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Harold Owen Beede has been practicing primarily civil litigation, pursuing justice for his clients in the courts, in Massachusetts since 1992 and in New Hampshire since 1997. Attorney Beede joined Healey, Deshaies, Gagliardi & Woelfel, PC, in 2003. Prior to this he was principal of the Law Office of Harold Owen Beede PC and a partner in the law firm of Arcos & Beede LLP, each with offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Attorney Beede has litigated for individuals and corporate clients at all levels of state and federal trial and appellate courts, including obtaining favorable published decisions in the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Attorney Beede is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School, where he was Executive Editor of the Suffolk International Law Journal, published the article entitled "EEC Rules-Of-Origin Games-Can Non-Members Play?," was inducted into the Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honors Society, and received an American Jurisprudence Award in Commercial Law. During law school, Hal interned with the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office in Providence, RI, and also with the Hon. Ernest C. Torres, US District Court Judge for the District of Rhode Island. He also studied International and European Communities Law with the Georgetown University Law Center, Summer International Law Program, at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Attorney Beede counsels and advocates for clients in matters such as contract disputes, workplace problems, personal injuries, landlord - tenant actions, divorce and child support cases, Will contests, misdemeanor criminal defense, and land issues including permitting, ownership, use, and boundary disputes.

Professional Legal Experience

LAW OFFICE of HAROLD OWEN BEEDE P.C.

Hampstead NH / Reading MA / July 2001-November 2003
Civil Litigation; Criminal Defense and Appeals; Probate & Family Law; Wills & Trusts; Employment Law.

ARCOS & BEEDE LLP

Reading MA / Hampstead NH / July 2000 - July 2001
Civil Litigation; Criminal Defense and Appeals; Probate & Family Law; Wills & Trusts; Employment Law.

HAROLD OWEN BEEDE Attorney at Law

Hampstead NH / Wilmington MA / 1998 - 2000
Advising and representing individuals and businesses in varied civil litigation, including employment law, probate and family law; wills and trusts.

LAW OFFICE of BRIAN T. STERN, P.A. ~ Dover, NH / 1998 - 1999
Advocating and litigating for plaintiffs in employment law, workers' compensation and civil rights.

LAW OFFICES of G. ROSALYN JOHNSON, P.C. ~ Lynn, MA / 1991 - 1998
Civil litigation, for corporate and individual defendants and plaintiffs, including employment law, civil rights, torts and contracts, probate and family law; wills & trusts.

Practical Legal Experience

U.S. Dept. of Justice, OFFICE of UNITED STATES ATTORNEY,
District of Rhode Island 1990
Legal research and writing for several Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

LAW OFFICE of DANIEL J. BROWN
Wilmington, MA (Law Clerk) 1991
Real Estate/Property Law Wills & Trusts Probate Civil Litigation

HONORABLE ERNEST C. TORRES, U.S. DISTRICT COURT,
District of Rhode Island 1991
Legal research and compilation of criminal jury instructions, as legal intern

Affiliations

American Bar Association
Massachusetts Bar Association
New Hampshire Bar Association
United Methodist Foundation of New England, Allied Professionals Team
Chapter Leader, Christian Legal Society
Accepted to National Litigation Academy of the Alliance Defense Fund

Courts Admitted to Practice

Massachusetts District and Superior Courts
Massachusetts Probate and Family Court
Massachusetts Appeals Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
New Hampshire District and Superior Courts
New Hampshire Supreme Court
U.S. District Court Massachusetts
U.S. District Court New Hampshire
U.S. Court of Appeals First Circuit
Also admitted to U.S. Supreme Court

Education

JURIS DOCTORATE, Suffolk University Law School, Boston MA, 1991
Executive Editor, Transnational Law Review; Dean's List; American Jurisprudence Award; Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honors Society; included study with Georgetown University Law Center, Summer International Law Program - Florence, Italy 1989
PROVIDENCE COLLEGE, Providence, RI Public Ed. Cert. 3.63 GPA 1984-85
BACHELOR of ARTS, Cum Laude, English (Written Comm.) Salem State College, Salem, MA 1981
1981 Creative Writing Award; 1981 Phi Kappa Phi Honors Essay Award

Publications

Note, The EEC's Rules of Origin "Game": Can Non-Members Play?, 14 Suffolk Transnat'l L.J. 81 (1990)
"A Promise I Can Keep," Soundings East (1981) (short fiction)

Notable Trials

Carter v. Lachance / Lachance v. Carter
Dover (NH) District Court 1998
Represented: Carter, tenant in landlord-tenant consolidated cases [v. Mayor of Rochester, NH]
Outcome: successful in obtaining dismissal of landlord's action; successful in obtaining judgment for client on tenants' rights violations
Successful on appeal to the NH Supreme Court on issues of whether statutory monetary / counsel fee remedies are mandatory

