Cases

Massachusetts Attorneys serving the Greater Boston area

At Alford & Bertrand, with offices in Watertown, Mattapan, Quincy and Lynn, our Massachusetts attorneys have a track record of notable verdicts and settlements.
We have won millions of dollars for our clients harmed through medical errors, negligence and discrimination. The following are a few examples of how we have helped our clients.

Age Discrimination

Attorney Donald Bertrand represents numerous clients before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. In a recent case against a local university, the university agreed to pay in excess of $200,000.00 in a case where Attorney Bertrand’s client was forced into early retirement. The university department head who terminated the client's employment was made to regret his offensive remarks, which included “We are not running an old age home.”

Racial Discrimination

Sometimes a discrimination case can take on a significance that outweighs a money award. A few years ago, Alford & Bertrand filed suit against a national pharmaceutical chain relative to an action of racial discrimination. The findings of the Massachusetts Commission Against Racial Discrimination, after fifteen days of trial, established a new approach to reviewing employment claims in this case. For the first time the Commission found that retaliation by an employer in reaction to a claim of discrimination was as important as the Commission's evaluation of the original facts, which resulted in the claim of discrimination. The emphasis on analyzing the retaliation element of the case put employers on notice that they could not punish employees for complaining about employment related acts of discrimination. In this case, the victim of retaliation received a substantial money damages award and the commission issued an order for the national pharmaceutical chain to provide its managers and employees with extensive training on issues related to race and ethnicity sensitivity in the workplace.

Age and Gender Discrimination

Recently a client of Alford & Bertrand received a jury verdict of approximately
$600,000.00 against a state agency in regard to employment discrimination in a case brought on the basis of both age and gender. The client, a 60-year old woman, was removed from her position after many years of exemplary performance. The jury award included $300,000.00 in punitive damages and $100,000.00 for mental anguish in addition to a lost wage claim.

Immigration Appeal

Attorney Stuart Alford’s most recent victory before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) was also one of his most gratifying as it reversed the judgment of an immigration judge, which would have resulted in the separation of young mother from her 4 United State citizen children. The client had been present in the United States since early childhood. Her parents, children and siblings were all either lawful permanent or naturalized citizens. Recently separated from her husband, she was raising her children as a single mother. Her own Application for Permanent Residency was denied on a technicality and she was placed into removal/deportation proceedings. At trial Attorney Alford introduced evidence of the numerous hardships which would impact his client and her entire family if this young woman were deported from the United States. Despite overwhelming proof in support of the case, the immigration judge ordered the young woman to be deported. Attorney Stuart Alford filed a notice of appeal and appellate brief with the Board of Immigration Appeals against the erroneous judgment and argued that the judge’s decision should be reversed. Attorney Alford presented evidence to the Board of Immigration Appeals that he and his client had clearly satisfied their significant burden at trial and that the judge was clearly in error. The Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the finding of the immigration judge and the client is now a lawful permanent resident who is looking forward to someday becoming a United States citizen.

Medical Malpractice

A young woman was born with a condition known as congenital bilateral hip displasia.  This condition though visually difficult to detect in early childhood becomes extremely debilitating as the child grows. Doctors have, however, developed standard tests for this condition, which require only a few minutes during each well baby visit. Unfortunately, this young woman’s doctor neglected to perform these simple tests. Had her condition been discovered early simple, non-invasive procedures would eliminated this problem.  As it turned out, however, several very serious surgeries were required. After having been rejected by two other law firms in the City of Boston, this young woman’s parents consulted with Attorney Paul Chomko of the law firm of Alford & Bertrand who agreed to take the case and who received an award in excess of $1,000,000.00 for this client.

Medical Malpractice

In another case other law firms turned down Attorney Chomko obtained a large award. A woman in her forties became pregnant as a result of donated eggs in a process known as in vitro fertilization. The woman’s doctor performed an amniocentesis, which is a precautionary measure almost always given when the mother is of advanced age. The administration of this test led to the loss of the client's pregnancy, which is a known risk of this procedure. Attorney Chomko was able to prove that the amniocentesis should never have been administered to his client as the donor of the eggs was in her early twenties. It is the age of the egg, not the mother that determines whether the amniocentesis is appropriate and as a result the test should never have been given, and it is likely that the mother would have given birth. A substantial settlement was made in favor of Attorney Chomko’s client.

When you need legal help and guidance to hold liable parties responsible for harm they caused, please contact our office at (800) 698-2889 for a no cost, no obligation case evaluation. We’ll put our legal team to work for you.