James B. Re | Attorney

"I consider myself fortunate to have found demanding work that changes constantly - no two cases are the same - and colleagues who are as excited as I am by the opportunity to excel anew every day."

Jim Re joined Sally & Fitch LLP in 1986, and was elected to partnership in 1989; previously, he was a trial lawyer with Bingham, Dana & Gould and Kilburn & Associates. He is a 1976 graduate of Boston State College and a 1981 graduate of Suffolk University Law School. He served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968. Jim has long been named as a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer" in Boston Magazine's annual listing.

Mr. Re's varied trial and appellate experience includes the representation of shipowners in charterparty, contract, collision, personal injury and cargo damage cases; defending utilities and other large institutions in personal injury and property damage claims of every type; defending medical malpractice actions; the defense of RICO claims against corporations and individuals; representing manufacturers and distributors in product liability cases involving consumer electronics, industrial machinery, and other goods; the defense of sexual harassment and age discrimination claims; litigation and arbitration of partnership disputes; representing lawyers in  disclipinary proceedings; and general business and banking litigation. He was a member of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers from 2003 through 2006, and was appointed Vice - Chair on January 1, 2006. Jim presently serves on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Advisory Comittee on the Rules of Professional Conduct, the ethical rules that govern Massachusetts lawyers. For many years, he has served as a member of the teaching team for the Harvard Law School Winter Trial Advocacy Workshop.

Mr. Re is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations.

Reported cases include:

• Heinrich v. Sweet, 308 F.3d 48 (1st Cir. 2002), cert. den., 123 S.Ct. 2273 (2003) (medical malpractice defense involving standard of care and causation)
• Willis v. Lipton, 947 F.2d 998, RICO Bus.Disp.Guide 7870 (1st Cir. 1991) (standing to sue under RICO statute)
• City of Boston v. S.S. TEXACO TEXAS, 773 F.2d 1396, 1986 A.M.C. 676 (1st Cir. 1985) (maritime collision and contract-based indemnity) 
• Alexander v. Trustees of Boston University, 766 F.2d 630, 54 USLW 2033, 26 Ed. Law Rep. 55 (1st Cir. 1985) (religious freedom)
• Maddalone v. Okada Shosen, KK, 756 F.2d 886, 1986 A.M.C. 304, 1 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1084 (1st Cir. 1985) (defense of longshoreman’s personal injury action)
• Marcial Ucin, S.A. v. SS GALICIA, 723 F.2d 994, 38 Fed.R.Serv.2d 407 (1st Cir. 1983) (personal jurisdiction over foreign defendant in cargo damage case; with Francis J. Sally)
• Goulet v. Whitin Mach. Works, Inc., 399 Mass. 547, 506 N.E.2d 95 (1987) (product liability)
• Mammoet USA, Inc. v. Entergy Nuclear Generation Co., 64 Mass. App. Ct. 37 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005) (defense of mechanics lien claim against nuclear power plant)
• Sweet v. United States, 63 Fed. Cl. 591 (Fed. Cl. 2005) (contractual indemnity claim against federal government).