Shareholder
E-mail: gcorbo@k-plaw.com
Phone: 617.654.1764
Practice Areas: General Municipal, Litigation, Land Use
Attorney Corbo has broad experience as a general municipal law practitioner, regularly advising clients on core administrative matters such as preparation for and attendance at Town Meeting, compliance with Title 5 and other local code enforcement, licensing, dangerous dogs and civil rights and tort litigation. Attorney Corbo has been practicing municipal law for over 20 years, has attended hundreds of board and committee meetings, and assisted dozens of towns in drafting town meeting warrant articles and motions, advising on posting and notice requirements, attending pre-town meetings to work with the moderator and other important town officials to ensure that the procedures for holding such meetings are fully vetted, and representing municipalities at town meetings of all sizes, with simple and complex warrants, and parliamentary procedure issues of all kinds.
Attorney Corbo frequently represents municipalities though all stages of code and bylaw enforcement efforts. He is a seasoned litigator, with experience in representing municipal clients in proceedings before the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Massachusetts trial courts, and numerous administrative agencies, including the Department of Environmental Protection, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, the Architectural Access Board, and the Appellate Tax Board. Attorney Corbo counsels clients on the development and implementation of policy, drafting by-laws and regulations, contract review, and consultation on day-to-day operations. Attorney Corbo also has extensive experience in land use litigation, including the defense of permit appeals and the prosecution of enforcement actions.
As a leader in the Firm’s COVID-19 practice area, Attorney Corbo worked with public health officials throughout the Commonwealth to assist in the development and enforcement of regulations for the protection of public health and safety during the pandemic. Other examples of the importance of his work include working with the United States Department of Agriculture and State legislators to secure more than twenty-million dollars for a rural community to fund sewer system upgrades, working with communities to develop intermunicipal agreements for shared services and utilities, and negotiating settlement agreements to resolve disputes concerning failed septic systems, water and sewer user fees, nuisance and sanitary code enforcement actions and appeals, and other issues.
- Represent clients before State and Federal Courts and administrative agencies to prosecute enforcement actions, to defend decisions of local boards, to defend allegations of misconduct by public officials, and to advance client interests in real estate, contract and other matters.
- Negotiate and draft intermunicipal agreements.
- Featured speaker at the annual meetings of Tri-County Clerks, Worcester County Clerks, Middlesex Town and City Clerks Associations, and North Shore City and Town Clerks Association on topics including of the regulation of animals, open meeting law and public records.
- Assist clients in conducting residency hearings and recounts; local public hearings with respect liquor licensing, nuisance and dangerous dogs, motor vehicle sales (Class I, II and II Licenses), code enforcement and other issues; and assisting in all phases of Town Meetings.
- Provide formal trainings and seminars to clients on a wide range of topics including: public records, open meeting law, conflict of interest law, animal control laws and licensing laws.
- Town of Truro v. Daniel Delgizzi, et al., Southeast Housing Court, C.A. No. 19H83CV00357CI (March 3, 2022). After three years of contentious litigation, Attorney Corbo secured an order upholding the Truro Board of Health’s Condemnation Order and requiring a landlord to hire a third-party relocation agency to relocate more than thirty occupants residing in a motel that was unfit for human habitation as a result of dangerous violations of the State Sanitary Code.
- Terry Allen v. Board of Registrars of Amherst, Hampshire Superior Court, C.A. No. 2180CV00081, Summary Judgment (January 17, 2022). Superior Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Amherst Board of Registrars and Town Council with respect to a challenge to the procedures employed in processing a referendum petition and the conduct of an election on that petition where the plaintiffs were seeking to nullify an appropriation of funding for a library construction project which would have resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars in State grants if successful.
- Arlene O’Donnell, et al. v. Plympton Board of Health, Plymouth Superior Court, C.A. No. 2183CV00182 (November 1, 2021). Attorney Corbo successfully defended the determination of the Plympton Board of Health that a developer did not have sufficient land area to install a mounded septic system based on local regulation requiring a minimum lot size of five acres for installation of septic systems in areas with high groundwater.
- Maria Asvestas, et al. v. Town of Carver, Plymouth Superior Court, C.A. No. 1983CV00596 (2019). Superior Court denied Motion for Preliminary Injunction to enjoin construction of a new police station on land used for playground purposes because the plaintiffs had no likelihood of success on their claim that the change in use was subject to the procedural requirements of Article 97 of the amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution. After denial of their motion, the plaintiffs withdrew the lawsuit.
- Isabella Jancourtz v. Weston Board of Selectmen, Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No. 1981CV01013 (2019). Superior Court denied Motion for Preliminary Injunction and dismissed lawsuit brought by resident who sought to invalidate Town Meeting vote and prevent voters from voting on debt exclusion question based on allegations that false information was presented at Town Meeting.
- Miramar Park Association v. Town of Dennis, 480 Mass. 366 (2018). Supreme Judicial Court reversed injunction issued by Barnstable Superior Court which required Town of Dennis to provide restoration of a privately-owned beach in connection with a jetty reconstruction project.
- Town of Swansea v. Maura T. Healey, Suffolk Superior Court, C.A. No. 1784CV03269 (2018). Superior Court reversed decision of Attorney General’s Division of Open Government which found that the Board of Selectmen violated the Open Meeting Law by failing to post sufficiently detailed meeting notices.
- Aqua King Fishery v. Conservation Commission of Provincetown, 91 Mass.App.Ct. 712 (2017). Appeals Court upheld enforcement order issued by local conservation commission, holding that the Wetlands Protection Act applies to the harvesting of shellfish by means of hydraulic dredge in wetland resource areas, notwithstanding the fact that the plaintiff held a commercial fishing license issued by the Department of Marine Fisheries.
- Touher v. Town of Essex, 87 Mass.App.Ct. 837 (2015). Appeals Court affirmed Superior Court ruling in favor of Town, rejecting claim for compensation based on allegations that Town officials fraudulently induced tenants to build cottages on Town-owned land pursuant to long-term leases.
- Town of Boxford v. Massachusetts Highway Department, 458 Mass. 596 (2010). Supreme Judicial Court held that state agencies are not exempt from regulations and orders issued by local boards of health when such regulations and orders do not interfere with the agency’s essential governmental function.
- Water Department of Fairhaven v. Department of Environmental Protection, 455 Mass. 740 (2010). Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of numerous municipalities to limit the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection to impose restrictions on public water supplies.
- Padden v. Town of West Boylston, 64 Mass.App.Ct. 120 (2004). Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed a Superior Court finding that a Board of Health mandatory sewer connection regulation was invalid and entered judgment upholding Board of Health regulations.
- Massachusetts Bar
- U.S. District Court (Mass.)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Boston University School of Law
Juris Doctor, 1998
Long Island University
Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, 1995