Richard E. Brody | Attorney

Rick Brody is a founding partner at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten, LLP, and is a leading authority in the field of premises liability. Mr. Brody has litigated hundreds of cases in state and federal courts in Massachusetts, and has also represented both plaintiffs and defendants before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and other administrative agencies in Massachusetts.

Practice Areas

Mr. Brody focuses his practice on premises liability, municipal liability, employment law and mediation.

Premises Liability. With BHPK partner Jocelyn Sedney, Mr. Brody practically "wrote the book" on premises liability in Massachusetts. He has lectured throughout the country and appeared on local and national television on this topic. Mr. Brody represents plaintiffs and defendants in these cases, focusing on the liability of property owners. He has recently obtained the following results for his clients:

• A large financial settlement for a man beaten in Boston's Quincy Market who sued the security company and the management company for failure to provide adequate security.
• A defense verdict for a hotel sued by a guest when intruders broke down the door to his hotel room and assaulted him. By proving that the assailants could easily have broken down the door recommended by the plaintiff's security expert, Mr. Brody proved that the hotel was not liable for the man's injuries.
• A substantial financial settlement and significant security changes at a major university for a student who was raped in her dorm room.
• A substantial financial settlement for a tenant in a condominium complex who was viciously beaten by an unknown intruder who was later determined to be an employee of the complex.
• A defense verdict in a triple electrocution where he represented the general contractor on a construction site where three employees of a subcontractor accidentally came into contact with high tension wires.

Mediation . Another significant aspect of Mr. Brody's practice is mediation. Mr. Brody is a trained mediator who has worked with the Massachusetts Bar Association Mediation and Arbitration Forums and the Multi-Door Courthouse. He has mediated hundreds of mediations on behalf of his clients.

Employment law. Mr. Brody has represented plaintiffs and defendants in employment law and civil rights matters. Significant cases include:

• A large financial settlement on behalf of two women forced out of their jobs due to harassment by a supervisor because of their sexual orientation.
• A defense verdict on behalf of a hotel sued by an employee discharged for failure to disclose his arrest history. The verdict was affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court in Pryor v. Holiday Inns, 517 N.E.2d 472 (Mass. 1988).
• A large financial settlement on behalf of a woman forced out of her job because of sexual harassment by a supervisor.
• A defense verdict on behalf of a bouncer who broke up a fracas outside a bar. A man involved in the fracas claimed the bouncer had struck him in the back and legs with a baton. Mr. Brody defeated the civil lawsuit claim by proving that the bouncer had never struck the man at all despite the past that the bouncer has been found guilty to an assault & battery in the corporate criminal cases.
• A defense verdict for a security company wherein a male superior officer was accused of sexual harassment of a female line officer.

Municipal Liability. In his municipal liability practice, Mr. Brody has handled matters including police misconduct, employment matters, and land use.  A recent case established the extent to which the Commonwealth has a duty to defend and indemnify a State Trooper for alleged torts as well as reimbursing the Trooper for attorney's fees paid to vindicate his rights.  Oxner v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 449 Mass. 167 (2007). 

Prior Experience

Before founding BHPK, Mr. Brody was first an associate, and then a senior partner, at the Boston firm of Morrison, Mahoney and Miller. He also worked as an assistant district attorney for the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office. As an assistant district attorney, Mr. Brody prosecuted major felonies and supervised a team of prosecutors. He began his legal career as Chief Law Clerk to the Massachusetts Superior Court Justices.

Teaching and Publications

Mr. Brody has extensive teaching experience, having served as a lecturer on numerous occasions in the following capacities:

• Faculty, National Institute For Trial Advocacy
• Faculty, Harvard University Trial Advocacy Program
• Faculty, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Personal Injury Law Conference, Premises Liability Seminar
• Faculty, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Civil Rights Litigation Seminar
• Faculty, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Fundamentals of Direct and Cross Examination Seminar
• Faculty, Massachusetts Association of Trial Lawyers Premises Liability and Negligent Security Seminar
• Faculty, Defense Research Institute Seminar on Civil Rights and Governmental Liability
• Faculty, Defense Research Institute Seminar on Premises Liability
• Lecturer, Massachusetts Municipal Association
• Instructor, Boston University School of Law's First Year Research and Writing Seminar.

Mr. Brody is the author of the following publications:

• Premises Liability in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (co-authored by BHPK partner Jocelyn Sedney)
• Contributor, Fundamentals of Direct and Cross Examination, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (1989)
• "Liability and Police Conduct," The Municipal Forum, Volume 8 No. 4 (Winter, 1987)
• "Dismissal Under M.G.L. c. 227, 2A," Boston Bar Journal, volume 21, number 2
• "Constitutionality of the Common Law Presumption of Malice in Maine," 54 Boston Univ. L. Rev. 5 (1975), reprinted in The Maine Prosecutor, April, 1975

Education

Mr. Brody graduated, cum laude, from Washington & Jefferson College. In 1975, he received his law degree from Boston University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review.

Professional and Community Affiliations

Mr. Brody is a member of the bar in Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He belongs to the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations, the Massachusetts Association of Trial Attorneys, the Defense Research Institute, the International Association of Defense Counsel and the Frank J. Murray Section of the American Inn of Court. Mr. Brody is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, a Trustee of the Massachusetts Civil Liability Institute, and a member of the National Advisory Board for Government Liability Insurance. He is a past member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Civil Litigation Council. He has been selected as both a Massachusetts "Super Lawyer" and a New England "Super Lawyer" every year since the awards began. In addition, Mr. Brody has been given a "Superb" rating from AVVO.com and has received an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell (highest possible peer rating for skills and ethics).