About

The In-House Advisor was created to provide in-house counsel (as well as CEOs, CFOs and other C-Level decision makers) with practical, helpful and thoughtful advice on a variety of legal issues. Our posts will primarily deal with matters related to litigation/risk avoidance and employment and labor issues. In addition, we will feature guest posts by well respected in-house counsel who can provide the type of “in the trenches” perspective and advice to help your business run smoothly.

About Burns & Levinson

Burns & Levinson, a premier mid-size Boston-based law firm with over 125 attorneys in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, provides local, national and international representation to dynamic, growth-oriented businesses, privately and publicly held companies, universities and institutions. The Firm provides a full panoply of services to individuals and corporations across a variety of areas, including the following:

  • Automotive
  • Banking
  • Bankruptcy/Creditors’ Rights
  • Business Litigation
  • Corporate
  • Divorce & Family Law
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Entertainment & Media
  • Environmental
  • Family Owned Businesses
  • Finance
  • Franchising
  • Food & Beverage
  • Government Investigations & White Collar Crime
  • Hospitality
  • Intellectual Property
  • Life Sciences
  • Not-for-Profit
  • Probate & Trust Litigation
  • Real Estate & Construction
  • Seafood & Fisheries
  • Securities
  • Tax
  • Technology
  • Trust & Estates Tax
  • Venture Capital & Private Equity

Burns & Levinson is a member of the Law Firm Alliance, which is a loose affiliation of law firms created to provide a vehicle for clients to obtain competent and responsive legal services by providing a network of member firms for referral of legal matters.

Please click here to view all of Burns & Levinson’s office locations.

Shepard Davidson

Partner – Business Litigation, Burns & Levinson LLP

Shep is a partner in and former Co-Chair of the Business Litigation practice at Burns & Levinson. Shep concentrates his practice in the areas of complex business torts, contract claims, real estate disputes, and employment disputes.

Shep has extensive experience in virtually all phases of civil litigation. He has tried cases in the Massachusetts Superior and District Courts, as well as the Federal District Court. He also has argued before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court and has represented clients in numerous mediations and arbitrations. He has also been certified as a mediator by the MCLE.

In addition to acting as an advocate for his clients, Shep also serves as an independent mediator, using his more than 25 years of experience as a litigator to help parties settle disputes without the need to engage in, or continue with, formal litigation or arbitration.

Clients ranging from individuals to small businesses to multi-national companies rely on Shep’s advice, litigation skills and responsiveness:

“Shep has become one of my ‘go to’ guys because he gives me the sense that I am his only client in terms of responsiveness even though I know he is in demand. Shep also has a history of success with us, not just in terms of results, but in managing costs.”
– Keith Wexelblatt, Senior Counsel of Reebok International, Ltd.

Shep has given presentations to In-House Counsel on behalf of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the New England Corporate Counsel Association (NECCA), and has written for New England In-House magazine.

Shep grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts and attended Swarthmore College (’86), where he was a 3-time NCAA Division III All-America tennis player. He then went to Northeastern University School of Law (’90) and began practicing law in 1990. Shep now lives in North Andover, Massachusetts with his wife, two daughters and (much to his chagrin) a little black pug named Lola.

Please click here for more information about Shep.