1929-1950

The first decades

In 1929, Bertram A. “Bert” Sugarman graduated from Harvard Law School and began working with a well-known Boston trial lawyer, Abe Pinanski, at offices on Devonshire Street.

Pinanski was soon appointed to the superior court, and in 1930 Bert joined another group of local trial lawyers to form a firm known as Mapplebeck, Alberts & Sugarman. Bert became known for successfully representing the Boston Elevated Railway Company, forerunner of the MBTA, among other litigation clients.

In 1939, the firm hired a recent Harvard Law School graduate named Sumner Rogers. Sumner became not only Bert’s law partner, but also his brother-in-law, when he married Polly, the sister of Bert’s wife Esther. Sumner expanded the firm’s expertise to include trusts-and-estates work and business disputes. The firm later moved to new offices on Tremont Street.

1950-1960

A commitment to public service

In 1957, Bert and Sumner took a chance on a young trial lawyer, Ed Barshak (Columbia Law School 1949), who was already making a name for himself in Boston as a skilled trial advocate and fearless defender of civil liberties and civil rights in an era of rampant McCarthyism. Bert and Sumner knew that by bringing Ed into the firm, they would be getting a talented trial lawyer to help with the firm’s core work, but also making a commitment as a firm to pro bono and public-service work, a legacy which continues to this day.

Indeed, that same year Ed scored a groundbreaking civil-rights win before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In Brown v. Commonwealth, 335 Mass. 476 (1957), the court for the first time accepted—six years before the United States Supreme Court decided Gideon v. Wainwright—that a criminal defendant has a constitutional right (in this case, under the Massachusetts constitution) to the assistance of a lawyer.

1960-1970

Trial lawyers and civil libertarians

In 1964, the firm added another young trial lawyer, Steve Cohen (Harvard Law School 1957). The firm continued to cement its reputation as one of the best trial firms in Boston and expanded its subject-matter expertise beyond traditional tort claims to business disputes, insurance-coverage matters, product-liability cases, professional-liability disputes, and complex family-law matters.

The firm also continued to support high-profile pro bono and civil-liberties work. Most notably, Ed and the firm were hired to represent one of the five co-defendants in a now-famous federal-court prosecution for advocating resistance to the Vietnam-War draft. The case culminated in a 1969 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacating the defendants’ convictions. In her book about the trial, The Trial of Dr. Spock (1969), British writer Jessica Mitford noted the contrast between Ed’s courtroom style (“trim, soft-spoken, matter-of-fact”) and the more histrionic personas of the other defense lawyers, all pillars of the Boston bar.

1970-1980

Growth and new stars

The 1970s were a decade of unprecedented expansion for the small firm, which nearly tripled in size, adding new litigators who would themselves become leaders of the firm and the legal community. These included partners David Barry, who arrived in 1971, Tony Doniger (1977), and Regina Roman (1979). The firm took on an increasingly complex and diverse roster of civil-litigation cases, while striving to maintain its tradition of close collegiality and cooperation.

The firm’s stature and respect in the local legal community also grew. Ed Barshak and David Barry were appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to investigate a highly publicized case of a trial-court judge’s acceptance of a gift from a millionaire friend. Ed also successfully represented Doris Bunte in seeking reinstatement after she was dismissed from the Boston Housing Authority board by Boston mayor Kevin White.

In 1974, Ed was elected president of the venerable Boston Bar Association—the first of four Sugarman Rogers partners who have held that office. Ed led the Bar Association at the time when federal judge W. Arthur Garrity issued his historic school-desegregation order, of which the Association offered its endorsement and support. Also during his term, the BBA established a center for providing free advice and referrals to low-income Boston residents, and called for a comprehensive review of the judicial-nominating process, which resulted in the formation of the public committee now responsible for nominations. Separately, Ed was appointed during this period to a post on the state’s Board of Bar Examiners, where he served for many years.

1980-1990

Depth and expertise

In the 1980’s the firm continued to expand its litigation practice areas, the key elements of which were complex commercial disputes, defense of product-liability and other tort cases, high-net-worth domestic-relations matters, law firm break-ups and professional-liability claims, and insurance coverage. New lawyer arrivals included partners Michael Appel (1984) and managing partner Christine Netski (1985). The firm moved to larger quarters on two floors of a renovated historic warehouse building at 33 Union Street near Faneuil Hall.

