Dawn D. McDonald
Email | dmcdonald@meeb.com
Direct Line | 781.849.3640
Areas of focus: Civil Litigation and Employment Law
Dawn is a partner of the firm and concentrates her practice on commercial litigation, construction litigation and employment law. She has spent the past twenty one years as a successful trial attorney and then a partner, as well as manager, of the litigation department of a well-established law firm in Western Massachusetts. She is an accomplished trial lawyer and has extensive experience handling complex multi-million dollar commercial litigation for individuals, corporations, small business owners and financial institutions in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. Dawn handles multi-million dollar construction litigation on behalf of condominium associations and developers.
In addition, she has focused a substantial portion of her practice on employment law and employment-related matters, handling complex employment discrimination cases in the administrative agencies and State and Federal Courts of Massachusetts and Connecticut. She has negotiated labor contracts, conducted internal investigations into allegations of employment discrimination and advised clients in contract administration and employee discipline matters. Dawn has also conducted trainings and seminars related to employment matters, and drafts policies and employee handbooks keeping clients up to date with current State and Federal employment laws and regulations.
Dawn has represented clients before both Federal and Massachusetts State Courts, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Civil Service Commission, Labor Relations Commission, Department of Employment and Training, Connecticut State and Federal Courts, Connecticut Appeals Court, and the Connecticut Commission for Human Rights and Opportunities.
EDUCATION
Westfield State College, BS Business Management 1991
Western New England University School of Law 2000
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Massachusetts Bar Association—2001 to present
Litigation Section
Employment and Labor Law Section
ADMISSIONS
Massachusetts State Courts: January 18, 2001
Massachusetts Federal District Court: February 28, 2001
Connecticut State Courts: May 17, 2001
Connecticut Federal District Court: November 12, 2002
First Circuit Court of Appeals: June 15, 2004
Dawn’s recent representative matters include:
Successfully pursuing on behalf of Plaintiff, a complex multi-million dollar investment fraud and misrepresentation case, which enabled the Plaintiff to recover a satisfactory settlement following mediation in a hotly contested arbitration case.
Successfully trying to a jury an employer’s violation of the Family Medical Leave Act, recovering for the Plaintiff a total of judgment of $655,000.00 against both the employer and the Plaintiff’s individual supervisor in Boadi v. Center for Human Development.
Successfully defending and then winning a total judgement of $500,000.00 on a counterclaim for breach of contract in Gray v. Feed Commodities, Inc.
Obtaining a defense verdict for an international manufacturer following a two-week jury trial in a breach of contract, breach of warranty and consumer protection action filed in Norfolk Superior Court.