Juliet A Davison

Juliet received her B.A from Brown University in 1985 and her J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley - Boalt Hall in 1990.  She has repeatedly been recognized as a Massachusetts and New England Super Lawyer and is rated AV - preeminent by Martindale Hubbell, the highest possible rating.  Juliet concentrates her practice in the areas of business litigation, employment litigation and law, and fiduciary and probate litigation.  Admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York, Juliet has a broad litigation background and deep experience representing individuals and companies in the trial and appellate courts, before agencies and in mediation and arbitration.

Juliet has successfully represented employers and employees in a wide range of employment disputes and issues.  In 2013, the Superior Court adopted her argument, in a case of first impression in the Commonwealth, that, as a matter of common law, the president of a corporation does not have the power to terminate an employee who was put into office by the Board of Directors in a closely-held family business.  In 2012, she obtained the enforcement of a two-year restrictive covenant in the highly competitive medical device industry against an employee who had left the company’s employ 15 months earlier and defeated the enforcement of a non-competition agreement in that same industry only a few months prior.  She is experienced in bringing and defending a wide array of employment-related claims, including claims for enforcement of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements and other restrictive covenants, claims for gender, race, disability and age discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, claims for violations of the wage and hour laws and claims under the Family Medical Leave Act.  Juliet regularly advises employers and employees with respect to their legal rights and obligations and frequently represents clients in the drafting and negotiation of employment, termination and severance agreements.  She has achieved six and seven figure settlements for numerous employee clients.

Juliet frequently represents individuals, beneficiaries, executors, trustees and other fiduciaries in disputes concerning estates and trusts, including the management and administration thereof, the duties of fiduciaries and the interpretation of trust and estate planning instruments.  In 2013, she achieved a settlement resulting in a professional trustee paying $12 million in trust funds outright to her client.  In 2012, in a case of first impression, the Appeals Court upheld the Probate Court’s ruling in favor of Juliet’s client that a guardian who transferred funds of her ward to a trust after his death acted unlawfully and was required to repay those funds to the decedent’s estate.  She has prevailed in numerous proceedings to remove fiduciaries of trusts and estates, and at times have uncovered egregious wrongdoing by fiduciaries in those proceedings and recovered substantial six figure fee awards.  She has also tried and prevailed in a number of will contest cases.

Commercial disputes and litigation are the backbone of Juliet’s practice and her expertise in employment law and fiduciary litigation arises from her commercial litigation background.  Juliet represents clients of all types and sizes in claims for breach of contract, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and claims for unfair trade practices in violation of M. G. L. c. 93A.  She is frequently counsel in complex shareholder/partnership disputes in family-owned or closely-held businesses in matters relating to the operation and control of the business.   She is also experienced in advising on, and litigating, matters of corporate governance, including in start-up businesses and ventures.