News
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Welcomes New Associate
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey and Lehane, LLP is pleased to announce the addition of a new associate attorney, Joseph Proctor. Mr. Proctor graduated cum laude from Boston University School of Law in May 2021. His practice focuses on civil litigation, municipal law, and labor and employment law. In his litigation practice, he has worked on various property law and civil rights matters. Additionally, Mr. Proctor has provided guidance to municipalities and participated in collective bargaining, grievance and arbitration matters.
During law school, Mr. Proctor served as the Secretary of BU’s Real Estate Association. He was also a member of BU’s Public Interest Law Journal throughout his second and third years. Mr. Proctor completed internships at the Plymouth Superior Court and the Administrative Division of the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. At the Superior Court, he assisted the Honorable Mark A. Hallal in handling several high-stakes civil trials. While at the AGO, he drafted numerous briefs and motions on wide-ranging administrative law issues.
Prior to law school, Mr. Proctor studied History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in three years, graduating summa cum laude in 2017. During his undergraduate studies, Mr. Proctor was a member of several honors societies in the fields of history and classics. And he participated on an archaeological dig in Tuscany, Italy in the summer of 2017. A lifelong student of history, Mr. Proctor has also written on local early American figures for the Northampton Historical Society. In particular, he thoroughly researched the life of the Early American general and blacksmith Seth Pomeroy, transforming information gleaned from his primary sources into several essays and a concise pamphlet for the Society’s programming. Mr. Proctor is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Partner Prevails in U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Attorney Felicia Vasudevan, a partner at Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, received a favorable decision on behalf of her client, Marshfield Public Schools. The Plaintiff appealed the district court’s judgement that upheld a decision of the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals (“BSEA”). However, as the notice was filed more than 30 days after entry, the First Circuit ultimately dismissed the appeal for being untimely. The Plaintiff also appealed the district court’s order, denying her motion to vacate. Read More
New Features of Public Participation at School Committee Meetings
Following our Alert from March 16, 2023, Civility is Dead – The Supreme Court Rules Municipal Control of Public Speak Limited to Reasonable Time/Place/Manner Restrictions, which discussed the holding to the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Barron v. Kolenda and the Town of Southborough (SJC-13284), we promised to bring you more detailed guidance on developing a Public Speak policy for your public body or municipality. The Barron case involved a constitutional challenge to the Town of Southborough’s public comment policy, which attempted to impose a code of civility on members of the public who participated in public comment before public bodies. In Barron, the court interpreted the state constitution to mean that public bodies may request, but not require, that public commentators be respectful and courteous. Instead, a public body may set restrictions on reasonable time, place, and manner comments to ensure that the meeting retains an orderly and peaceable manner.
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