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Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Partner Elected as Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
Peter L. Mello, a Partner at Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, has been elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). The ABF is an independent nonprofit organization that has been dedicated to expanding knowledge and advancing justice. For nearly 70 years, the Foundation has achieved their goal through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. The ABF is devoted to producing the highest quality research to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The Fellows, which were established in 1955, are comprised of an honorary society of exemplary attorneys, judges, law faculty and legal scholars from all over the world. Membership in the Fellows is limited to one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. Candidates are recommended by their peers, then reviewed by the Board of the American Bar Foundation, who will then determine whether or not to elect the candidate.
Mr. Mello focuses his practice in municipal law and general civil litigation, including in the areas of construction, land use and zoning, wetlands and school law, among others. He has advised private clients and governmental entities alike regarding myriad and diverse issues, including employment, energy-related issues, licensing, procurement, public records, meeting procedures, conflict of interest, and many others. He practices routinely before state and federal courts and state agencies in Massachusetts and has written and presented extensively on wetlands, construction and labor issues for organizations such as REBA, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. Mr. Mello was recognized as a Rising Star by New England Super Lawyers magazine in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Mr. Mello earned his B.A. in Politics, with a Certificate in Legal Studies from Brandeis University and is a graduate of Boston University School of Law. While at Boston University School of Law, he served as a staff editor of the American Journal of Law and Medicine. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Receives Favorable Decision for Town of Dracut
On April 11, 2023, MHTL Attorneys Peter Mello and Madison Harris-Parks represented the Town of Dracut, and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction order requiring, among other things, that the Defendant homeowners cease renting out their pool to the public. The case, Town of Dracut by and Through Its Building Inspector vs. Nason, Gilbert et al., was initiated by the Town after the Defendants failed to comply with the Town’s associated underlying zoning enforcement order. The Town requested the injunction Read More
EXTENSION OF MUNICIPAL RELIEF MEASURES - INCLUDING OPEN MEETING LAW REMOTE OPTION - SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
The option for public bodies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to hold public meetings remotely or in a hybrid fashion, which came into play at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extended by the General Court for another two years, until March 31, 2025. The Governor signed the legislation, which will be codified at Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, on March 29, 2023. Because of the inclusion of an emergency preamble, the law goes into effect immediately.
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