud Charges
- Representation of a law firm and principal shareholder under federal investigation for obtaining and causing kickbacks and unearned fees in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme.
- Representation of executive in defense of allegations of bank fraud of over $20 million dollars.
- Representation of family members victimized by the Madoff Ponzi scheme.
- Representation of business executives and their companies in defense of civil racketeering charges, successfully obtaining a directed verdict at trial.
- Representation of attorneys before the Board of Bar Overseers in disciplinary proceedings.
- Representation of attorneys and law firms in defense of legal malpractice and fraudulent misrepresentation charges.
- Representation of an individual who was the subject of federal anti-kickback investigation involving pharmaceutical company and clinic.
- Representation of individual accountant for Bank accused of accounting errors and material wrongdoing.
- Representation of employees of company accused of federal tax fraud.
- State / Federal Investigations
- Representation of an individual targeted for insider trading and alleged obstruction of justice, successfully keeping client from indictment.
- Representation of senior health care executive against federal allegations of false claims and health care fraud, successfully keeping client from indictment.
- Representation of employees in mail fraud, racketeering and drug safety violations matter, successfully obtaining immunity for clients and keeping them from indictment.
- Representation of parent dialysis company in state and federal multi-district litigation alleging products liability and wrongful death in thousands of cases across the country.
- Representation of individual charged with vehicular homicide.
- Representation of health care providers, including nurses, dentists, and pharmacists, before Boards of Registration and Professional Licensure.
- Representation of senior scientist in False Claims Act investigation.
- Representation of union members in The Fight for Fifteen protests for raising the minimum wage.
- Representation of Senior Company Executive in federal False Claims import/export investigation.
- Representation of individual in appeal and new trial motion after sex offense convictions.
- Representation of individuals accused of felony assault and reckless endangerment through use of a car.
- Representation of individual charged with identity fraud, computer violations, and wiretap and privacy violations.
- Representation of companies, conducting complex internal investigations into allegations of workplace misconduct, fraud, and false billing schemes.
- Wage and Hour Charges
- Representation of an individual charged with larceny and workers' compensation fraud, obtaining an order withdrawing all criminal indictments prior to trial.
- Representation of a roofing company and its owners on charges they allegedly failed to disclose millions of dollars in misclassified subcontractor payroll, committed workers’ compensation fraud, and failed to pay the prevailing wage to employees.
- Representation of construction company and its owners on charges that the company allegedly failed to pay over wages to employees and committed workers’ compensation fraud.
- Representation of a telephone solicitation company and its owner on charges they allegedly misclassified employees and failed to pay an employee for working overtime.
- Representation of a farming business on charges that it allegedly committed larceny and workers' compensation fraud when failing to disclose earned wages of employees and misclassifying employees.
- Securities Fraud
- Representation of financial executive accused of Insider Trading.
- Representation of financial advisor facing SEC and fraud allegations.
- Representation of employees and witnesses in alleged investment scheme involving hedge fund managers.
- Representation of individual in administration hearing before the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Public Corruption
- Representation of senior union officials in federal labor and racketeering investigations.
- Representation of state agency employee charged with public corruption and larceny charges.
- Representation of a director of a state retirement board relating to allegations of fraud, public corruption, awarding improper contracts, and violating conflict of interest rules.
- Representation of law enforcement officer against allegations of misconduct and conflict of interest rules.
Professional Affiliation and Activities
- Member, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Board of Editors (2018)
- President, Boston Bar Association (2016-2017)
- President-Elect, Boston Bar Association (2015-2016)
- Vice President, Boston Bar Association (2014-2015)
- Appointed Committee Member by Governor Deval Patrick to the Gubernatorial Commission to study compensation of Assistant District Attorneys and Public Defenders, pursuant to Executive Order No. 551. (2014)
- Chair of the Boston Bar Association's Finance Committee (2014)
- Treasurer, Boston Bar Association (2013-2014)
- Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
- Secretary, Boston Bar Association (2011-2012)
- Member, Boston Bar Association
- Vice Chair, White Collar Investigations and Defense Committee, International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
- Appointed to Strategic Communications Committee, Boston Bar Association
- Co-Chair, 2012 Boston Bar Association Law Day Dinner
- Chair of the Joint Bar Committee (JBC) for Judicial Appointments
- Counsel member of the Boston Bar Association (2004-2007 and 2011-2012)
- Committee member for the National Association of Women Judges Annual Leadership Conference in Boston, Massachusetts (2008)
- Member of the Boston Bar Association Diversity & Inclusion Section
- Co-Chair, Boston Bar Mentoring Program
- Co-Chair, Criminal Law Section Steering Committee for the Boston Bar Association
- Member, Criminal Section for the Massachusetts Bar Association
- Appointed to head and facilitate The Organized Theft Task Force by the Attorney General (2000)
- Appointed Committee Member by the Honorable Chief Justice Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for the Supreme Judicial Court Committee On Lawyer Advertising. Findings and recommendations published in report dated October (1999)
- Appointed to head and facilitate The White Collar Crime Initiative by the Attorney General (1997)
