Founding partner · Appellate & trial

Jennifer Lamanna

Massachusetts litigator with twenty-five years before Superior Court, the Appeals Court, and the Supreme Judicial Court—counsel to families, professionals, and institutions when stakes are financial, parental, or existential.

  • Summa cum laude · Northeastern
  • Boston University School of Law
  • DCF · appeals · family
Portrait of Jennifer Lamanna

Professional biography

Attorney Lamanna is a summa cum laude graduate of Northeastern University and Boston University School of Law, where she served on the Probate Law Journal.

25+Years litigating
SJCReported appeals
DCFEmergency hearings
MAStatewide practice

She has appeared at every level of the Massachusetts judicial system—from emergency sessions through reported precedent—and builds litigation plans that align courtroom strategy with clients’ budget and family realities.

Meetings begin with a disciplined intake: complete narrative, timeline, and documentation review before recommendations are offered.

Cost-effective litigation does not mean hesitant litigation—it means sequencing motions, discovery, and hearings so resources attack the dispositive issues first.
Appeals & SJC Family & parentage DCF defense Business & 93A Serious injury

Practice footprint

The sections below mirror how counsel typically staffs complex Massachusetts disputes—layering appellate strategy with trial-court motion practice.

Appeals

Regular appearances before the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court on matters spanning First Amendment disputes, legal parentage, access to impounded records, and sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenges in criminal and civil appeals.

Reported and cited matters include Partanen v. Gallagher, 475 Mass. 632 (2016); Shak v. Shak, 484 Mass. 658 (2020); Department of Children & Families v. Mother et al., SJC-13601 (argued January 6, 2025, awaiting decision); S.P. v. S.A.R., 2023-P-1455; and Alameddine v. Karolow, 67 Mass. App. Ct. 1101.

Administrative appeals from adverse DCF Fair Hearing decisions proceed through Superior Court channels, often pairing forensic record review with procedural challenges to agency findings.

Criminal defense

Defense work begins with an exhaustive first interview, followed by line-by-line prosecution analysis—charges, discovery gaps, constitutional motions, and procedural error.

Aggressive pretrial litigation frequently resolves cases favorably before jury selection.

Business litigation

Representation of consumers and enterprises in Chapter 93A claims, contract fights, and closely held company disputes in district, superior, and federal court—plaintiff or defense.

Family law

Twenty-five years advising clients in divorce, high-conflict parenting plans, guardianships, and paternity actions—strategies calibrated to protect children and financial continuity.

DCF defense

Emergency removals trigger statutory timelines; counsel asserts hearing rights within seventy-two hours of removal and challenges unsupported findings on appeal when records justify relief.

Hundreds of emergency hearings and appellate contests inform how cases are staffed and escalated.

Personal injury

Serious injury and wrongful-death matters structured around life-care projections, liability narratives, and settlement timing—including malpractice and catastrophic workplace incidents.

Media, downloads & memberships

PDF artifacts and broadcast segments illustrating high-profile family-law and DCF advocacy. Request PDF copies through intake.

Boston Globe — Harmony Montgomery custody hearing (PDF · request via firm)
NBC Boston — Mass. DCF overnight removal of kids raises questions (PDF · request via firm)
Boston Globe — LCMedia Harmony Montgomery SJC matter (PDF · request via firm)
The New York Times — Divorcing parents’ right to post stories online (PDF · request via firm)
Access to Harmony Montgomery records Taken and Traumatized: When DCF Took Their Kids (NBC Boston)

Professional membership: Member — AACFL.