Shareholder and Management Committee Member
E-mail: jblake@k-plaw.com
Phone: 617.654.1721
Practice Areas: General Municipal, Land Use, Litigation
Attorney Blake has almost two decades of experience representing cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Attorney Blake’s practice focuses on general municipal law, litigation, licensing, land use and property valuation defense. He is an experienced litigator and frequently represents clients in state and federal courts and before administrative boards. Attorney Blake has extensive experience in property valuation, land use and health code litigation, including the defense of permit appeals and the prosecution of enforcement actions and appeals of real and personal property assessments and eminent domain. He counsels clients on the development and implementation of policy, drafting by-laws and regulations, contract review, and consultation on day-to-day operations, with primary emphasis on compliance with state and federal rules and regulations.
In the area of general municipal law, Attorney Blake represents as a primary contact approximately 10 cities and towns in the Commonwealth and advises in all areas of municipal law, including Open Meeting Law, Public Records Law, Town Meetings, drafting special legislation, and analyzing and interpreting by-laws, ordinance, and charters.
Attorney Blake has extensive experience in landlord-tenant matters, including the defense and the prosecution of eviction proceedings. Attorney Blake, has participated in the nearly 300 evictions the firm has undertaken for client housing authorities, as well as managed and prosecuted many eviction matters as the result of eminent domain and tax title takings on behalf of numerous municipalities and public sector entities.
- Represented and negotiated favorable compliance schedules in numerous cities’ and towns’ appeals of a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit before the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Appeals Board and the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Represents clients (cities and towns) and has obtained favorable results in many Appellate Tax Board appeals.
- Represents numerous cities and towns in Massachusetts in all phases of cable television license renewals including negotiations, consultations, evaluations, and drafting and execution of contracts.
- Represented clients (cities and towns) and obtained favorable results via trial or settlement negotiations in more than one hundred and fifty (150) eminent domain proceedings throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- Acushnet Board of Health v. P.J. Keating Co., Superior Court C.A. No. 2273CV00642 (2022). Successfully defended the Board of Health’s cease and desist order requiring a hot mix asphalt plant to shut down because of noxious fumes and odors.
- Paul D. Adler, Trustee of 2 East Beach Realty Trust v. Town of Westport Board of Health, 82 Mass.App.Ct. 1102 (2012). In a case of first impression regarding the “grandfathering” of an abandoned septic system, successfully defended the Board of Health’s denial of an on-site septic system permit.
- USAA Properties v. Chelmsford Board of Assessors, Appellate Tax Board Docket No. F-293813 (2012). Successfully defended the Town’s $25,000,000 assessment of Research and Development property of the Appellant.
- Willowdale LLC v. Board of Assessors for the Town of Topsfield ,78 Mass.App.Ct. 767 (2011). In a case of first impression regarding the Historic Curator’s Program, successfully defended the Board of Assessors denial of tax exempt status of the Appellant.
- Cape Cod National v. Harwich Board of Assessors, 77 Mass.App.Ct. 1122 (2010). Successfully defended the Board of Assessors’ denial of a recreational classification for a for-profit golf course.
- Town of Wellesley DPW, et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, 455 Mass. 740 (2010). Represented numerous towns in a successful challenge to the authority of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to condition a Water Registration Statement renewal.
- Barbara Deighton Haupt, Trustee of BD Realty Trust v. Town of Wareham, et al., U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts C.A. No. 05-11745-RWZ (2007). Assisted in the defense of the Town securing a verdict that reduced the plaintiff’s claimed value of the taken property by $1.5 million dollars.
Massachusetts Appeals Court, Boston, MA
Law Clerk for the Honorable William I. Cowin (2001-2003)
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Massachusetts Bar
- U.S. District Court (Mass.)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
New England School of Law
Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, 2001
Trustee Bradbury Gilbert Award for Excellence in Achievement
Editor-in-chief, New England Law Review
Norwich University
Bachelor of Arts, 1997