Attorney Sweeney has spent the past twenty-one years providing high quality legal representation to municipal employers across Massachusetts. These clients have included large city school districts, regional school districts, small town and suburban school districts, vocational school districts and towns. Primary among the responsibilities associated with this representation has been active participation as the legal representative of the municipal employers in their collective bargaining with their organized labor force. His experience includes the negotiation of contracts from beginning to conclusion with unions comprised of teachers, police officers, firefighters, DPW workers, secretaries, maintenance personnel, custodians, computer technicians, nurses, and varied others. As an outgrowth of this representation, Mr. Sweeney has developed significant experience representing these municipal employers in connection with the various matters which present themselves in the context of municipal employment. This representation involves all aspects of administrative agency and court litigation, from initial client contact through trial, if necessary.

Attorney Sweeney has established a fine reputation in the field of public sector collective bargaining and litigation on behalf of management. He is an experienced negotiator, having handled contract negotiations for his municipal clients for more than two decades. In addition to his experience in traditional collective bargaining, he has also been trained in collaborative bargaining and has utilized this approach to collective bargaining on behalf of his municipal clients. He regularly represents his clients in federal and state court, as well as before agencies such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Labor Relations. He has an excellent track record of success in statutory and contractual arbitrations before both the American Arbitration Association and the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration. His representation of towns has also included handling mediation and arbitration before the Joint Labor Management Committee. He has successfully defended municipal employers in connection with cases involving allegations of discrimination; wrongful termination; sexual harassment; whistleblower liability; defamation, and wage payment violations.

Attorney Sweeney has provided in-service training and professional development to various managerial representatives of past and present municipal clients and has also been a presenter at seminars offered by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officers, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. He is a member of the Bars of both Massachusetts and Maine and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts; the United States District Court for the District of Maine; all Courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and all Courts of the State of Maine. He is also a published author, with countless newspaper articles to his credit on legal issues, as well as other subjects.

Prior to starting his own firm in 2007, Attorney Sweeney practiced for more than fifteen years with law firms in Boston and on the South Shore, handling matters involving municipal labor relations and complex civil litigation. He is an honors graduate of Providence College with a bachelor’s degree in English and is a former member of the College’s Board of Trustees. He received his juris doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School. He is a lifelong resident of the South Shore.