Segal Roitman LLP, and its predecessor Segal Roitman & Coleman were founded in 1972.  More than thirty five years later we have grown, and adapted to a changing world, while maintaining our core values.  We offer the wisdom of experience, coupled with an understanding of emerging developments in the law.  Collectively, our lawyers represent clients in all areas of labor, employment, employee benefits law, personal injury and workers compensation.  We counsel and advise clients and represent them in the state and federal courts, before administrative agencies and in mediation and negotiations.

(617) 742-0208 x 250
ndecter@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Individuals

Boston College Law School, J.D. (2001)
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Department of Political Science, M.A. (1998)
Brandeis University, B.A., cum laude (1995)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2003
New York State, 2003
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, 2004
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, 2004

Nicole (Nikki) Horberg Decter represents unions and union members in all aspects of labor and other employment-related litigation.  Additionally, she represents individuals in employment discrimination matters.

Before joining Segal Roitman in early 2007, Nikki was an associate at the union-side firm where she concentrated in labor and employment discrimination law.  She represented union clients before arbitrators, the National Labor Relations Board, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission, the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission, the Department of Telecommunications and Energy, as well as the Massachusetts state and federal courts.  Additionally, she represented individual clients in the Massachusetts state and federal courts as well as the MCAD and the Civil Service Commission.

Nikki is a member of the Board of the Directors of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, and a member of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts.  Nikki is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Boston Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, and co-chair of its Labor and Employment sub-committee.  Nikki began her legal career as a legal fellow in the General Counsel’s Office of the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C.

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(617) 742-0208 x 226
mdoheny@segalroitman.com
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Individuals, Unions, Personal Injury

Suffolk University Law School J.D., magna cum laude
Cornell University B.A.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Michael Doheny represents labor organizations and individuals in all aspects of the firm’s labor and employment law practice.  Mike has appeared on behalf of union clients in arbitration, before state and federal administrative agencies, and in both state and federal courts.  He represents individuals in nearly all areas of the firm’s practice, in employment discrimination claims, at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, in personal injury matters, and in negotiating severance agreements and employment contracts.  Mike is a member of the Steering Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Boston Bar Association, where he currently serves as co-chair of its Public Policy Subcommittee.  He is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.  He has presented on employment-related topics for both the Boston Bar Association and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.

Mike was selected as a 2007 Massachusetts Super Lawyer Rising Star by Law and Politics Magazine.

Before going to law school, Mike taught English and Mathematics at the middle- and high school levels.  While in law school, Mike was Executive Editor of the Suffolk University Law Review.

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(617) 742-0208 x 252
ggeiman@segalroitman.com
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Pension, Health and Welfare Funds

Northeastern University School of Law J.D.
Tufts University B.A., cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Greg Geiman represents a number of jointly trusteed employee benefit funds in the collection of health, welfare, and pension contributions under ERISA.  Greg appears regularly in federal district court and advises trustees regarding their fiduciary obligations.  Greg also litigates personal injury cases for workers injured on the job.

Before joining Segal Roitman, Greg was a litigation attorney with Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels.  While in law school, Greg interned for the Honorable Lawrence Cohen of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and for the Massachusetts Teachers Association.  Greg is a member of the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations.

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(617) 742-0208 x 228
pkelly@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Individuals, Pension, Health and Welfare Funds, Personal Injury

Suffolk University Law School J.D., cum laude
College of the Holy Cross B.A.

Supreme Court of the United States
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First and Third Circuits
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Paul Kelly is a union lawyer and a trial lawyer.  Today he advises union officials concerning matters of internal union governance, collective bargaining and regulatory matters affecting unions.  He represents labor organizations in court litigation, administrative proceedings and arbitration.  He has successfully represented unions, union officials, individual employees and personal injury plaintiffs in state and federal jury trials.  He also serves as counsel to Taft-Hartley Fund Trustees and to individuals asserting pension and ERISA benefit claims.  He has been a faculty member at the Labor Guild since 1984 and he is a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Suffolk Law School.  He received the Cushing Gavin Award as an outstanding union attorney in 1996.  Paul has also been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 2007.

Paul is a partner in the firm.  Before joining Segal Roitman in 1977, Paul served as law clerk to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and as a Teaching Fellow in the Suffolk Law School Legal Practical Skills department.

