Our Attorneys

Our individual backgrounds and practice areas are as follows.

Leonard F. Clarkin. Principal. Formerly a partner and head of the litigation department for ten years at the firm of Hausserman, Davison & Shattuck, Mr. Clarkin has extensive trial experience that includes cases involving products liability, securities, shareholder and partner disputes, insurance coverage disputes and employment discrimination and termination cases. A certified public accountant, he is particularly qualified to handle complicated business litigation. In addition, Mr. Clarkin serves as general counsel to a number of corporations based in the greater Boston area and serves as a trustee of a variety of trusts. He has extensive corporate experience involving negotiating employment agreements, shareholder agreements and related documentation, mergers and acquisitions; commercial lending; a wide range of corporate documentation, including commercial loan documents, licensing agreements, real estate leases and other documentation; and serves on various Boards of Directors for corporate clients. He is a graduate of Providence College and Suffolk University Law School. Mr. Clarkin has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Email: lfc@csplaw.com 

William C. Sawyer. Principal. Mr. Sawyer represents both traditional New England manufacturing companies and emerging service and other businesses in a broad range of matters including mergers and acquisitions, commercial lending and compliance matters. In addition, Mr. Sawyer has extensive experience in the preparation of wills and trusts and the transfer of assets through gifting and other programs to minimize estate taxes. Mr. Sawyer is a graduate of Harvard College (cum laude) and Harvard Law School. Experienced in land use law and regional planning, he has been active in many civic and political organizations. He has run for the office of Massachusetts Attorney General and has been a candidate for Congress in the 5th Congressional District. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association. He has served as a director and past president of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. He has also served on a number of corporate Board of Directors. Mr. Sawyer has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Email: wcs@csplaw.com

Asa E. Phillips III. Principal. Asa’s practice encompasses: estate planning, estate settlement, trust administration and business law, with a particular focus on estate planning for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and family business owners and serving as a professional fiduciary. He graduated from Middlebury College cum laude and with high honors in English Literature in 1979 and received his law degree cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in 1982. While in law school he served as a director of the moot court program and was published in the Suffolk University Law Review. Following law school he served as a law clerk to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He is a member of the Maine and Massachusetts bars, the Boston Estate Planning Council and the Estate and Trust Section of the Boston Bar Association. In addition to his professional activities Asa volunteers his time as a board member of several local non-profit organizations. Asa has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Email: aep@csplaw.com

John R. Cavanaugh, Principal. John Cavanaugh focuses his practice in the area of civil litigation and business law. John received his B.S. with distinction from Babson College and received his J.D. cum laude from Boston University School of Law. John is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association. John serves as a Town Meeting Member in the Town of Natick and previously served as a member of the Town of Natick Zoning Board of Appeals.  John also served as a Hearing Committee Member for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. John has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Email: jrc@csplaw.com

 

John R. Cavanaugh

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Sarah J. O’Leary. Associate. Sarah’s practice is focused in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement and trust administration. Sarah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Syracuse University in 1988 and an M.B.A. from Syracuse University in 1994. Prior to attending law school Sarah had a successful fourteen-year career as a financial management consultant in the health care field. Sarah received her Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 2004. Sarah is a member of the Estate and Trust Section of the Boston Bar Association, Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Estate Planning Council. Email: sjo@csplaw.com

Maureen M. Villadelgado. Associate. Maureen focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement and trust administration. Maureen earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in 2002 and received her Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 2007. Maureen is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association. Email: mmv@csplaw.com

Pamela J. Anderson. Of Counsel. Before joining the firm Pam Anderson spent 18 years (11 as a director) with Powers & Hall, a medium-sized Boston law firm where she specialized in complex business, real estate, finance and securities law. Ms. Anderson now advises closely-held family businesses, start-up entities, and international charities regarding asset transfers, merger/acquisitions, financing, day-to-day management, contracting, employment, litigation, shareholder control and ownership, liquidation, corporate restructuring, financial reorganization and downsizing.  Her practice also encompasses family estate planning and asset management (personal, business and real estate issues) regarding succession and wealth transfers, serving as family trustee (including to foreigners with US assets), family matters, and transfers to charities and conservation groups. Ms. Anderson graduated from Tufts University (BA 1973, English cum laude with honors in Political Science) and received her law degree from Boston College Law School. She is active in civic and charitable causes in the greater Boston area and on Martha’s Vineyard. Ms. Anderson has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Email: pja@csplaw.com