Premier New England Trial Attorneys
Professional Liability

 We are proud to serve clients throughout New England.

Professional Liability Attorneys

Fighting for Professionals Throughout New England

Professional liability claims are an unfortunate reality for all industries and can arise from alleged errors, negligent acts, and omissions. Melick & Porter, LLP’s attorneys help professionals in a variety of fields understand potential liability exposure and minimize future risk. Successful resolution of such claims requires a prompt and thorough investigation to assess liability and mount a vigorous defense. Should the need arise, we have a team of dedicated and experienced trial attorneys throughout New England. We successfully provide representation to a wide variety of professionals including accountants, directors and officers, nurses and doctors, insurance agents and brokers, lawyers, real estate agents and brokers, and veterinarians.

Our professional liability lawyers can walk you through your next steps and provide you with the insight you need to protect and grow your business.

What Is Professional Liability?

Every working professional may be accused of negligence in their work, but the reason why so many professional liability claims are filed against surgeons, attorneys, and accountants is because claims are typically based on significant financial losses or injuries. Medical malpractice is a common form of professional liability, as the errors that surgeons and physicians make are often damaging and irreversible. Insurance companies are also a frequent target, as individuals attempting to make use of their policies may feel that they were misled in the amount of coverage that they thought they had purchased.

To file a successful claim, individuals must prove that the professional involved had a duty to exercise reasonable care and that the professional breached that duty of care.

Common Types Of Professional Liability

Since 1983, Melick & Porter, LLP has earned a reputation for excellence in defending professional liability claims across New England. Our lawyers have experience defending professionals in a variety of industries.

Common types of professional liability cases we see include:

  • Medical malpractice: This type of personal injury case includes claims for failure to diagnose, surgical errors, birth injuries, and medication errors. All medical personnel can be accused, including physicians, nurses, veterinarians, and others.
  • Legal malpractice: Lawyers may face accusations of missed deadlines, fraud, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and breach of fiduciary duties.
  • Securities and broker fraud: Professionals are often accused of insider trading, errors in stock performance, or misappropriating client funds.
  • Insurance malpractice: Insurance agents can be accused of not providing adequate coverage or misleading clients on policy provisions.
  • Accounting and auditing malpractice: Professionals who handle clients’ funds can be accused of falsifying their financial statements or making serious accounting errors.
  • Construction malpractice: Architects, engineers, accused of construction defects, lost profits, and breach of contract.

Healthcare Liability Law

Also known as medical malpractice, healthcare liability law concerns claims that occur as a result of a healthcare professional’s deviation from the accepted standards of care. Such deviation is often attributed to negligence that resulted in some kind of injury, which forms the basis of most medical malpractice claims.

Common medical malpractice claims can center on issues such as the following:

  • Birth injuries
  • Failure to diagnose
  • Surgical errors
  • Postoperative negligence
  • Emergency room errors
  • Patient neglect
  • Failing to adhere to hospital protocols

Anyone who is a professional providing healthcare services can be held liable for medical malpractice. This includes doctors, physician’s assistants, nurses, dentists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, etc.

How We Can Help Your Business

Professional liability claims are complex, and the individuals who filed them have lawyers who are actively gathering evidence to use against you. You need a skilled trial lawyer who has decades of experience defending professionals’ reputations and futures. At Melick & Porter, LLP, our award-winning professional liability lawyers are committed to our clients. We also provide legal counsel for businesses interested in learning how to best protect themselves from liability in the future.

Our team has a proven record of success in defending professional liability cases.

Nationally-Recognized & Award-Winning Trial Attorneys

  • Mark S. Bodner Photo
  • Sophia P. Breene Photo
  • Christopher A. Costain Photo
  • Ryan C. Coyne Photo
  • Lauren S. Fackler Photo
  • Gabriella Y. Garofalo Photo
  • Richard E. Heifetz Photo
  • Christian H. Hinrichsen Photo
  • Nicholas M. Luise Photo
  • Michael J. Mazurczak Photo
  • Robert P. Powers Photo
  • Peter J. Riordan Photo
  • Holly G. Rogers Photo
  • William P. Rose Photo
  • Syd A. Saloman Photo
  • Robert T. Treat Photo
  • Mark S. Bodner Photo
    Mark S. Bodner

    Partner

    Mark is an experienced trial attorney with a focus on employment law and professional liability. Mark also has extensive experience handling product liability, construction, premises liability, unfair business practices, and general litigation matters. He represents clients in both federal and state courts.

  • Sophia P. Breene Photo
    Sophia P. Breene

    Associate

    Sophia is an Associate in Melick & Porter’s Boston office. Her practice focuses on the defense of complex liability matters in the areas of construction, premises, and automobile. She also handles employment law matters. Prior to joining the firm, Sophia was a public defender for several years in New Hampshire, where she represented juveniles and adults facing misdemeanor and serious felony criminal offenses.
  • Christopher A. Costain Photo
    Christopher A. Costain

    Associate

    Chris is an Associate in Melick & Porter's Connecticut office. His practice focuses on defending individual and corporate clients in a wide range of civil litigation matters involving employment practices liability, premises liability, general liability, and insurance coverage issues.

