Shareholder
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 617.654.1816
Practice Areas: Litigation, Contracts & Procurement, Renewable Energy & Green Communities, General Municipal
Attorney Richard Holland is a member of the firm’s Contracts and Litigation Practice Groups and serves as Chair of the firm’s Renewable Energy Practice Group. His practice focuses on the litigation of complex contract disputes, public construction and procurement law. His experience includes guiding clients through public construction projects from procurement to project close-out, and representing municipalities and other governmental bodies (including municipal airports and regional transit authorities) in construction litigation in state and federal courts; drafting and negotiating power purchase agreements, net metering credit purchase agreements, energy management services agreements, and contracts for construction, design and project management services; and drafting invitations to bid, requests for proposals/qualifications and similar procurement documents.
Attorney Holland also assists clients with a variety of municipal law issues, including town meetings, municipal charters and by-laws, and the laws relating to conflicts of interest, public records, open meetings and municipal finance.
Prior to joining the firm, Attorney Holland gained considerable experience in public sector litigation, contracting, construction and procurement as a Deputy Attorney General with the New Jersey Office of Attorney General, where, on behalf of the State of New Jersey, he tried cases before the New Jersey Superior Court and Office of Administrative Law, and assisted the New Jersey Economic Development Authority with the largest school construction program in the United States.
- Five Star Building Corporation Town of Sherborn v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America and Beacon Consulting Group, Inc., Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No. 2081CV02664. Represented the Town of Sherborn in litigation arising from renovations to the Sherborn Library. The Town terminated its contract with the general contractor and made a claim on the contractor’s performance bond due to the contractor’s failure to perform its work in accordance with the contract and to achieve substantial completion of the project more than two years after the substantial completion date. After the surety undertook completion of the project, the contractor sued the Town for “more than $3 million.” The Town countersued the contractor and subsequently sued the surety and the surety’s completion contractor for breach of contract and unfair and deceptive acts and practices (G.L. c.93A). After several years of litigation, the lawsuit was settled, with the Town receiving more than $1 million and the dismissal of the contractor’s claims.
- Town of Stow Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, Inc., Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No. 1981CV02830. Represented the Town of Stow in a lawsuit against the Town’s project engineer for alleged errors in the design of roadway improvements. The Town alleged, among other things, that the engineer’s grading and drainage designs were incomplete and defective, and resulted in substantial cost overruns during construction. Before construction was completed, the Town terminated the engineer’s contract. At significant additional cost, the Town hired a new engineer and redesigned and reconstructed the project. After more than a dozen depositions and formal mediation, the engineer agreed to pay the Town more than $1 million.
- G&R Construction, Inc. City of Medford, Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No. 2181CV1464. Represented the City of Medford in a lawsuit arising from the construction of a new public library. The general contractor asserted claims against the City for payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars of “general conditions” costs incurred due to delays in the project arising from the COVID-19 orders of the Governor pausing all non-critical public construction projects, and from the performance of “extra work” agreed-to by the parties via signed change orders. The City sought summary judgment on grounds that the contractor was precluded from recovering such costs by the no-damages-for-delay provision in the contract. The Court agreed, allowed the City’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed all claims of the contractor.
- Town of Plymouth Veolia Water North America-Northeast, LLC, et al., Plymouth Superior Court, C.A. No. 1683CV00113; Town of Plymouth v. Veolia Water North America-Northeast, LLC, et al., U.S. District Court C.A. No. 16-CV-10451; Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Town of Plymouth, et al., Suffolk Superior Court, C.A. No. 1684CV01282-E; and Revoli Construction Co., Inc. v. Town of Plymouth, et al., Norfolk Superior Court C.A. No. 1682CV00562. Represented the Town of Plymouth in several multi-party lawsuits in state and federal court arising from the collapse of the Town’s 4.5 mile-long sewer force main, including a civil penalty action filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against the Town and Veolia Water North America, the private company that operated the Town’s sewer system for alleged violations of environmental laws; and a second lawsuit filed by the Town against a number of parties, including Veolia Water North America and the engineering firms that designed the force main; after years of litigation, negotiated a record settlement of $22.83 million paid to the Town.
- The Welch Corp. Town of Middleborough, Suffolk Superior Court, C.A. No. 0684CV02524. Represented the Town of Middleborough in a lawsuit brought by a contractor for alleged non-payment, and in the Town’s counterclaim against the contractor for defective work and the Town’s claim for negligence against its design engineer arising out of the construction of a new landfill liner system; negotiated a settlement of $2.75 million paid to the town.
- Baltazar Contractors, Inc. Town of Lunenburg, Worcester Superior Court, C.A. No. 0385CV00638. Represented the Town of Lunenburg in a lawsuit brought by a contractor seeking more than $1 million for lost profits on a public construction project; sought and obtained summary judgment in the Town’s favor, resulting in the dismissal of the contractor’s claim; and successfully represented the Town on the contractor’s subsequent appeal of the lower court’s summary judgment decision.
- Revoli Construction, Co., Inc. Town of Winchendon, Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No. 0581CV00874. Represented the Town of Winchendon in a lawsuit brought by a contractor seeking $282,000 in delay damages on a public construction project; sought and obtained summary judgment in the Town’s favor, resulting in the dismissal of the contractor’s claim.
- Town of Ayer Eastern General Contractors, Inc., Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No. 0581CV01252. Represented the Town of Ayer in a lawsuit brought against a contractor and its surety, seeking forfeiture of contractor’s bid bond on a public construction project for failing to enter into a contract; sought and obtained summary judgment in the Town’s favor, resulting in the award of $142,000 to the Town.
New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety, Trenton, NJ
Deputy Attorney General (1999-2001)
Honorable G. Thomas Bowen, J.S.C., Salem, NJ
Judicial Law Clerk (1996-1997)
- Massachusetts Bar
- U.S. District Court (Mass.)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
University of Massachusetts, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
M.S., Public Affairs (2004)
Rutgers University School of Law
J.D. (1996)
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Dual B.S. (1992)
- Speaker, “New Opportunities and Changes in Municipal Renewable Energy”
Massachusetts Municipal Association Annual Meeting (January 2014) - Speaker, “Capital Projects – Planning, Design, Building – Getting the Job Completed,” Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities Annual Meeting (September 2013)
- Author, “Public Records, Electronic Documents, and Traps for the Unwary,” Municipal Advocate, 27, No. 2 (September 2013)
- Speaker, “Clean Energy Projects: Getting to Yes,”
Massachusetts Municipal Association Annual Meeting (January 2013) - Speaker, “Energy Cost Saving Opportunities and Best Practices,” Massachusetts Association of Town Finance Committees Annual Meeting (October 2012)
- Author, “Examining the Rules and Risks Surrounding Procurement of Renewable Energy Facilities,” Municipal Advocate, Vol. 26, No. 4 (August 2012)
- Speaker, “Clean, Green and Lean: Procurement of Renewable Energy Projects,” Massachusetts Municipal Association Annual Meeting (January 2012)
- Co-Author, “Third-Party Financed Renewable Energy Facilities – Municipal Contracting Issues,” Kopelman and Paige Client Alert (January 2012)
- Author, “True Breaches of Contract,” Massachusetts Law Review, Vol. 91, No. 3 (October 2008)
- Author, “Chapter 193 of the Acts of 2004 – Changes to Massachusetts Public Construction Law,” Kopelman and Paige Client Alert (December 2004)