BOSTON – The New England Legal Foundation (NELF), the only non-profit public interest law firm in the region dedicated to addressing policy and constitutional concerns related to free enterprise, is welcoming four distinguished Massachusetts-Based attorneys who were elected in February to its Board of Directors. They are: Grace Lee, Senior Vice President and Director of Government Banking & Finance for People’s United Bank; Sean McSweeney, Deputy General Counsel, Litigation & Coverage for Liberty Mutual Group; Don Savery, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts; and Scott Ford, Chair, Litigation Practice, for the law firm Mintz.
“We are indeed fortunate,” NELF President Daniel B. Winslow said, “to have these four attorneys on our Board, as they bring with them additional gravitas to our organization’s already distinguished governing body.”
Grace Lee manages the Government Banking Division throughout the People’s United Bank’s footprint. She has combined more than 20 years of public- and private-sector leadership experience in Massachusetts. Ms Lee joined People’s United Bank in August of 2014 from Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellot, LLP, where she was Special Counsel and Vice Chair of the Public Finance Group. Previously, she was General Counsel and First Deputy Treasurer of the Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General from 2003 to 2011, where she managed the operations of the State Treasurer’s Office (“Treasury”) and was responsible for managing the Treasury’s legal affairs. Notably, while at the Treasury, Ms Lee was instrumental in the passage of the legislation that established the Asian American Commission and served as the Commission’s first Executive Director. Prior to joining the Treasury, Ms Lee was with Morgan, Brown & Joy, concentrating her practice in employment discrimination, labor law and commercial litigation. Ms Lee’s other public sector experience includes her work as a civil rights attorney for the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, and an assistant district attorney, Chief of the Civil Rights Division, for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office. Ms Lee has actively participated in community development and charitable organizations throughout her career. Currently, Ms Lee serves as a board member for the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, the Roxbury Community College Foundation, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence and for the Women in Public Finance.
Sean McSweeney began his career at Liberty Mutual in 1987. He currently is the Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel of Liberty Mutual Group’s Litigation & Coverage Department. He manages a team of skilled attorneys, paralegals, and technical professionals providing dedicated litigation and coverage support to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. For seven years, Mr. McSweeney served as the Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel of Global Retail Markets Strategic Business Unit leading the legal team supporting the personal lines and small commercial products and services Liberty Mutual Group provides globally. For ten years he led and served as the Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Litigation & Coverage. Mr. McSweeney is currently a director and the Chairman of the Property Liability Research Bureau. He is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center Amicus Advisory Committee, the Massachusetts Bar Association, American Bar Association, Boston Bar Association, and ARIAS. Mr. McSweeney received a J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1987 and a B.A. in History from Boston College in 1984.
Don Savery is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the largest private health plan in Massachusetts and one of the largest independent, not-for- profit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country. The company serves nearly three million members and is rated among the nation’s best health plans for overall member satisfaction and quality. As the company’s general counsel, Mr. Savery leads the BC/BS of Massachusetts law department, providing legal advice and counsel to the company and ensuring compliance with federal, state and local laws. He joined the company in 2012 and was named vice president and general counsel in 2017. Before joining Blue Cross, Mr. Savery served as Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, focusing on health care fraud civil and criminal enforcement. He is a former partner in the litigation and securities practices at Bingham McCutchen LLP. Early in his career, he served as a law clerk to Hon. Joseph R. Nolan at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and to Hon. Francis J. Boyle at the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. Mr. Savery is co-author of the Massachusetts Practice Series treatise on civil practice in the federal courts, Federal Civil Practice (2d ed. 2008, Thompson West), and he has authored numerous articles touching on civil litigation and procedure. He has taught courses on civil litigation strategy as an adjunct professor at Boston College Law School, and a course on health care fraud at New England Law Boston. A member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, he received his J.D. from Boston College Law School, an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge, and a B.S. in computer science from Fitchburg State University.
Scott Ford combines an active client-focused practice with management of Mintz’s national Litigation Practice. Much of his practice focuses on guiding clients through a wide range of contract and other commercial disputes, particularly in the commercial real estate, private equity, probate/fiduciary and retail and consumer product industries. He counsels clients on achieving the most effective and efficient means of resolving these unique disputes, either through negotiated agreements or litigation. Mr. Ford has successfully handled matters across the country in numerous federal and state courts and agencies. As head of the firm’s national Litigation Section, Mr. Ford helps set and manage the strategic direction of the group and implement its key initiatives, in addition to managing and leading a cross-geography team of attorneys specializing in all types of litigation and dispute resolution. He is also a member of the Firm’s Policy Committee. Mr. Ford’s real estate work includes representing owners, developers, tenants and real estate funds in a range of disputes, including joint venture, ownership, construction, leasing and permitting matters. He has resolved real estate disputes and litigated real estate cases in numerous jurisdictions across the country for multiple fund clients. In the private equity space, Mr. Ford represents funds in fiduciary disputes, in addition to handling disputes for and with fund portfolio companies. These cases include fiduciary, ownership, officer/director, M&A and related transactional matters. He also represents fund executives in various related disputes. Mr. Ford has extensive experience handling high-profile and high-value probate related disputes for individual private clients. His work in this area includes handling trustee removal actions, executor and administrator fiduciary claims and a range of will and trust disputes. He has represented clients in these cases in both state and probate courts. His retail and consumer practice includes representation on a broad range of disputes for a public international medical device manufacturer, a public international solar panel manufacturer, a public international software company, multiple automotive dealers and a national auto glass retailer. Mr. Ford has appeared before the US District Court, United States Bankruptcy Court, Massachusetts Superior Court, Massachusetts District Court, Massachusetts Housing Court, and Massachusetts Probate and Family Court as well as various state, federal, and local regulatory bodies. He has tried numerous cases, and he has also argued appeals before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. During law school at Boston College, from which he graduated magna cum laude, he was a member of the National Moot Court Team.
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About the New England Legal Foundation (NELF)
For nearly 50 years, NELF has been the leading voice of the New England business community and entrepreneurs in advocating for the foundational values of free enterprise, property rights, good and limited government, and inclusive growth in the New England region. The Foundation has an in-house staff of lawyers who file amicus briefs to help shape judicial decisions to favor these foundational values. As a non-partisan, non-profit 501c3 organization, membership is open to all law firms, corporate legal departments, and individuals who support NELF’s mission.