Lawrence P. Heffernan

Partner

  • Overview

    Biography

    Lawrence Heffernan focuses on litigation in the real estate, title insurance, banking, and commercial arenas. Larry has nearly 40 years of trial and appellate experience in cases involving complex real estate issues, development, fraud, insurance coverage, banking, and commercial disputes. He represents a wide range of clients, including developers, property owners, landlords, lessors, lessees, title insurance companies, and banks. He serves as chair of the firm’s Real Estate Litigation and Title Insurance Team, and he is a member of its Business Litigation Group.

    Real Estate Litigation

    Larry handles litigation of real property rights, including disputes related to ownership, leasing, development, land use, condominiums and waterfront rights. He also assists clients with appeals of zoning decisions. He has obtained positive results for numerous clients, such as securing an expedited judgment defeating a challenge to the development of a hotel in the Seaport District. Larry also obtained a favorable judgment after trial for a large group of homeowners in a dispute with a neighboring municipality over the location of a subdivision boundary and town line.

    Title Insurance Litigation

    Larry represents title insurance companies in litigation of all aspects of title insurance coverage, from exclusions to loss to insured closing letters and extracontractual claims. He is also retained by title insurance companies to defend insured owners and lenders in establishing the validity and priority of their interests. Larry obtained a trial judgment affirming both title and boundaries for a 120-acre subdivision in a case which marshalled over a century’s worth of complex title records and boundary evidence. In a case challenging the existence and validity of a multi-million dollar condominium complex, he persuaded the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to overturn an Appeals Court’s ruling and affirm a condominium developer's retention of the right to remove land from a condominium development.

    Banking Litigation

    Larry assists banks, lenders and financial institutions with litigation, including disputes related to mortgages and foreclosures, predatory lending, fraud, and checking and wire transfers. He defeated a class certification in a putative class action against law firms and major mortgage lenders for allegedly wrongful foreclosures, which protected clients from tens of millions of dollars in potential exposure for more than 9,000 foreclosures. His successes also include dismissal of a regional bank from a multi-district class action for hundreds of millions of dollars in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

    Larry frequently speaks about real estate, title insurance, and banking litigation matters before bar and business groups across the country. He writes regularly on these topics, and he contributes to the firm’s Massachusetts Appellate Blog. Larry serves on the Board of Directors of Greater Boston Legal Services, which provides civil legal assistance to the disadvantaged in the Boston area.

    Larry has been selected to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list from 2004 to 2022. He is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell™ in the area of Litigation (Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings is a trademark. AV Preeminent is a certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc.).

  • Experience
    • Experience

      Experience

      • Obtained dismissal of a regional bank from a multi-district class action for hundreds of millions of dollars in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

      • Defeated class certification action against law firms and major mortgage lenders for allegedly wrongful foreclosures that would have involved over 9,000 foreclosures and tens of millions of dollars in exposure. The United States Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of class certification.
      • Marshalling over 100 years of complex title records and boundary evidence and testimony of surveying and title experts, obtained judgment for a developer following trial affirming title to and boundaries of 120-acre subdivision.
      • Represented title insurers and lenders in litigation, resolution, and recoupment of multimillion-dollar mortgage frauds, overfinancing scams, and defalcations.
      • Defended developers of residential subdivisions against alleged violations of subdivision convenants and disputes over subdivision mortgages.
      • Represented and counseled title insurers on coverage of multimillion-dollar claims for condominium challenges, mechanic's liens, insured closing letters, zoning disputes, tender of the policy limits, and bad faith.
      • Represented and counseled commercial landlord in successful litigation and resolution of dispute over exercise of option for an easement to a large bloc of parking spaces for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
      • Successfully resolved and settled suit for banking client involving the deposit and wire transfer of counterfeit cashier's check for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

      • Obtained judgment after trial for a beachfront owner against claims of adverse possession and prescriptive easement.
      • Convinced the Appeals Court of Massachusetts that the absence of a connection to a town sewer system did not constitute a title defect covered by the title insurance policy despite a municipal lien certificate that showed a sewer charge. Kokinis v. First American Title Insurance Co., 68 Mass. App. Ct. 1106 (2007)
      • Obtained jury verdict for landowner on claims of nuisance, trespass, and civil rights violations.
      • Established that the filing of a lis pendens does not constitute slander of title. Powell v. Stevens, trustee, 69 Mass. App. Ct. 87 (2007)
      • Defended condominiums and unit owners against challenges to validity of phasing and zoning of condominiums.
      • Persuaded the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to overturn an Appeals Court decision, affirming a condominium developer's retention of the right to remove land from a condominium. Queler, et al. v. Skowron, et al., 439 Mass. 304 (2002)

      • Defended lenders against claims of predatory lending and violations of affordable housing covenants.
      • Counseled a national real estate developer in a dispute with the master developer of the largest master-planned, mixed-use development in Massachusetts.
      • Defended a large group of homeowners against a claim by a neighboring municipality over the location of a town line/subdivision boundary and obtained a favorable judgment following trial.
      • Defended owners, lenders, and title insurers against claims of forged deeds, mortgages, and discharges of liens.
      • Counseled closely held corporation in the litigation and resolution of a dispute concerning the buyout and employment termination of a shareholder/officer.
      • Successfully defended a $10 million mixed-use (including 134 residential units and 5,000 square feet of retail space) urban revitalization project against a lawsuit by abutters seeking to halt the development.
      • Obtained judgments for title insurers in jury and bench trials on coverage, bad faith, and recoupment claims.
      • Obtained favorable jury verdict for title insurance company named as a defendant in a case involving an allegedly forged release of a mechanic’s lien on a condominium development. 

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    • Professional Associations

      Professional Associations

      American Bar Association
      Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section

      American Bar Association
      Former Chair, Title Insurance Litigation Committee, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section

      American Land Title Association (1987 - present)

      Boston Bar Association

      Massachusetts Bar Association

      New England Land Title Association
      Member
      Board of Directors (1993 - 2022)

      Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts
      Past Co-chair of Real Estate Litigation Committee

      The Abstract Club
      Member, Executive Committee
    • Honors + Awards

      Honors + Awards

      AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell™ in the area of Litigation (Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings is a trademark. AV Preeminent is a certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc.)

      Selected to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list from 2004 to 2022.

      Member of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame, 2023

    • Community Involvement

      Community Involvement

      Greater Boston Legal Services
      Member, Executive Committee
      Board of Directors
  • NEWS + PRESS
    • Publications

      Publications

      "Declarants' Reservation of Rights in Condominiums: The What, When, Where and How," published in REBA News (October 10, 2018)

      "Massachusetts Appeals Court Limits Application of Equitable Subrogation," published in REBA News, co-authored with Danielle Andrews Long (February 7, 2018)

      "SJC Reinforces the Value of Attorneys' Affidavits in Curing Defective Acknowledgements," published in REBA News, co-authored with Danielle Andrews Long (September 2016)

      "Title Insurance Not a Bar to Equitable Subrogation in Massachusetts," published in The Title Insurance Law Newsletter (12/1/2015)

      "Massachusetts High Court Considers Modernizing State Lease Law," co-authored with Danielle Andrews Long, John T. Ronayne and Kendra L. Berardi, published in the ABA's Real Estate Litigation newsletter (5/20/2013)

      "Massachusetts Rejects 'In for One, In for All' in Title Insurance Claims," published in Title Insurance Litigation Committee Newsletter (Spring 2013)

      "Tender of Loss and Termination of Title Insurance Policy Obligations," published in ABA TIPS Title Insurance Litigation Committee Newsletter (Spring 2012)

      "Title Void When Lender Foreclosed before Recording Assignment of Mortgage," published in The Title Insurance Law Newsletter (12/2011)

      "Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules on Foreclosure by Mortgage Assignee under a Securitization Trust," published in The Title Insurance Law Newsletter, republished in the March 2011 edition of REBA News, the publication of the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts (2/2011)

      "New Land Court Rules of Procedure: A Primer," published in Real Estate Bar Association Newsletter (Summer 2005)

      "SJC Confirms Developers' Right to Retain Interest in Condo Land," published in Banker & Tradesman, co-authored with Clive D. Martin (4/28/2003)

      "Real Estate Description and Surveys," published in Real Estate Title Practice in Massachusetts, co-authored with Mary L. Cataudella (2003)

      "Liability of the Closing Attorney to Non-Clients in Real Estate Transactions," published in The Conveyancer, newsletter of the Massachusetts Conveyancers Association (MCA) (Spring 2001)

      "Equitable Subrogation Unsettled," published in Title News (January/February 1999)

      "Equitable Subrogation Revisited," published in The Best of MCLE Journal, presented at American Bar Association's (ABA) TIPS Title Insurance Litigation Committee, Massachusetts Bar Association's Property Law Section, and New England Land Title Association's (NELTA) Spring 1998 Title Insurance Claims Seminar (1999)
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      "The Timing of Loss in Title Insurance Claims," published in Title Insurance Litigation Committee Newsletter (Spring 1998)

      "Title Insurance and the Duty to Search," published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (9/1997)

    • Presentations

      Presentations

      "Declarants' Reservation of Rights in Condominiums: The What, When, Where and How," at REBA Presentation (September 26, 2018)

      "Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Any Worse, Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co., Inc., 472 Mass. 226 (2015), and Foreclosures in Massachusetts," presented to the Abstract Club (11/9/2015)

      "More challenges to the foreclosure process: the Massachusetts appellate courts giveth and taketh away," presented to The Abstract Club in Boston, Massachusetts (5/19/2014)

      "The 25 Critical Cases Every Real Estate, Title, Land Use, and Environmental Lawyer Must Know," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education seminar on real estate, title mortgage, leasing, and condominium law (3/17/2014; 1/21/2015; 2/24/2016)

      "Landlord Remedies - A Refresher in Landlord Rights after 275 Washington Street Corp., Trustee v. Hudson River Int'l LLC," seminar sponsored by the Boston Bar Association's Leasing Committee (5/29/2013)

      "The Effect of Eaton on Foreclosures, Third-Party Purchasers, REO Purchasers and Re-Foreclosures," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's What Eaton Means for Massachusetts Foreclosure & Title Practice (7/25/2012)

      "Foreclosure Issues and Curative Actions," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Resolving Common & Complex Title Issues (5/17/2012; 5/8/2015)

      "Tender of Loss and Termination of Title Insurance Policy Obligations," at ABA TIPS Title Insurance Litigation Committee Seminar in Boston (4/27/2012)

      "Massachusetts Foreclosure and Title Practice Viewed through the Lenses of Bevilaqua and Ibanez," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (11/30/2011)

      "Curative Actions," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Resolving Common & Complex Issues (3/8/2011)

      "The Background, Impact, and Significance of US Bank National Association v. Ibanez," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's What Ibanez Means for Real Estate (3/3/2011)

      "A Litigator's View of Liens, Challenges to Liens, and Lien Priorities," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Understanding Lien Priorities (7/2010)

      "My Client Has a Title Claim! Is It Actually Covered by a Title Insurance Policy?" at New England Land Title Association Boston Seminar (4/8/2009)

      "Tales from the Frontlines, a Discussion of Current Claims Issues," at American Bar Association's Title Insurance Litigation Committee Spring Seminar in Seattle, Washington (3/6/2009)

      "Recent Developments in Title Insurance Law and Claims," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Real Estate Law Conference (3/19/2008)

      "Mortgage Fraud: Trends, Prevention, and Recovery," at New England Land Title Association Convention (6/21 to 6/24/2007)

      "Closing Protection Letters: The Hidden Exposure," at American Bar Association's TIPS Title Insurance Litigation Committee Seminar in Minneapolis (9/14 to 9/16/2006)

      Chair of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Litigating Real Estate Disputes (8/2007 and 8/2006)

      "The Shifting Sands of Massachusetts Beach Rights," at Real Estate Bar Association Spring Seminar, co-presented with Thomas O. Moriarty and Edward S. Englander (5/8/2006)

      "Easements by Prescription, Public and Private," Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Litigating Real Estate Disputes (8/2005)

      "Surveying for Attorneys," at Real Estate Bar Association 2004 Spring Seminar, co-presented with A. Richard Vannozzi, P.L.S., and Ward P. Graham, Esq. (5/10/2004)

      "Life After Bishops Forest," at Massachusetts Conveyancers Association Spring Seminar, co-presented with V. Douglas Errico, Esq., Robert J. Galvin, Esq., and Samuel B. Moskowitz, Esq. (5/2003)

      "Crouching Cases, Hidden Issues: A Lively Discussion of Some Interesting Cases," at New England Land Title Association Annual Convention (6/2001)

      "Notice of Claims and Tender of Defense of Title Insurance Claims," at Spring 2000 Title Insurance Claims and Litigation Seminar (Spring 2000)

      "From Risk Elimination to Risk Assumption," at Boston Bar Association's Title Insurance in the 21st Century Seminar (3/2000)

      "Litigation of Condominium Phasing and Removal Controversies," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Real Estate Conference (2/2000)

      "The Timing of Loss in Title Insurance Claims," at American Bar Association's TIPS Title Insurance Litigation Committee, Massachusetts Bar Association's Property Law Section, and New England Land Title Asssociation's Spring 1998 Title Insurance Claims Seminar (Spring 1998)

      "Recent Trends in Title Insurers' Duty to Search Title and Disclose Defects," at American Land Title Association's Legal Division Seminar (9/1997)

      "Disputes Between Adjoining Landowners," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Real Estate Litigation '97 (5/1997)

      "Closing Protection Letters/The Duty to Search," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education's Title Insurance: What You Need to Know So the Policy Will Adequately Protect Your Clients (4/1997)

      "Mastering Real Estate Titles and Title Insurance in Massachusetts," at National Business Institute (4/1996 and 4/1995)

      "Closing Protection Letters: The Hidden Exposure," at Massachusetts Conveyancers Association and American Land Title Association's Land Title Institute Seminar (10/1994)

      "Somerset Savings Bank v. Chicago Title Insurance Company," at New England Land Title Association Annual Convention, panel presentation (6/1994)

      "Land Court Judicial Forum," at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (4/1992)

      "Fraud and Forgery in Real Estate Transactions," at American Land Title Association's Land Title Institute Regional Seminars (1990 to 1995)

    • News

      R+C in the News

      • September 13, 2023

        Lawrence Heffernan Named to Inaugural Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame

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      • July 15, 2019

        Robinson & Cole's Boston Associates Participate in the 2019 GBLS Associates Fund Drive

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      • October 18, 2018

        51 Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers®

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      • January 31, 2018

        Boston Lawyers Walk to the Hill for Civil Legal Aid

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      • February 3, 2017

        Boston Lawyers Join Annual Walk to the Hill

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      • July 14, 2016

        Larry Heffernan Featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

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      • February 11, 2016

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Join Annual Walk to the Hill

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      • February 18, 2015

        Despite Blizzard, Boston Lawyers Participate in Annual Walk to the Hill

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      • July 15, 2014

        Boston Lawyer Participates in MCLE Webcast, Speaks to Abstract Club

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      • June 13, 2013

        Boston Lawyer Presents at BBA Seminar

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      • June 7, 2013

        Boston Lawyers Author Article for ABA Newsletter

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      • May 24, 2013

        Boston Lawyer Authors Article for The Title Insurance Law Newsletter

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      • May 30, 2012

        Real Estate and Title Litigation Attorneys Prevent Class Action Against Client

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      • March 7, 2012

        Real Estate and Title Insurance Chair Addresses What Happens When “MERS Attacks”

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      • February 23, 2012

        Attorneys Discuss Bevilaqua and Ibanez Cases at Seminar

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      • March 14, 2011

        Robinson & Cole Attorneys Walk to the Hill in Boston

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      • March 10, 2011

        Larry Heffernan Authors Article on Massachusetts Foreclosure Rules Ruling

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      • August 4, 2010

        Lawrence P. Heffernan Presents on Lien Priorities at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Program

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      R+C News Releases

      • October 11, 2022

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized in 2022 Super Lawyers®

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      • October 14, 2021

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers®

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      • October 15, 2020

        47 Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized in Super Lawyers®

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      • October 19, 2019

        52 Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers®

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      • October 17, 2017

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers®

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        • View article
      • October 18, 2016

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers®

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      • October 19, 2015

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers®

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      • October 17, 2014

        Robinson+Cole Lawyers Recognized by Super Lawyers

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      • October 22, 2012

        Super Lawyers® Names 49 Robinson & Cole Attorneys to 2012 List and Recognizes 26 as Rising Stars

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      • May 15, 2012

        Robinson & Cole Further Strengthens Metro NY Presence with Addition of New Attorneys

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