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(617) 742-0208 x 233
skroll@segalroitman.com
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Unions

Boston College School of Law J.D., summa cum laude
University of Michigan M.A. History, magna cum laude
University of Michigan B.A., magna cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Shelley Kroll joined Segal Roitman in 1985 after serving as a law clerk to Edward F. Hennessey, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.  Her practice concentrates on the representation of unions in manufacturing, distribution, communications, and higher education.  Her union practice is varied and includes contract negotiation, arbitration, litigation before the National Labor Relations Board and Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission, administrative hearings and state and federal court litigation.  In the field of higher education, Shelley has focused on such issues as the rights of graduate employees to organize, representing graduate employees at Brown, Tufts, and the University of Massachusetts.  She particularly enjoys providing education and training to union members and regularly speaks at union workshops and conferences.  Shelley is a frequent speaker at bar association and labor law conferences and has contributed articles to both law reviews and professional publications.

Shelley has been a partner at the firm since 1992.  Prior to attending law school, she taught labor studies at Wayne State University and worked as a machinist at General Electric.

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(617) 742-0208 x 253
lmandarini@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Individuals, Personal Injury

University of Miami School of Law, J.D., cum laude (2007)
Tulane University, B.A., magna cum laude (1998)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Lou Mandarini represents unions and individuals in various aspects of labor law, employment matters, and personal injury litigation.  Lou represents clients in the utilities industry, but his practice also includes clients across many other sectors of the labor movement.  His practice includes proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission, federal and state courts, as well as arbitrations and mediations.

Before joining Segal Roitman in 2007, Lou interned as a law student for two years at a union law firm in South Florida.  There he had exposure to arbitrations, public employee administrative proceedings, actions before the National Labor Relations Board, federal court appellate work, and bankruptcy proceedings involving collective bargaining agreements.

Prior to law school, Lou worked for several years at the Massachusetts AFL-CIO in communications.  He has also worked as a regional planner and a newspaper reporter.

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(617) 742-0208 x 243
jmckenna@segalroitman.com
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Workers Compensation, Social Security Disability, Accidental Disability Retirement and Personal Injury

New England School of Law, J.D.
College of the Holy Cross, B.A.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
First Circuit Court of Appeals

Joe McKenna focuses his practice upon the litigation of Worker’s Compensation claims and Social Security Disability claims.  The son of a union plumber, Joe predominantly represents workers from the building trades and utility industries who have suffered serious injuries.  Such injuries range from electrocution, traumatic brain injuries and heart attacks to muscular/skeletal injuries.  Joe has lectured widely before both union and non-union groups on the worker’s compensation statute.  He is the author of a “Handbook for Injured Workers in Massachusetts” and a perennial recipient of Martindale – Hubbell’s highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards.

Prior to joining Segal Roitman in 1996, Joe worked in the worker’s compensation department of Wynn and Wynn, P.C. for approximately eight years.  Joe also served a clerkship for the late William Joseph Patrick Cleary, administrative judge at the Department of Industrial Accidents.

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(617) 742-0208 x 236
spratt@segalroitman.com
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Individuals, Unions

Northeastern University School of Law J.D.
Buena Vista University B.A., magna cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts

Stephanie R. Pratt-Mitra represents individuals in discrimination claims and labor organizations in labor and employment-related matters.  Stephanie began her legal career as an associate in the Litigation Practice Group at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP and joined Segal Roitman in 2003.  At Segal Roitman Stephanie has focused on federal court litigation, arbitration, and representation of individuals in state court and before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Prior to starting her legal career, Stephanie worked for the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, Department of Human Rights in Des Moines, Iowa, focusing on various civil and human rights issues.  She is the author of “Women Meatpacking Workers in the 1970s and 1980s,” Missouri Valley History Conference (1994) and co-author of “Iowa Women:  Education, Earnings, and Equity,” Quality Jobs for Quality Communities, Iowa State University Extension (1998).

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(617) 742-0208 x 227
brosenthal@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Individuals

Harvard Law School J.D., cum laude
Harvard College B.A., summa cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First and Fourth Circuits

Burt Rosenthal’s labor and employment practice spans employees in all tiers of the workforce, ranging from unionized blue-collar workers to individual executives with termination and severance claims.  Burt pursues claims in arbitration, mediation, courts and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, among other forums.  Burt also recognizes that employment disputes are highly charged, emotional episodes, and that many employees, union groups and employers are best served by negotiating creative solutions that meet their needs.  Burt is a past Chairperson of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section.  He has for several years served as New England Co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Subcommittee on Practice and Procedure under the National Labor Relations Act.

