Roger L. Smerage

Senior Attorney

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 617.654.1774
Practice Areas: Litigation, General Municipal, Data Privacy and Security, Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement

 

Attorney Roger L. Smerage joined the firm in 2023 as a Senior Attorney after representing businesses large and small in commercial and banking litigation for more than a decade. Attorney Smerage has extensive experience representing clients in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration and mediation. He represents municipalities in a broad range of litigation and enforcement matters, including matters involving land use and zoning, construction, contract disputes, and torts.

Attorney Smerage has considerable experience with all aspects of pre-trial civil litigation, including the preparation of pleadings and motions to dismiss, conducting discovery, and summary judgment. Attorney Smerage has also tried cases in both jury and jury-waived settings in Massachusetts Superior Court. Attorney Smerage has significant experience prosecuting and defending civil appeals, as well. He has authored briefs submitted to the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court and various United States Courts of Appeal, as well as worked on briefs to the United States Supreme Court. His appellate experience also includes arguing before the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Attorney Smerage is also the Town Moderator in Wenham, a position to which he was elected in 2021. In this role, he has presided over annual and special Town Meetings and also serves as the chair of the town’s FinCom Appointing Committee. Incorporating this experience, Attorney Smerage also advises municipalities on Town Meeting questions, assists them in the preparation of Town Meeting warrants and motions, and counsels them on questions of general municipal law.

Prior to joining the firm, Attorney Smerage was an associate at a Boston-based business law firm and, before that, in the Boston office of a global law firm. In addition to representing clients in litigation, Attorney Smerage has also advised clients on compliance with state and federal statutory and regulatory requirements, including requirements for consumer lending, data privacy, and fair housing. He has assisted clients in the drafting of compliance policies, written information security programs, and contract terms and conditions. He has participated in guiding clients through government investigations, as well.

During law school, Attorney Smerage served as a judicial intern to the Honorable William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and to the Honorable Robert McKenna, Jr., of the Boston Municipal Court.

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