A new downtown Boston law firm is taking shape, with the leaders of major local bar associations as its founders.
Yarashus Wagner will be open for business on May 1 in the high-rise building known as 1 Beacon Street.
The firm — the full name of which will be Yarashus, Wagner, Cook, Freiberger & Washienko — evolved from a conversation during one of the Massachusetts Bar Association's leadership roundtable events, according to lead name partner Valerie A. Yarashus.
"Once we realized that we had such a common vision and such an outstanding group of attorneys, we realized that we wanted to do something new and dramatically different," says Yarashus, who is president-elect of the MBA.
Yarashus, Wagner plans to focus on personal injury, employment, insurance and business litigation, taking its cue from the areas of practice of its five members.
Yarashus made a name for herself at Boston's Sugarman & Sugarman by delivering large settlements in personal injury cases on behalf of police officers, construction workers, and women and children.
"Obviously my main focus is going to be in personal injury, but one of the reasons for doing this is that I've wanted to expand more broadly into other areas of civil litigation," she says. "One of the interesting things about doing bar association work is meeting lawyers outside our practice areas."
The Wagner on the new firm's nameplate will be for Charles P. Wagner, who is leaving the firm of Siegel, Wagner & Swartz, also at 1 Beacon St. Wagner is co-chairman of the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association and a specialist in employment law.
Kathy Jo Cook, of Keches & Mallen in Taunton, has experience as a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer and is the president of the Women’s Bar Association.
Marc Dan Freiberger, who will depart Boston's Shilepsky & O'Connell, has represented clients in adverse employment actions and anti-discrimination cases.
Patricia A. Washienko is a sole employment-law practitioner and is clearly enthusiastic about her new employment situation.
"We all share two things: the usual standard professional drive to be good to your clients and a real commitment to service," Washienko says. "When we all met and talked, we were all talking about the same stuff."
Subscribers Only
