Paul Kominers

Paul is an associate in Anderson & Kreiger’s Public Law, Airports, and Litigation groups. His practice focuses on:

• Public Law Litigation: Paul defends public entities in a wide range of disputes. Representative matters include defending the Massachusetts Gaming Commission against multiple lawsuits challenging the Commission’s licensing process, the town of Bedford from an emergency challenge to a land procurement, and the town of Acton against an Open Meeting Law lawsuit.
• Public Law Counseling: Paul advises municipal and other government clients on matters involving governance, procurement, land use, constitutional law, and other subjects. He has helped clients respond to numerous Open Meeting Law complaints and public records requests.
• Airports: Paul represents airports in civil litigation and administrative proceedings. He has defended the Commonwealth Ports Authority against a complaint seeking expedited administrative proceedings before DOT, and helped Massport win a preliminary injunction against Turo’s operations at Logan Airport.  He also counsels airports on First Amendment issues.
• Commercial Litigation: Paul has worked on business and construction disputes ranging from recovering consulting fees and promissory notes, to multi-million-dollar insurance coverage disputes.

Paul maintains a pro bono practice helping low-income individuals seal and expunge their Massachusetts criminal records. He has won relief for clients in the Appeals Court, the Boston Municipal Court, and District Court, and authored amicus briefs in sealing cases in the Supreme Judicial Court.  He also serves on the firm’s pro bono committee.

Previously, Paul served as a law clerk to the Honorable James R. Milkey of the Massachusetts Appeals Court and to the Honorable Michael M. Baylson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Paul has held a number of volunteer leadership roles at MIT.  Currently, he serves on the Annual Giving Board and as a Friend of the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center.  He previously served a five-year term on the MIT Corporation from 2013 to 2018.

• Litigation
• Public Law
• Airports

Education

Harvard Law School, J.D. 2018, cum laude

President and Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Journal on Legislation

MIT, S.B., 2012

Admissions

Massachusetts

U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Clerkship

Honorable James R. Milkey, Massachusetts Appeals Court

Honorable Michael M. Baylson, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Best Lawyers – Municipal Law, 2024

SJC Pro Bono High Honor Roll, 2022

SJC Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2021

MIT Alumni Association Margaret L.A. MacVicar ’65, ScD ’67 Award, 2018

Rappaport Fellows Program in Law and Public Policy, 2016, Fellow

Karl Taylor Compton Prize, 2012

• Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association, Amicus Committee, Member, 2022-present
• Appeals Court Law Clerk Society, Board Member, 2021-2025
• MIT
  • MIT Alumni Association, Program Committee, Member, 2023-2024
  • MIT Alumni Association, Annual Giving Board, Member, 2021-2024
  • East Campus Renovation Advisory Committee, Member, 2021-2024
  • MIT Club of Boston, Clerk and Assistant Vice President for Finance, 2021-present
  • Friends of the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center, Founding Member, 2020-present; Lead, Membership Committee, 2022-present
  • MIT Alumni Association, Corporation Nominating Committee, Member, 2017-2020
  • MIT Corporation, Member, 2013-2018

• Prevailed on summary judgment in major preemption case in federal court in California on behalf of large public-sector client.
• Successfully defended the Massachusetts Gaming Commission against claim that Open Meeting Law violations invalidated the Commission’s award of a casino license to Wynn Resorts.
• Assisted the Massachusetts Gaming Commission with drafting regulations following the legalization of sports wagering in the Commonwealth.
• Fended off emergency ten-taxpayer lawsuit meant to block town’s land procurement.
• As trial counsel, tried and won land use enforcement case on behalf of homeowner against City of Boston and neighbors in Suffolk Superior Court.
• Successfully defended town against Open Meeting Law lawsuit.
• Sat as administrative hearing officer for Massachusetts State Lottery Commission in sales agent licensing appeal.
• Won firearm licensing appeal in District Court after evidentiary hearing.
• Won motions to dismiss in three different firearm licensing appeals in Concord District Court.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction, upheld on appeal, against car-sharing company Turo, Inc.’s operations at Logan Airport.
• Defended the Commonwealth Ports Authority from a complaint asking the Department of Transportation to initiate expedited (“rocket docket”) administrative proceedings.
• Defended town and agency clients against overbroad third-party discovery in various matters.
• In pro bono matter, won an appeal vacating a motion judge’s decision denying expungement of criminal records.
• In pro bono matter, filed amicus brief explaining the importance of automatic record sealing to prevent data brokers from collecting and disseminating criminal records ending in a finding of not guilty, in support of the successful petitioner in Commonwealth v. J.F., SJC-13334.
• In pro bono matter, filed amicus brief explaining the racially disparate impacts of youthful offender records in support of the successful petitioner in Impounded Case, SJC-13465.
• In pro bono matters, won CORI sealing and expungement orders for clients in Boston Municipal Court and District Court.
• On behalf of Cambridge Bicycle Safety, filed amicus brief cited favorably by court during dispute over Cambridge’s installation of bike lanes.

News

• Paul M. Kominers recognized in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s Pro Bono Spotlight
• A&K Attorneys Co-author BBA Article
• A&K Attorneys Co-Author Municipal Law Chapter in MCLE's MA Handbook of Legal Research

Publications

• Knotweed Case Breaks New Ground, ENVIRONMENTAL & LAND USE, November 1, 2023
• Legislative Privilege Recognized in Massachusetts, PUBLIC LAW, August 5, 2022
• A Little Notice Goes a Long Way, PUBLIC LAW, July 27, 2022
• Trouble Brewing in Marblehead, PUBLIC LAW, April 19, 2022
• Continued Pandemic-Era Flexibility for Town Meetings, PUBLIC LAW, February 15, 2022
• Alexander Hamilton, Public Records Law Share Top Billing at the First Circuit, PUBLIC LAW, November 12, 2021
• New State Law Allows Local Regulation of Short-Term Rentals, PUBLIC LAW, January 17, 2019
• Supreme Court on Regulatory Takings: Look to Reasonable Expectations, PUBLIC LAW, July 1, 2017
• Paul Kominers & Mina Makarious, Democracy, Some Assembly Required: Barron v. Kolenda, 67 Boston Bar Journal (2023)
• Paul M. Kominers & Nina Pickering-Cook, Municipal Law, in Handbook of Massachusetts Legal Research (Amy Bruce, ed., 4th ed. Supp. 2023)
• Paul Kominers & Mina S. Makarious, The Relationship Between the Federal Government and Local Government, in Massachusetts Municipal Law (2d ed. Supp. 2022)
• Paul Kominers, Mina S. Makarious & Tasha Marshall, The Relationship Between the Federal Government and Local Government, in Massachusetts Municipal Law(James B. Lampke & Robert W. Ritchie, eds., 2d ed. Supp. 2020)
• Mina Makarious & Paul Kominers, Spaulding v. Town of Natick School Committee: Allowing Free Speech while Accomplishing Municipal Work, 63 Boston Bar Journal (2019)
• Ben Green, Gabe Cunningham, Ariel Ekblaw, Paul Kominers, et al., Open Data Privacy(Berkman Klein Center Research Publication No. 2017-07)

Speaking Engagements

• Moderator, MIT Alumni Leadership Conference 2020, "Pathways to Leadership", September 22, 2020.
• Panelist, MIT Alumni Leadership Conference 2018, "MIT10: Building Young Alumni Coalitions", September 22, 2018.