  • Ryan C. Coyne Photo
    Ryan C. Coyne

    Associate

    Ryan Coyne is an Associate in the firm’s Providence location.

    Prior to joining Melick & Porter, Ryan served as a law clerk for the Rhode Island Supreme Court Law Clerk Department, where he was a clerk for the Honorable Justice Brian P. Stern on the business calendar in Providence County Superior Court.

  • Lauren S. Fackler Photo
    Lauren S. Fackler

    Partner

    Lauren is a Partner in the firm’s Boston office. Her practices focus on defending employment practices liability matters involving a variety of issues, including harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. She also handles professional liability, general liability, and insurance coverage matters. Lauren represents clients in both state and federal courts as well as before state and federal agencies.

  • Gabriella Y. Garofalo Photo
    Gabriella Y. Garofalo

    Associate

    Gabriella is an Associate in the firm's Providence location.

    Gabriella graduated magna cum laude from Roger Williams University School of Law in 2022. While in law school, Gabriella served as a research assistant for Professor Elizabeth Colt's legal practice class and was selected as one of eight participants for the ABA's Business Diversity Clerkship Program where she gained valuable legal experience as a judicial intern to the Honorable Richard A. Licht on the Out-County Business Calendar.

  • Richard E. Heifetz Photo
    Richard E. Heifetz

    Partner

    Rick Heifetz is entering his fortieth year of practicing law. He is a 1972 graduate of the University of New Hampshire (B.A., cum laude) and a 1978 graduate of the New England School of Law (J.D., cum laude). He began his legal career as an associate in the firm of Darling & McLaughlin in Burlington and was a founding partner in the Boston firm of Roche, Heifetz, Murphy & Wholley.

  • Christian H. Hinrichsen Photo
    Christian H. Hinrichsen

    Partner

    Christian has extensive experience in complex litigation matters, including bench and jury trials, arbitrations, administrative proceedings, and mediations. His corporate counseling includes risk assessment and contract review. He is admitted to the state and federal courts of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Christian's practice has earned him selections as a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer.”

  • Nicholas M. Luise Photo
    Nicholas M. Luise

    Associate

    Nick is an Associate in Melick & Porter's Boston office. His practice focuses on employment law, general liability, professional liability, and premises liability.

  • Michael J. Mazurczak Photo
    Michael J. Mazurczak

    Member

    Maz has been at Melick & Porter his entire legal career. He began as a Law Clerk in the summer of 1988 and joined the firm as an Associate in the fall of 1989. Maz has extensive experience in complex civil litigation matters, representing clients in both federal and state courts for over 30 years. A significant portion of his practice involves employment law and includes providing major national corporations with oversight and defense of their employment litigation.

  • Robert P. Powers Photo
    Robert P. Powers

    Member

    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.

  • Peter J. Riordan Photo
    Peter J. Riordan

    Partner

    Peter is a partner in Melick & Porter’s Boston office with nearly twenty years of legal experience. He is a graduate of Boston University, and Suffolk University Law School. Peter started his legal practice at Hale & Dorr, before joining a smaller insurance defense practice. Over the last several years he has devoted himself to working with insurance companies and their insureds in the defense of a variety of liability claims, including insurance coverage and bad faith litigation.

  • Holly G. Rogers Photo
    Holly G. Rogers

    Partner

    Holly Rogers has earned a reputation as a zealous and effective advocate. She practices from our Connecticut Office, which she also manages. Holly has extensive experience in complex litigation matters. She devotes the majority of her practice to representation of clients in employment and professional liability matters. Holly represents clients in both federal and state courts in Connecticut and New York, as well as before federal and state agencies. Holly has arbitrated and mediated numerous claims before the American Arbitration Association and other dispute resolution entities. She has authored articles on a variety of legal topics and has spoken on topics of interest before client groups and legal peers.

  • William P. Rose Photo
    William P. Rose

    Partner

    Bill Rose is a graduate of University of Massachusetts and a cum laude graduate of Suffolk University School of Law. He also obtained his C.P.C.U. designation. Bill previously practiced at Morrison, Mahoney & Miller; Gillespie & Associates; the Law Offices of Peter Eleey; and Tucker, Heifetz & Saltzman, LLP. He handles cases in all areas of the firm’s practice.

  • Syd A. Saloman Photo
    Syd A. Saloman

    Partner

    Syd is a cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and a cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School. During law school, he was the recipient of the Goodwin Scholarship for Best Trial Advocacy. Syd previously practiced at Regan & Kiely LLP and Tucker, Heifetz & Saltzman in Boston.

  • Robert T. Treat Photo
    Robert T. Treat

    Partner

    Rob concentrates his practice on premises liability, professional liability, explosion, construction injury and worker’s compensation matters. Rob’s most notable defense verdicts in civil jury trials include: a negligent product distribution claim by a waitress whose face was burned by flaming brandy flambé spilled on her by a chef performing a “Strawberry Flambe” on stage.

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