The firm continued to score important litigation victories for its clients and to play a key role in the development of Massachusetts law on issues of concern to firm clients and matters of civil justice.

• In Babets v. Secretary of Executive Office of Human Services, a pro bono case, the firm challenged state foster-care regulations that prevented gay and lesbian persons from becoming foster parents, and successfully argued against the creation of an evidentiary privilege for documents relating to development of government policy.
• In Meehan v. Shaughnessy, the firm represented a group of lawyers who split from a large Boston firm. The case led to a 1989 decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court establishing standards of conduct for lawyers and firms in handling such departures, and avoiding or resolving disagreements over clients and fees.
• In Worcester Insurance Company v. Fells Acres Day School, the firm represented the insurance company for a day-care facility whose employees were accused of sexual abuse, and won a 1990 victory before the Supreme Judicial Court when it agreed that homeowner’s and business policies for the facility did not cover civil claims arising from the abuse.

1990-2000

Expansion and diversification

In its seventh decade, the firm continued to adapt to the changing face of civil litigation. It added depth in the areas of employment litigation and domestic relations, and was one of the first litigation firms to explicitly incorporate in its practice providing neutrals for “alternative dispute resolution”—mediation and arbitration—of cases within the firm’s areas of expertise. Partner William Boesch joined the firm (1992), which again moved to larger and more modern space, this time at 101 Merrimac Street, where it remains today.

The firm continued to be a leader in attracting and retaining women lawyers. Regina Roman became one of the first women managing partners in a Boston law firm, a position she held for seventeen years until the recent accession of partner Christine Netski. The firm was also among the first to implement a progressive a parental-leave policy, including schedule-flexibility for parents returning to work.

The firm also continued to play a significant role in the development of Massachusetts law. In Lally v. Volkswagen, the firm represented the automobile manufacturer in successfully defending, at trial and on appeal, against claims challenging the “crashworthiness” of a vehicle involved in an accident in which an infant was seriously injured. The Appeals Court’s decision for the defense became a key part of Massachusetts product-liability doctrine. The firm’s appellate lawyers were brought in for the defense in the high-stakes litigation between parts of the Demoulas supermarket family, in which the Supreme Judicial Court made important rulings on the subject of fiduciary duties between owners of close corporations.

2000-2010

Even greater range

Diversification continued apace during this decade. The firm’s domestic-relations practice grew with the arrival of Alan Geismer (2001), as did the firm’s environmental and real estate-litigation practice with the additions of Lisa Goodheart (2005) and Dylan Sanders (2008). We also welcomed partners Tony Agudelo and John O’Neill (2000), and Andrea Studley Knowles (2005).

In 2007, Tony Doniger became the second Sugarman Rogers partner to serve as president of the Boston Bar Association. That same year, Lisa Goodheart was appointed by governor Deval Patrick to chair the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission, where she served for three terms.

2010-Today

To the future of law practice

Sugarman Rogers lawyers have continued to be called upon and recognized by their peers, while scoring important wins for their litigation clients. In 2011, Lisa Goodheart became the third firm partner to be elected president of the Boston Bar Association.

Some of the firm’s significant victories have been in pro bono and other matters involving key environmental-law and policy issues. In Brockton Power Co. v. Energy Facilities Siting Board, a case that reached the Supreme Judicial Court in 2014, the firm successfully defended a local board that refused to permit the developer of an electrical-generating facility to use municipal drinking water for its plant. In Kain v. Department of Environmental Protection, decided by the SJC in 2016, the firm represented pro bono a group of teenagers who sought to force the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to promulgate clean-air regulations required by federal anti-global-warming law.

In 2017, partner Christine Netski succeeded Regina Roman as the firm’s managing partner, while Regina took on the role of general counsel. In 2019, Christine became the fourth Sugarman Rogers partner elected president of the Boston Bar Association, and partner Kate Cook was elected to the BBA Council in 2020.