Counsel
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 617.654.1711
Practice Areas: General Municipal, Litigation, Cable, Marine and Aviation
Attorney William Hewig has 30 years of experience representing clients in civil litigation in the areas of insurance and municipal defense. He specializes in cable television license negotiations, personal injury and property damage claims, general litigation defense, sewer and water department litigation, landfill regulation and closure, land flooding and riparian rights. Attorney Hewig also litigates and advises matters involving harbormaster and wetland issues, and marine and aviation personal injury and property damage defense in general. Attorney Hewig has practiced before the following administrative agencies: Massachusetts Cable Television Competition Division of the Department of Telecommunications and Energy; Appellate Tax Board; Department of Public Utilities; Department of Environmental Protection; numerous municipal licensing boards; United States Coast Guard; National Transportation Safety Board; Panama Canal Commission; the Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands; State Marine Pilotage commissions in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine; and the Federal Transportation Administration.
Attorney Hewig is also the primary contact for several town clients assisting them in a full array of general municipal issues, including town meetings, charters and by-laws, conflict of interest, public records, the Open Meeting Law, and municipal finance.
- Represents or has represented over 20% of the cities and towns in Massachusetts in all phases of cable television license renewals including negotiations, consultations, evaluations, rate increases, and execution of contracts. Negotiated with all Massachusetts cable providers.
- Defended a regional transit authority in a $4 million claim by the Federal Transportation Administration for reimbursements for grant subcontractor misfeasance. In brief and oral argument before it, the FTA was persuaded to reduce its $4 million claim to $200,000 representing the transit authority’s grant administration fee.
- Testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Affairs on matters relating to claims of impropriety on the part of United States Coast Guard Administrative Law Judges.
- Secured defendant’s verdict at trial and successfully defended municipality before Supreme Judicial Court in landmark land taking case establishing “regulatory taking” standard of review for the state.
- Secured defendant’s verdict for municipality at trial in multi-million dollar suit brought by local manufacturers claiming over payment of municipal sewer and water user fees, and successfully defended verdict on appeal.
- Won summary judgment for a municipality in a suit against the Town and the Harbormaster brought by a private marine salvage operator. Defeated plaintiff’s claims for money damages under alleged theories of slander, civil rights, fraud, anti-trust, and 93A. The decision was a substantial victory of state-wide impact, with copies of the decision widely circulated among harbormasters in other communities facing similar challenges.
- Extensively negotiated with the United States Army Corps of Engineers regarding the enforcement, implementation and wording of the harbor mooring regulations, including re-drafting regulations to ensure the town’s continuing eligibility for periodic federally-funded harbor dredging projects.
- Chancellor (General Counsel) to the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church; provides general counsel in all Conference legal matters including litigation, real estate, employment, and church law.
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Maritime Law Association, Committee on Navigation and Coast Guard Matters
- Massachusetts Bar
- U.S. District Court (Mass.)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States
Western New England College School of Law
Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1983
Articles Editor, Western New England Law Review (1982-1983)
Boston University
Master of Arts, 1978
Miami University
Bachelor of Science, 1969