Attorney – Meet Stephen Dawley

More Than 30 Years of Experience at Work for You

My name is Stephen Dawley. I graduated with honors from the College of the Holy Cross in 1974. I then attended Suffolk University Law School on a full academic scholarship and graduated with honors in 1977. While in law school I worked nights loading trucks at UPS and was a member of Teamsters Local 42. Upon graduation I was hired as an associate at Burwick & Burwick, a litigation firm in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1978 I was admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. I am also admitted to practice in Connecticut.

Stephen DawleyI have practiced law in Framingham for over forty years. During that time I have been in several professional associations and was a partner in the firm of Campion, Flynn, Woodworth & Dawley before starting my own firm. I have served as a Board member and President of the Metrowest Bar Association, and am a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association. For over forty years I have represented people in Massachusetts primarily in the areas of estate administration, criminal defense, real estate law, and civil litigation. Currently my practice is limited to the probate of estates.

During my career I have handled cases in the District Court, Superior Court, Probate and Family Court, Juvenile Court, Land Court, Appellate Tax Board, Housing Appeals Committee, Appeals Court, and Supreme Judicial Court.

Involvement in the community has always been an essential complement to my professional life. In law school I participated in a clinical program that allowed me to represent indigent women in Essex County who needed a divorce, often from abusive husbands. Later I took pro bono cases through the Cambridgeport Problem Center. For decades I represented indigent clients through Metrowest Legal Services, and in 2016 was given a commendation by the Massachusetts Legislature in recognition of my taking pro bono cases for forty years.

I served on the Finance Committee for the Town of Hopedale for three years and was town counsel for another five years.

During law school I was in the Big Brother program. While practicing law I served for fourteen years as a member and chair of the Human Rights Committee at the New England Center for Children, a preeminent organization in the care and education of children on the autism spectrum. For a number of years I was on the pro bono panel that staffed a legal clinic at St. Francis House, a homeless shelter in Boston. For a decade I was the advisor for the Framingham High School Mock Trial Team.

I coached youth basketball for eleven years and served on the Board of Directors for Southborough Youth Basketball. I also coached Little League and soccer. For 25 years I was involved with The 200 Foundation, a Framingham based charity that raises funds to support counseling centers, food pantries, and other organizations serving the area’s neediest people. I have also been a hospice volunteer.

Areas of Practice

  • Estates and Other Probate Matters
  • Appeals to Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court
  • Criminal Law
  • Real Estate
  • Civil Litigation
  • Divorce

Litigation Percentage

  • 40% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts, 1977
  • U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts, 1978
  • Connecticut, 2013

Education

  • Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
    • J. D. cum laude – 1977
    • Honors: Recipient, David I. Walsh Scholarship
  • College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts
    • B.A. cum laude – 1974
    • Honors: Dean’s List

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Massachusetts Bar Association, Member

  • Connecticut Bar Association,Member

Pro Bono Activities

  • 200 Foundation, Inc.–Board of Directors/Board of Advisors/Supporter–Since 1992

Awards

2016–Received Citation from Massachusetts Legislature for decades of Pro Bono representation of indigent people