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.
James F. Kavanaugh, Jr.
Partner
Download vCard
Print Full BioJim is a trial lawyer with extensive experience in both state and federal courts. His practice is primarily in the litigation of commercial, employment, and insurance disputes. He has represented businesses of all sizes and individuals in a wide variety of industries. Jim was formerly chair of the firm's Litigation Department and serves as co-chair of the firm's employment law and commercial litigation groups. Jim is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a national association of experienced trial lawyers and judges dedicated to upholding the ethical standards of the legal profession.
Jim has been selected for inclusion in the 2015 - 2020 publications of The Best Lawyers in America©, with specific recognition in the following practice areas: Commercial Litigation, Insurance Litigation, and Labor and Employment. Jim has been selected as a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer" every year since the designation was created in 2004. In addition, he was selected as one of the "Top 100 Massachusetts Lawyers" in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and one of the "Top 100 New England Super Lawyers" in 2008 by Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine. Jim has also received an AV Peer Review Rating, the highest rating, in The Martindale-Hubbell Lawyers Directory.
Practice Areas
Industries
Education
- Boston College Law School, J.D. magna cum laude (1977)
- College of the Holy Cross, B.A. (1970)
Court Admissions
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America © (2015 - 2020)
- Selected as Massachusetts Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine (2004 - 2018)
- Selected as Top 100 Lawyer in New England by Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine (2008)
- Selected as Top 100 Lawyer in Massachusetts by Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine (2006, 2007, 2008)
- Jim's work gained the Firm recognition as a "Go-To Law Firm for the Top 500 Companies" (2013)
- Rev. James B. Malley, SJ, Award for BC Law School (1999)
Representative Matters
- Business Litigation
- Represented a commercial landlord as a defendant in a state Superior Court action by a commercial tenant alleging fraud and misrepresentation. The case was tried to a jury, which decided in favor of Conn Kavanaugh’s client. In addition to awarding judgment for Conn Kavanaugh’s client, the Court ordered that the plaintiff tenant pay all of the firm’s client’s legal fees.
- Represented a major publisher in a contract action brought by an author alleging breach and substantial unpaid royalties. After a ten day arbitration, Conn Kavanaugh’s client received an award wholly in its favor, the arbitrator ruling that the plaintiff author was entitled to no damages.
- Defended a start-up company and its founder against claims brought by the founder’s former employer for misappropriation of trade secrets. Mr. Kavanaugh succeeded in defeating an application for preliminary injunction which, if allowed, would have effectively shut down our client’s business and ultimately obtained a dismissal of all claims prior to trial.
- Obtained a Superior Court preliminary injunction order enforcing non-competition and non-solicitation provisions in an employment agreement and prohibiting a departing employee from competing with his former employer and from soliciting his former employer’s customers.
- Employment Litigation / Counseling
- Defended an employer in an age discrimination case that arose from the termination of the employment of a middle manager. The case ended with a jury trial in the Massachusetts Superior Court, with the jury entering a verdict in the Conn Kavanaugh client employer’s favor, awarding no damages and dismissing the case.
- Retained by a Fortune 500 company after that company had lost a jury trial and been ordered to pay substantial damages to the plaintiff in an age discrimination case. Mr. Kavanaugh prosecuted an appeal of that decision to the Supreme Judicial Court and obtained its wholesale reversal, with the result that the verdict against the client was vacated, the case was dismissed, and judgment entered in favor of the employer client.
- Obtained a favorable judgment after trial for a client sued in the United States District Court for alleged disability discrimination arising from an employment termination. Mr. Kavanaugh tried the case to the District Court, with the Court deciding in favor of our client and dismissing the discrimination claim.
- Obtained a favorable judgment after trial in a race and ethnicity discrimination case which arose out of the termination of the plaintiff’s employment for reasons of misconduct. Mr. Kavanaugh tried the case to a verdict, with the Court deciding in favor of our client and dismissing the discrimination claim.
- Obtained pre-trial dismissal of numerous state and Federal court cases brought against Conn Kavanaugh client employers sued for employment discrimination by making successful motions for summary judgment to the Courts, which resulted in judgments for the firm’s clients.
- ERISA Litigation
- Obtained a defense judgment in favor of an ERISA pension plan administrator in a case involving alleged misrepresentations to an employee. The judgment was affirmed by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which agreed with our argument that the employee's claims were preempted by ERISA. We successfully opposed the employee's request for review at the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Obtained summary judgments in favor of ERISA plans and employer clients in numerous cases, on ERISA claims made by employees and other plan beneficiaries against those plans and plan fiduciaries. In a number of these cases, Mr. Kavanaugh has successfully defeated attempts to overturn these judgments in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Complex Tort Defense
- Successfully tried an FMLA case in the US District Court, obtaining a net verdict in favor of the railroad client against a former employee claiming injuries from a railroad accident. Also successfully defended that verdict on an appeal to the US Court of Appeals.
- Obtained a defense verdict in a complex personal injury case against a client commercial landlord.
- Tried numerous personal injury and product liability cases in State Superior and Federal Courts.
- Insurance Litigation
- Obtained summary judgment for insurer in US District Court case seeking coverage and defense for liability claims asserted against firearm manufacturers and dealers arising out of crimes committed with firearms.
- Obtained summary judgment for insured in a Superior Court duty to defend coverage case arising out of an underlying patent and tortious interference claim against firm’s client.
- Obtained summary judgment in US District Court for insured lawyer in a duty to defend matter arising out of claims of breach of fiduciary duties in a law firm split up matter.
Professional Affiliation and Activities
- American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
- Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers of the Supreme Judicial Court, Hearing Committee Member (2012-2015)
- Labor and Employment Section of the America Bar Association, Member
- Civil Litigation Section of the American Bar Association, Member
- Labor and Employment Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
- Litigation Section of the Boston Bar Association, Member
- Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society, Member
- Legal education programs in the areas of business and employment litigation for the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Panelist
- Legal education programs for the Massachusetts Bar Association, Panelist
- Past President of Boston College Law School's Alumni Association
- Past chairman of Boston College Law School's Leadership Gifts Committee
- New England Legal Foundation's Massachusetts Advisory Council, Member (2013-present)
- Law Clerk, Honorable Francis J. Quirico, Supreme Judicial Court Justice
