Nicholas M. O'Donnell

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One Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109
Alternate Office: New York
T (617) 338-2814 or (212) 660-3000
F (617) 338-2880

Nicholas M. O’Donnell is a partner in the Litigation Department of our Boston office. Mr. O’Donnell’s practice focuses primarily on complex civil litigation. He represents manufacturers, individuals, investment advisers, banks, and others around the world in contract, securities, consumer protection, tort and domestic relations cases, with particular experience in the German-speaking world. He is also the editor of the Art Law Report, a blog that provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities, one of his areas of expertise.

Representative Client Work

  • Served as first chair in federal court trial and settlements concerning private flight services
  • Successfully represented a home furnishings manufacturer in a jury trial in which a former employee was claiming equity in the company and deferred compensation
  • Achieved the complete dismissal of lawsuit attempting to pierce the corporate veil of a health care provider trying to hold liable two investment adviser defendants alleged by plaintiffs to be shareholders
  • Defending a foreign financial services company in litigation concerning third party fraud, including an internal investigation in Europe overseeing the preservation, collection and analysis of data spanning nearly 20 years
  • Represented a Dutch manufacturing company in resolving an international dispute with a Japanese automotive supplier concerning their worldwide supply chain and allegedly defective components. Responsible for managing the worldwide investigation into the substance of the claim and the legal review and risk assessment, as well as directing the negotiations in the Netherlands, France, and the United States
  • Obtained a dismissal on First Amendment grounds of lawsuit challenging the governance of a religious school in Brookline, Massachusetts. The case was as upheld on appeal. Oster v. New England Hebrew Academy, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 1115, 827 N.E. 2d 258 (2005)
  • Won summary judgment for landowners in Massachusetts state court in a case concerning the scope of subdivision and land use rights
  • Advises museums and collectors worldwide about restitution, copyright and de-accessioning issues
  • On a pro bono basis, obtain restraining and privacy orders for victims of domestic violence and assert immigration rights of crime victims
  • Served as first chair in child abduction and Hague Convention cases

Speaking Engagements

  • "American Wartime Art Restitution in the 1990s and Beyond – Has it All Been Worth It?" Art and Heritage Disputes Conference at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands (March 24-25, 2013)
  • "Essentials for the New Collector," The Ellis Boston Antiques Show (October 21, 2011) 

Publications

Professional & Civic Activities

  • Past Vice President, Danforth Museum of Art Board of Trustees
  • Boston Bar Association
  • Boston Bar Association, Public Interest Leadership Program

News

Seminars & Speaking Engagements

Client Advisories

Practices

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Massachusetts, 2003
  • New York, 2012
  • District of Columbia, 2013
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • Supreme Court of the United States

Education

  • J.D., Boston College Law School, 2003
  • B.A., magna cum laude, Williams College, 1997

Awards & Honors

  • "Up & Coming Lawyer," Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2008
  • "Rising Star," Massachusetts Super Lawyers, (2007, 2009, 2010-2012)

Languages

  • German
  • Spanish