Burt joined Segal Roitman in 1988 and became partner in 1990.  Prior to joining Segal Roitman, Burt served as District Litigation Specialist at the National Labor Relation Board’s Region One Office in Boston.  Burt has also been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 2007.

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(617) 742-0208 x 240
jshaw@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Individuals

Northeastern University School of Law J.D.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst M.A.
Worcester State College B.S.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
State of Louisiana (to provide pro bono legal assistance to victims of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita)

James Shaw represents unions and employees in numerous forums, including the National Labor Relations Board, Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission, labor arbitration, and state and federal court. He represents workers in all sectors of the economy, including janitors, electricians, public employees and employees in higher education.  His focus includes defending the free speech rights of unions and employees.

Prior to law school, James was president of UAW Local 2322 in Western Massachusetts, where he represented and organized workers in higher education, child care, mental health, human services, manufacturing, and other industries.  He has spoken widely at academic and community forums about labor organizing, health care, and higher education.  Not only has he helped workers form unions of their own, but he has also been a leader in organizing a union in his own workplace.  He previously has taught sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and worked as a newspaper reporter in Worcester.  He is a member of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981) and the American Constitution Society.

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(617) 742-0208 x 230
kshea@segalroitman.com
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Employee Benefits, Personal Injury

Boston College Law School J.D., cum laude
Harvard-Radcliffe College B.A., cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Kate Shea is a trial lawyer in the firm’s ERISA and personal injury practice.  Kate represents employee benefit plans in the collection of delinquent contributions to the plans.  She also represents workers who have suffered catastrophic injuries at unsafe job sites.  She pursues workers claims against third party tortfeasors, such as manufacturers of defective equipment or negligent construction management.  Kate has taught advanced legal writing courses at Suffolk Law School.  She also serves as a mediator in family mediation cases.

Prior to joining Segal Roitman in 1994, Kate worked in the litigation department of Ropes & Gray and served a six-month stint as Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County.  She was Executive Editor of the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review and published a comparative study on jurisdiction after international kidnapping.  She is a panel member of the Harvard Mediation Program and has provided training on ethical issues in mediation.

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(617) 742-0208 x 231
dsiegel@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Pension, Health and Welfare Funds

Harvard Law School J.D.
University of Wisconsin B.A.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

General Counsel to the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, Don Siegel has advised this statewide labor organization on policy matters.  As General Counsel to both the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Building Trades Council he has drafted several important legislative initiatives.  As counsel to the Boston and other Building Trades Councils he has negotiated several project labor agreements covering both private sector and public sector construction projects.  Don also serves as counsel to several labor councils.  Don also represents several ERISA and some public sector based employee benefit funds as well as many non-ERISA labor-management cooperation trusts.  Together with Elizabeth Sloane he has been active in enforcing both prevailing wage claims and public bidding laws.

Don’s practice also includes the representation of individual local unions as well as individual employees.  He negotiates employment agreements for individual employees as well as collective bargaining agreements for individual local unions.

Long active in community and bar related groups, Don serves as a member of the National Board of the Jewish Labor Committee.  He is listed in the “Best Lawyers in America,” is a past president of several community organizations and a member of the American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations.  He has written and lectured extensively on topics of concern to the labor bar and to labor leaders.  He speaks regularly to unions as well as professional audiences.  Like many other firm lawyers, he has never worked at any other law firm.  He started as an associate in 1971 and became a partner in 1978.  He has also received the Cushing-Gavin award as an outstanding union attorney.  Don has also been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 2007.

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(617) 742-0208 x 232
asills@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Employee Benefits, Individuals

Northeastern University School of Law J.D.
Tufts University B.A., magna cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First and Second Circuits

Anne Sills’ practice focuses on the representation of unions and employee benefit funds and individuals.  Her union practice includes arbitration, contract negotiations and litigation before the National Labor Relations Board, state and federal courts.  Her employee benefit funds practice primarily involves federal and state court litigation, through which she has collected millions of dollars in health, welfare and pension contributions for employees and plan participants.  Anne also represents individuals in negotiating separation agreements, at hearings before the Division of Unemployment Assistance and before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.  Anne was named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2006.  She speaks Spanish and enjoys using Spanish in her law practice.

Anne, a partner in the firm, joined Segal Roitman in 1986.  Before joining the firm, she worked as an attorney for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.

Before becoming a union lawyer, Anne worked on the assembly line at General Motors, where she was active on various union committees.

