Theodore M. Hess-Mahan

Theodore M. Hess-Mahan joined the firm as Of Counsel in 2007, where he has focused in the practice areas of complex civil litigation, securities and consumer fraud claims, unfair business practice claims, shareholder disputes, class and derivative actions, real property disputes, and trust and probate litigation in federal and state courts, administrative proceedings, and arbitration.

Mr. Hess-Mahan received his B.A. from Tufts University and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, where he was lead articles editor of the law review and director of the Honorable Frank J. Donahue Lecture Series. He has been admitted to practice in Massachusetts, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ted has nearly thirty years of experience as a civil litigation attorney in private practice. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Hess-Mahan was a law clerk for an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, as a civil litigator at Ropes & Gray LLP, representing individuals, businesses, insurers, governmental agencies, and non-profit institutions in state and federal trial and appellate courts and administrative proceedings, and a plaintiff’s attorney at Shapiro Haber & Urmy LLP, representing consumers, shareholders, businesses and institutional investors in class, derivative and individual actions involving claims under state and federal antitrust, civil rights, consumer protection, environmental, securities and unfair business practice laws.

He has litigated and negotiated settlements in a variety of cases including the following:

• Won a $7 million plus judgment in five-day bench trial against the former trustee of a trust for defalcation and embezzlement in federal bankruptcy court
• $12 million settlement on behalf of shareholders in securities fraud class action alleging improper revenue recognition based on undisclosed side agreements
• $11 million settlement on behalf of shareholders in securities fraud class actions alleging research analysts issued false and misleading reports regarding public companies
• $9.9 million settlement on behalf of shareholders in securities fraud class action alleging material overstatement of financial results based on fraudulent lending practices
• $6 million settlement on behalf of shareholders in securities fraud class action alleging improper revenue recognition in registration statement relating to initial public offering
• Represented liability insurer in one-week bench trial of $100 million insurance coverage dispute in federal court
• Represented Rhode Island State Treasurer in lawsuit involving constitutional challenge to state pension reform legislation
• Represented a major hospital in a three-week jury trial involving antitrust claims in federal court
• Represented hospitals in guardianship and civil commitment hearings and medical records privacy cases; obtained injunctive relief in case involving patient’s “right-to-die”
• Successfully defended teaching hospital in bid protest filed with U.S. General Accounting Office involving award of $5 million government contract for medical research

Ted is a former co-chair of the Boston Bar Association Class Action Committee and a former member of the BBA Litigation Section Steering Committee, has lectured at legal seminars and published articles on class actions, securities, special education, and medical records privacy laws, and has been a guest lecturer on voting rights at the New England School of Law. Among other things, he has served as faculty at seminars entitled “Trends in Massachusetts Class Actions,” and “Life Cycle of a Class Action,” sponsored by the Boston Bar Association Litigation Section. Most recently, he authored a chapter on “Depositions in Class Actions,” published in the Massachusetts Deposition Practice Manual (MCLE 4th ed. 2019).

Mr. Hess-Mahan served for fourteen years as an alderman and city councilor in Newton, where he was chairman of committees on land use and zoning and planning. He also served on the Newton Human Rights Commission and has been a member of the Newton Fair Housing Committee since 2011. From 2010-2016, Ted also served on the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee, which provides an impartial forum to resolve conflicts concerning comprehensive permits to build affordable housing pursuant to Chapter 40B, the Massachusetts affordable housing statute. He has also served on various boards of non-profits in Newton involved in affordable housing and arts and culture, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton.