Robert R. Pierce

Bob Pierce is a founding member and a shareholder of the firm. His practice concentrates in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance defense, personal injury, and intellectual property protection and litigation.

First and foremost, Bob is a trial lawyer, having tried in excess of 25 cases, most of which have been jury trials.  He has tried cases in the state and federal courts (both in Massachusetts and elsewhere), and has handled numerous cases in both the State and Federal Appellate Courts. Bob also handles cases before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which hears cases involving the right to register trademarks with the United States Patent & Trademark Office.  As of February of 2013, Bob’s clients have achieved complete victories in five of his last seven jury trials, and in the other two, the cases settled on favorable terms prior to the juries’ verdicts.  Among these cases were a defense verdict in a $5 Million breach of contract case, and a defense verdict in a large construction accident case in which the pre-trial demand was $2 Million.

Bob has had significant experience handling all types of commercial litigation, including shareholder freeze-out suits, patent and trademark infringement cases, trade secret cases, and non-competition actions.  In addition, Bob has an active insurance defense and coverage practice, defending general liability, construction accident, construction defect, environmental and general liability cases, as well as professional liability actions. He also has represented plaintiffs in significant personal injury matters.

Bob is a frequent lecturer and writer in the field of trademark litigation and protection. He has spoken at the Massachusetts Bar Association's Seminar on Advanced Topics in Trademark Litigation, and he is the co-author of the article "The Role of State Courts in Trademark Litigation." He has also lectured on topics such as bad faith claims against insurers, copyright protection for musicians, and defending depositions.

Bob is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association.

In his spare time, Bob plays guitar in the Boston based band "Downtime," and also enjoys coaching youth basketball. In addition, although a self proclaimed mediocre golfer, Bob was lucky enough to have two holes-in-one during one round of golf at a tournament in August, 2000.

Representative Cases:

• Bob represented a severely injured individual who was a passenger on a bus that crashed in Vermont.  After seven days of trial, the case settled with a multi-million dollar payment to the injured client.
• Bob was lead defense counsel for the target defendant in a staging collapse in Boston that killed three people.
• Bob and Paul Hourihan tried a case in Suffolk Superior Court in which the plaintiff sued the firm’s client for failure to obtain liability insurance coverage.  The plaintiff sought in excess of $5 Million. The jury returned a verdict completely exonerating the firm’s client.
• On behalf of two plaintiffs, Bob and Paul Hourihan brought to jury trial a case of professional malpractice, and after two days of trial, settled the case for $800,000, more than double the pre-trial offer. 
• Bob has handled hundreds of construction accident, construction defect, and subrogation cases.
• Bob has represented at trial numerous defendants in a variety of personal injury cases that have resulted in defense verdicts.
• Bob represented the plaintiff in a shareholder freeze-out action in the Business Litigation Session of Suffolk Superior Court. The case was tried for six days and the court issued a substantial judgment in favor of our client.  Prior to trial, our client had been offered nothing in settlement.
• Bob and Tom Kenney have represented plaintiffs in numerous trademark and copyright cases in Federal Court in which they have obtained injunctive relief against a defendant's use of a plaintiff's trademarks or copyrights. In addition, our lawyers have successfully defended clients in cases in which injunctive relief was sought for violation of plaintiff's intellectual property rights.
• Bob represented the estate of a woman who was killed in a fire.  We sued the owner of a condominium unit below the condominium owned by the defendant, alleging that the defendant unit owner negligently caused the fire. The case was settled in several months based on a substantial payment of the insurance policy limits of the defendant, and a significant contribution from the Condominium Association.
• Bob defended a state governmental entity against a claim brought by a worker who was severely burned when steam escaped from an underground pipe. After a four week trial the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Pierce & Mandell's client.
• Bob and Tom Kenney represented a proposed adult entertainment establishment that sought an entertainment license from the Town. After the Town denied the license, Pierce & Mandell filed a lawsuit against the Town for violation of the plaintiff's civil rights. After a trial that lasted nearly three weeks, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and awarded a substantial judgment.  In addition, the court issued an injunction requiring issuance of the desired entertainment license.
• Bob has obtained substantial settlements, several of them in the mid six figures, on behalf of individuals for disability benefits, both under ERISA and in connection with individual disability policies.