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(617) 742-0208 x 229
isills@segalroitman.com
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Unions, Pension, Health and Welfare Funds

Northeastern University Law School J.D.
Brown University M.A., History
Queens College B.A.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
First Circuit Court of Appeals

Ira Sills’ practice focuses on the representation of unions, particularly organizing campaigns involving immigrant workers and others.  Ira also has significant experience in cases involving labor issues in the entertainment field and higher education.  Ira has extensive experience with collective bargaining negotiations, arbitration and mediation, and work before the National Labor Relations Board and the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission.

Ira, a partner in the firm, joined the firm in 1977.  He has taught labor law courses at Northeastern University Law School for over 25 years and is a regular speaker at Continuing Legal Education Seminars, Bar Associations and trainings for union representatives.  Ira is listed in “Best Lawyers in America” and is a former chair of the Labor Law Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association.  Ira was awarded the Labor Guild of the Archdiocese of Boston 2006 Cushing Gavin Award for “Excellence in Labor Management Relations Exemplifying Moral Integrity, Professional Competence, and Community Concern” on December 7, 2006.

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(617) 742-0208 x 239
esloane@segalroitman.com
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Pension, Health and Welfare Funds, Unions, Individuals

Suffolk University Law School J.D., cum laude
Brown University B.A.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Elizabeth Sloane (“Lili” for short) practices primarily employee benefits law, representing jointly trusteed employee benefit plans on a full range of matters, including ERISA, regulatory and contract review and compliance, and collection of contributions.  She also represents and advises unions and certain organizations related to the construction trades on a range of employment and labor law matters, including arbitration, regulatory compliance and enforcement of state prevailing wage and public bid laws.

Lili, a partner in the firm, is a member of the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations and the Massachusetts and National Employment Lawyers Association.  Before law school, she worked for three years as a Staff Supervisor and Legislative Aide for a member of the Massachusetts General Court.  She is the coauthor of “Labor Management Cooperative Organizations” with Donald J. Siegel and Jeffrey G. Stein (Employee Benefit Issues 1998).

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(617) 742-0208 x 234
msullivan@segalroitman.com
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Individuals, Pension, Health and Welfare Funds, Unions

Northeastern University School of Law J.D.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst B.A., summa cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
State of New Hampshire
United States District Court for the Districts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Districts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Federal Circuit

Mary Sullivan’s practice ranges from representing unions to negotiation of complex executive employment and severance agreements, to employment discrimination litigation, to representation of employee benefit plans.  Mary represents plans, individuals, and unions in state court, federal court, in arbitration and before the National Labor Relations Board.  She has also successfully negotiated executive severance and employment discrimination settlements, including what was the largest voluntary settlement of a sexual harassment claim in the history of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

A former member of AFSCME Council No. 93, Mary joined the firm in 1983 after serving as a law clerk for Chief Judge Shane Devine of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, and became a partner in 1990.  She is listed in the “Best Lawyers in America” and was named by Boston Magazine in 2004 as one of its “Best Lawyers” for her work in employment law.  Mary has also been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 2007.   Mary is a past Chairperson of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, and a former member of the Judicial Nominating Committee.  She is currently a Trustee of the Brookline Public Library.  Mary is a frequent lecturer for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

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(617) 742-0208 x 237
italwani@segalroitman.com
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Individuals, Unions

Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California J.D.
Harvard-Radcliffe College, B.A., cum laude

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
State of California
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California
United States Court of Appeals for the First, Ninth and Tenth Circuit

Indira Talwani, a partner at the firm, specializes in federal and state court litigation, including class actions, of traditional and cutting edge claims under labor laws, civil rights laws, wage and hour laws, unfair business practice laws, and the First Amendment.  She also represents individuals and unions in negotiations, arbitrations and other forums, and has extensive experience representing faculty and staff of academic institutions in both Massachusetts and California.  Indi is senior editor of the American Bar Association and Bureau of National Affairs’ treatise on the Family and Medical Leave Act.  She has lectured for the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Bar Association of San Francisco, and for numerous labor organizations and other organizations on labor and employment issues.

Before joining the firm, Indi served as law clerk to Judge Stanley A. Weigel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and was a partner with the litigation firm of Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Berzon and Rubin in San Francisco.  At Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Indi served as Articles Editor for the Industrial Relations Law Journal and was selected for the Order of the Coif.  Prior to law school, Indi worked as a union organizer.

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