Condo Media - December 2012 - 36

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

MPD Law, LLC
A New Law Firm … With 40 Years of Experience
by Pamela Schweppe hen Shakespeare wrote, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” he wasn’t thinking about a 21st-century law firm in Charlestown, Mass. Nevertheless, The Bard’s timeless concept can be applied to the firm once known as McCullough, Stievater & Polvere, LLP (MSP) — now MPD Law, since the August 2011 transition of ownership to Mark P. Daly, Esq. “People wonder, What does the new name mean?” Daly says. “The name is not as important as the substance behind it. That substance is still available, along with new and creative ways to use our knowledge and systems to provide quality results for our clients.” Founded in 1972, the firm offers services in a wide range of practice areas, such as business law, health care law and estate planning. Still, real estate law remains a major segment of the firm’s practice. From its headquarters in two meticulously restored architectural landmarks in a historic section of Boston, MPD Law serves “several hundred associations” throughout the state, according to Daniel M. Polvere, Esq., a founding partner of MSP and today head of MPD Law’s Property Management Group.

A Team Approach That Leverages Collective Experience
“Change is invigorating,” Polvere says. “We’ve integrated technology into our delivery of services, while our staffing and knowledge remain the same. So we have both continuity and new blood, in a sense.” Daly agrees, adding,

“Continuity and added management ideology made for efficiencies. We’re still able to offer the knowledge and expertise of nearly 40 years of practice. We’re not reinventing the firm.” Along with Daly, founding partners Polvere and John C. McCullough, Esq. remain active in MPD Law, applying their experience and expertise to most of the matters handled by the firm. (The third founding partner, William J. Stievater, passed away in 2004.) Assisting them are four associates and three paralegals, as well as support staff. Just as condominium associations have different issues, MPD Law’s attorneys have different strengths to address them. “A team approach is one of the areas that distinguishes our firm,” Polvere says. “We don’t think of it as my client versus yours. And one person doesn’t handle every matter. We all have our different areas of expertise, and we bring in the resources of all the different people in our office to do the best job for the client.” He adds that this depth of strength allows MPD Law to handle both condominium law and landlord/tenant issues “on a substantial scale,” a combination he says is unusual. This team approach also allows multiple attorneys to be involved with each client, so that associations can always be assured that their concerns will be covered by someone knowledgeable about their issue. “Client service and experience are a tenet of our practice,” Daly says, “something forgotten by a lot of larger firms.”

The Practice of Preventive Law
A hallmark of the firm’s approach to its cases is what Daly calls “preventive law.” The firm regards the practice of law as a profession devoted to helping people deal with complicated and sensitive legal concerns. And they believe further that lawyers serve their clients best by planning ahead rather than solving problems after they occur. While they recognize that litigation will be necessary in cases that can’t be resolved through negotiation, preventive law is more beneficial to clients, Polvere says, in that it avoids unnecessary disputes and minimizes liabilities. It also increases the flow of information to the client and helps build trust between the client and the attorney. One of the ways MPD goes about practicing preventive law is by addressing an issue before it develops into a confrontation. “I try to write a memo to the board when I see an issue developing,” Polvere says. “I write it in a way that can be distributed to the unit owners, to provide a more balanced approach.” A case in point involves an association whose board was planning a large expenditure. A question arose if they could proceed without the approval of unit owners. Polvere drafted a letter to the unit owners that cited case law demonstrating why the decision was within the board’s discretion. “That took care of the issue,” he says. Foreclosure is another instance in which being proactive can pay off in the long run. “With the economy the

Condo Media - December 2012

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