Bulkley Richardson Welcomes Seven New Attorneys
SPRINGFIELD — Following a merger with Cain Hibbard & Meyers on Dec. 1, Bulkley Richardson welcomed seven new attorneys to the firm, including five partners and two counsel.
“Integrating seven attorneys into the firm adds tremendous value to some of our strongest practice areas, including litigation, healthcare, business, family law, employment law, and real estate,” said Dan Finnegan, managing partner. “Each attorney brings a unique skillset and decades of experience to the firm, allowing us to continue to provide the highest quality of legal work, but also expand our capabilities and diversify our client base.”
Lucy Prashker, partner, counsels clients on a wide variety of business and intellectual property issues. Much of her practice is devoted to advising clients in the fields of health law, nonprofit law, and general business law, where her clients include artists and writers, manufacturers, emerging technology companies, nonprofit organizations, and healthcare providers. She is also an experienced litigator, handling complex commercial and employment cases in both state and federal courts in Massachusetts and New York.
Vicki Donahue, partner, represents businesses and individuals in the purchase and sale of businesses, commercial financing (including tax-exempt bonds and historic tax credit financing), corporate governance, and general business counseling. She has experience in solar projects, representing property owners through drafting and negotiating leases and power purchase agreements for large-scale solar installations. She also has an active residential and commercial real estate practice, including zoning analysis and permitting, environmental law, commercial real estate development, and tax abatements and tax appeals.
Dennis LaRochelle, partner, has close to three decades of experience handling complex litigation and has successfully litigated several multi-million-dollar disputes in the Massachusetts federal and state courts, earning a reputation as one of the top trial lawyers in Berkshire County. With proficiency in family law, he regularly represents clients in all aspects of domestic relationships, from divorce and child custody disputes to drafting prenuptial agreements and divorce settlements, as well as guardianships to adoptions, resolving disputes creatively and effectively.
Jennifer Carpenter, partner, is an accomplished litigator, responsible for cases in both state and federal courts. She has extensive experience representing hospitals, long-term care and residential treatment facilities, and families as they navigate the nuanced and often complex guardianship process.
Jeff O’Connor, partner, is a seasoned litigator, trial lawyer, and strategic counselor. For more than 15 years, he has guided medical and legal professionals, businesses, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations through complex civil litigation, agency proceedings, risk management challenges, and regulatory minefields.
Diane DeGiacomo, counsel, is an experienced trial and domestic relations lawyer. She has defended businesses in employment discrimination complaints statewide before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, and has tried civil cases in federal court, superior court, and probate court regularly.
Susan Herman, counsel, has more than 40 years of trial and appellate experience in both the public and private sectors. She spent much of her career with the Maine Office of the Attorney General, where she advised state agencies and represented the state of Maine in state and federal court on a variety of civil matters. In 2015, she was named division chief for the Civil Litigation Division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office, handling constitutional challenges to state laws and rules, civil rights cases, tort claims, civil appeals, amicus, and multi-state litigation.
In 2019, the attorney general named Herman chief deputy for the office, where she worked closely with the attorney general on high-priority and sensitive matters relating to client state agencies, the Governor’s Office, the Legislature, and members of the public. Four years later, she was nominated by Maine’s governor to serve as a member of Maine’s Civil Service Appeals Board, which was confirmed by the Maine Senate, and the governor appointed her chair of the board. In 2024, she was reappointed and confirmed for an additional four-year term.