Leslie v. Delta Airlines, Inc.
Suffolk Superior Court 1996
Represented: Plaintiff Opposing counsel: Goodwin, Procter & Hoar
Former employee's suit for discrimination and termination on basis of Workers' Compensation rights; violation of Workers' Compensation preference in rehiring.
Outcome: Defendant's verdict

Commonwealth v. Jones
Lynn District Court 1995
Represented: Defendant (a grandmother accused of threatening her pit-bull-raising neighbor with a pitchfork)
Charge: Assault with a Deadly Weapon
Outcome: Client Acquitted

Birmingham v. Torigian, City of Peabody, et al,
Essex Superior Court, 1994
Represented: Plaintiff
Opposing counsel: John Christopher of Spitzer, Christopher & Arvanites (Danvers)
Police officer's suit for duty-injury benefits (approximately $32,000) denied by City; trial involved "dueling" medical experts.
Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for all legal and equitable relief requested; Defendants appealed (verdict affirmed, $68,000+, w/ interest).

Trial Co-Counsel

Pearson v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.
U.S. District Court Massachusetts 1992
Represented: Plaintiff Harold Pearson Opposing counsel: Robert P. Joy, Morgan Brown & Joy
Employee's claim of wrongful termination; breach of implied contract re: leave of absence policy in personnel manual.
Outcome: Jury verdict for plaintiff, $345,000 before interest and costs; 1st Cir. vacated on appeal by Defendant. * Six years later Mass. SJC cited this case as one in which 1st Circuit erred in its interpretation of state law on point - see Appellate experience

Commonwealth v. Z.J.E.
Lynn District Court 1997
Serious criminal charges.
Outcome: Acquitted by jury.

Appellate Experience

Several indigent criminal appeals to Mass. Appeals Court, including brief-writing and oral argument, for Mass. Committee for Public Counsel Services. 2000-present.

Carter v. Lachance, 146 N.H. 11; 766 A.2d 717 (2001)
NH Supreme Court
Represented: Carter, tenant in landlord-tenant consolidated cases [v. Mayor of Rochester, NH]
Outcome: successful on appeal to the NH Supreme Court on issues of whether statutory monetary / counsel fee remedies are mandatory; lower court on remand awarded legal fees, costs, and double damages pursuant to NH Consumer Protection Act.

Pearson v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., 979 F.2d 254 (1992)
Researched and drafted appellee's brief, as co-counsel. First Circuit vacated the jury verdict in a controversial decision which was then cited in many legal articles and employment law seminars; SJC in O'Brien v. New England Tel.& Tel., 422 Mass. 686 (1996) cited the Pearson decision as one in which the First Circuit exhibited "confusion" about the state decisional law on point. Our interpretation of the seminal Massachusetts case on point was consistent with the SJC's later explanation in O'Brien.

Birmingham v. City of Peabody, et al Mass App. Ct. (1995)
Researched and wrote appellee's brief (Appeals Court rendered decision without oral argument)
Outcome: Plaintiff's judgment affirmed. With interest and costs, client awarded over $68,000.

Notably Successful Litigation

Jackson v. Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters, et al, 933 F.Supp. 1124 (D.Mass.1996) (50-page decision)
Represented: Plaintiff
Opp. counsel: included Gabriel DuMont of Law Offices of Gabriel DuMont (Boston); Matt Dwyer of Dwyer & Jenkins (Boston)
Client was promised payment of nearly $70,000 in medical benefits for kidney transplant; employee health fund terminated, transferred assets to another Teamster fund, who disclaimed any obligation for liabilities.
Outcome: Obtained federal court orders freezing the assets transferred; convinced the court that the proper interpretation of ERISA, according to that week's decision by U.S. Supreme Court, favored individual equitable relief for client; obtained comprehensive decision in client's favor on several cross-motions for summary judgment; and procured favorable settlement for client damages and attorney fees.

Rosa Smith v. Northern Essex Community Mental Health Services, Inc.
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (1996)
Represented: Defendant
A terminated employee charged employer with racial/national origin discrimination.
Outcome: With documentation and witness statements to show charges unfounded, opposing counsel and claimant withdrew charges.

Beyer v. Beverly Regional YMCA
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (1996)
Represented: Defendant
A terminated employee charged employer with age and handicap discrimination.
Outcome: With documentation and witness statements, obtained agency dismissal of charges.

Hal's e-mail address is hbeede@hdgpc.com.*

 

 

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Last modified: 10/04/07