Throughout his lifetime, Atty. Steven M. LaFortune, Sr. has demonstrated an outstanding record of personal and professional achievement. Atty. LaFortune was an accomplished athlete and student, winning mutilple All-American awards in football and for academic excellence. Atty. LaFortune has continued with this success in the courtroom. Before forming LaFortune & LaFortune in 1988, Atty. LaFortune worked as a trial attorney and business attorney at the prestigious Boston law firms of Gaston & Snow and Peabody & Arnold. Most of Atty. LaFortunes' court cases have been against Boston's most prestigious firms. Bar Admissions – 1985, Massachusetts; 1988, New Hampshire Practice – Admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of New Hampshire - State and Federal Courts. Education – Boston University School of Law; Trinity College, Hartford, Ct., Alexander Award in Economics; Academic All-American in football. Accomplishments Include:Tax Litigation Atty. LaFortune recently litigated an IRS tax case in the 1st Circuit Federal Court of Appeals employing a novel theory of tax law to abate and remove IRS tax penalties and liens. The IRS had placed a tax lien on our clients' business, one of Massachusetts' oldest businesses. The IRS sought court permission to foreclose on the lien. After persuasive arguments before the 1st Circuit and expected appeal by the IRS to the U.S. Supreme Court, the lien was removed and the IRS waived over 3 million dollars in penalties and interest. The client was extremely grateful and contends to this day that we saved his business and saved him from financial ruin. Banking Litigation Atty. LaFortune has won several cases against major banks involving multi-million dollars worth of real estate under the "lender liability" theory of the law. Atty. LaFortune has also succesfully represented banking institutions in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in cases involving contracts, lender liability, real estate title issues, and foreclosures. Construction Litigation Atty, LaFortune achieved positive outcomes in representing clients in litigation involving sophisticated construction disputes with projects worth millions of dollars. Employment Litigation Atty. LaFortune successfully defended a major employer in an employment law litigation case. Atty. LaFortune also recently defeated the U.S. government in a handicapped discrimination case on behalf of the plaintiff, earning the client her job back, loss pay, emotional distress damages, and her pension restored. The client had 5 children to support and frequently expresses her eternal gratitude to the firm. Real Estate Litigation Atty. LaFortune has successfully litigated cases in all areas of real estate litigation, including easements, landlord/tenant disputes, boundary disputes, foreclosures, zoning and title issues. As an example of the firm's success in real estate litigation, Atty. LaFortune won a major appeals court victory involving a title dispute between a holder of a Purchase & Sales and a Bank holding a first mortgage, setting legal precedent in Massachusetts and changing title law in Massachusetts. The case has been the subject of several legal articles, including in Bankers & Tradesman, speaking about the difficulty of the legal case and how it has changed real estate law in Massachusetts. Estate and Trust Litigation Atty. LaFortune has obtained millions of dollars in recoveries for clients in cases involving estate and trust disputes. In a recent case, Atty. LaFortune successfully litigated a bitter family dispute over millions of dollars in real estate and trust funds. The clients received title to the real estate and approximately 4 million dollars in trust distributions, achieving in their own words a "dream result". Personal Injury Atty. LaFortune has successfully litigated numerous sophisticated personal injury cases and insurance issues on behalf of accident victims and insurance companies, cumulatively involving millions of dollars in personal injury claims. Business Litigation In a case in Worcester Federal District Court, Atty. LaFortune successfully defended represented a machine tool company against a well-known Fortune 500 company seeking a million dollars in damages. Judgment was entered for the client. |