Stephen D. Anderson

Co-Founder and Senior Counsel

Overview

Government entities and municipalities, corporations, property owners and developers, telecommunication companies, and other private entities turn to Steve for his decades of experience with complex governmental, permitting, land use, and environmental matters.

  • Complex Governmental Matters: Steve has served as outside counsel to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. He helped establish its governance and regulatory structure, which manages competing interests in the newly-established Massachusetts gaming industry. He has also served as special municipal counsel for inter-municipal disputes, development and infrastructure projects, and complex affordable housing projects.
  • Permitting: Steve has advised FCC-licensed wireless carriers on hundreds of permitting, transactional, administrative, and judicial proceedings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
  • Land Use: Steve has represented a global telecommunication carrier building significant infrastructure in challenging development environments over many state and local jurisdictions.
  • Environmental: Steve has overseen complex federal and state Superfund cases, including litigation, mediation, and settlement.

Clients praise Steve’s expertise, attention to detail, and work ethic.

BEYOND THE OFFICE

Having served for more than 15 years on the Andover Board of Appeals, including many years as its Chair, Steve helped guide Andover’s permitting of affordable housing to be one of the leading communities in the state.

Steve was a “heavy hitter” fundraiser from 2013 through 2017 for the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon benefiting the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. He bikes thousands of miles each year, hikes (he completed NH’s 48 4,000-footers in 2013), and photographs local and migratory birds, and plays a variety of fiddle music for recreation.

PRACTICE AREAS

Credentials

Education

University of Michigan Law School, J.D. 1977 magna cum laude
Michigan Law Review

Harvard College, A.B. 1974 magna cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

Massachusetts
District of Columbia
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire

Recognition

The Best Lawyers in America©, Environmental Law, 2009-2021, Litigation, 2011-2021, Commercial Litigation, 2020-2021, and Municipal Law, 2020-2021

Massachusetts Super Lawyers, 2005-2021

The International Who’s Who of Environmental Lawyers

Affiliations

Andover Zoning Board, former Chair

Board of Bar Overseers for District 2 (Middlesex and Essex), former Hearing Panel Member

Committee for Professional Responsibility for the Clerks of the Courts, former Member

New England Wireless Association, former Board of Directors Member 

Experience

  • Outside counsel to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Helped establish its governance and regulatory structure, which manages competing interests in the newly-established Massachusetts gaming industry.
  • Acton town counsel.
  • Special municipal counsel for:
    • Inter-municipal disputes.
    • Development and infrastructure projects.
    • Mitigation of project impacts.
    • Complex affordable housing projects.
    • Environmental matters: federal and state permitting, environmental enforcement proceedings, and special projects related to Boston Harbor clean-up litigation.
  • Represented a global telecommunication carrier building significant infrastructure in challenging development environments over many state and local jurisdictions.
  • Represented a national competitive local exchange carrier with an aggressive build-out of new infrastructure in Massachusetts.
  • Advised FCC-licensed wireless carriers on hundreds of permitting, transactional, administrative and judicial proceedings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
  • Oversaw complex federal and state Superfund cases, including litigation, mediation, and settlement.
    • Represented potentially responsible parties in a complex environmental matter involving alleged soil and groundwater contamination and alleged vapor intrusion at and from a former mill property in a suburban Boston community.
    • Represented Massachusetts municipality as a potentially responsible party in a complex environmental matter involving alleged asbestos in soil and the intersection of hazardous and solid waste regulation.
    • Recovered tens of millions of dollars in environmental remediation costs, remedial actions, and damages from responsible parties, and defense costs and indemnity proceeds from insurers.

Government entities and municipalities, corporations, property owners and developers, telecommunication companies, and other private entities turn to Steve for his decades of experience with complex governmental, permitting, land use, and environmental matters.

  • Complex Governmental Matters: Steve has served as outside counsel to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. He helped establish its governance and regulatory structure, which manages competing interests in the newly-established Massachusetts gaming industry. He has also served as special municipal counsel for inter-municipal disputes, development and infrastructure projects, and complex affordable housing projects.
  • Permitting: Steve has advised FCC-licensed wireless carriers on hundreds of permitting, transactional, administrative, and judicial proceedings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
  • Land Use: Steve has represented a global telecommunication carrier building significant infrastructure in challenging development environments over many state and local jurisdictions.
  • Environmental: Steve has overseen complex federal and state Superfund cases, including litigation, mediation, and settlement.

Clients praise Steve’s expertise, attention to detail, and work ethic.

BEYOND THE OFFICE

Having served for more than 15 years on the Andover Board of Appeals, including many years as its Chair, Steve helped guide Andover’s permitting of affordable housing to be one of the leading communities in the state.

Steve was a “heavy hitter” fundraiser from 2013 through 2017 for the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon benefiting the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. He bikes thousands of miles each year, hikes (he completed NH’s 48 4,000-footers in 2013), and photographs local and migratory birds, and plays a variety of fiddle music for recreation.

Education

University of Michigan Law School, J.D. 1977 magna cum laude
Michigan Law Review

Harvard College, A.B. 1974 magna cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

Massachusetts
District of Columbia
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire

The Best Lawyers in America©, Environmental Law, 2009-2021, Litigation, 2011-2021, Commercial Litigation, 2020-2021, and Municipal Law, 2020-2021

Massachusetts Super Lawyers, 2005-2021

The International Who’s Who of Environmental Lawyers

Andover Zoning Board, former Chair

Board of Bar Overseers for District 2 (Middlesex and Essex), former Hearing Panel Member

Committee for Professional Responsibility for the Clerks of the Courts, former Member

New England Wireless Association, former Board of Directors Member 

  • Outside counsel to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Helped establish its governance and regulatory structure, which manages competing interests in the newly-established Massachusetts gaming industry.
  • Acton town counsel.
  • Special municipal counsel for:
    • Inter-municipal disputes.
    • Development and infrastructure projects.
    • Mitigation of project impacts.
    • Complex affordable housing projects.
    • Environmental matters: federal and state permitting, environmental enforcement proceedings, and special projects related to Boston Harbor clean-up litigation.
  • Represented a global telecommunication carrier building significant infrastructure in challenging development environments over many state and local jurisdictions.
  • Represented a national competitive local exchange carrier with an aggressive build-out of new infrastructure in Massachusetts.
  • Advised FCC-licensed wireless carriers on hundreds of permitting, transactional, administrative and judicial proceedings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
  • Oversaw complex federal and state Superfund cases, including litigation, mediation, and settlement.
    • Represented potentially responsible parties in a complex environmental matter involving alleged soil and groundwater contamination and alleged vapor intrusion at and from a former mill property in a suburban Boston community.
    • Represented Massachusetts municipality as a potentially responsible party in a complex environmental matter involving alleged asbestos in soil and the intersection of hazardous and solid waste regulation.
    • Recovered tens of millions of dollars in environmental remediation costs, remedial actions, and damages from responsible parties, and defense costs and indemnity proceeds from insurers.