Robert P. Powers

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Bio

Bob joined the firm in 1984 after graduating from law school and has made it his professional home. In the years since, he has tried numerous jury cases in both federal and state courts involving a variety of civil matters, including professional malpractice, insurance coverage and general liability claims. Bob oversees our firm's appellate practice and has successfully argued cases before the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Among his reported decisions are Carr v. Howard, 426 Mass. 514 (1998), a seminal Massachusetts decision addressing the scope of the medical peer review privilege in malpractice litigation, and Hipsaver v. Kiel, 464 Mass. 517 (2013), a key Massachusetts decision protecting medical professionals and scientists against claims of commercial disparagements based on published results of their research.

Bob's practice has earned him Martindale Hubbell's highest AV Peer Review Rating. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2016 in the field of Insurance Law since 2016. For over a decade, Bob has been named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” and a “New England Super Lawyer.” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly chose Bob as a 2012 “Lawyer of the Year” for his work on the Supreme Judicial Court social host liability decision, Juliano v. Simpson, 461 Mass. 527 (2012). In 2009, Bob was inducted as a Fellow into the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society. He has authored articles on a variety of legal cases and has published in Harvard RMF's Forum and Standard Publishing's CSR Advisor. Bob regularly speaks on topics of interest before gatherings of insurance professionals. He has delivered presentations for the Massachusetts Hospital Risk Managers Collaborative, The Massachusetts Society of Healthcare Risk Management, Boston Area Claims Executives, the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, and the Insurance Library Association of Boston. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations, as well as the Defense Research Institute (DRI).

Bob resides in Wenham, Massachusetts with his wife, Jane, and their three children.

Bar Admissions

Massachusetts
First Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court

Education

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, J.D. (1984)
Boston College, A.B. Economics, magna cum laude (1981)

Awards and Honors

Litigation Counsel of America (Senior Fellow)
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly “Lawyer of the Year 2012”
Massachusetts Super Lawyers
National Super Lawyers
New England Super Lawyers
The Best Lawyers in America (Insurance Law)
The Best Lawyers in America^®(Litigation - Insurance and Product Liability Litigation - Defendants)