Law Office of Michael J. Donatelle
Practice Areas
Free Initial Consultations
Mass. Commission Against Discrimination
Attorney Donatelle can help with your discrimination case in front of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). If you believe you have been discriminated against, you should contact us as soon as possible. The MCAD only accepts complaints based on incidents that occurred within a limited time frame
Real Estate Closings
I can help you when you are buying or selling your house.
A typical real estate or conveyancing transaction contains two major landmarks: the exchange of contracts (whereby equitable title passes) and completion (whereby legal title passes). Conveyancing occurs in three stages: before contract, before completion and after completion. A buyer of real property must ensure that he or she obtains a good and marketable 'title' to the land; i.e., that the seller is the owner, has the right to sell the property, and there is no factor which would impede a mortgage or re-sale.
A system of conveyancing is usually designed to ensure that the buyer secures title to the land together with all the rights that run with the land, and is notified of any restrictions in advance of purchase. In most mature jurisdictions, conveyancing is facilitated by a system of land registration which is designed to encourage reliance on public records and assure purchasers of land that they are taking good title. The systems of public record often have a French background.
Personal Injury
Representing you on a "contingent fee basis" in which the attorney's fee is a percentage of the your eventual compensation, payable when the case is resolved, with no payment necessary if the case is unsuccessful.
"Personal Injury" is a term most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit alleging that the plaintiff's injury has been caused by the negligence of another, but also arises in defamation torts. Damages include bodily injury, intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), and negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED). The most common types of personal injury claims are road traffic accidents, accidents at work, and tripping accidents.
Depending upon the intent or negligence of a responsible party, the injured party may be entitled to monetary compensation from that party through a settlement or a judgment. In the United States, this system is complex and controversial, with critics calling for various forms of tort reform.
Wills / Estate Planning
We provide full service Wills, Health Care Proxies, Durable Power of Attorney iin the Event of Incapacity documents. Contact us for trust services
A will is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his or her estate and provides for the distribution of his property at death. For the devolution of property not disposed of by will, see inheritance and intestacy.
Criminal Law
Attorney Donatelle can represent you in an a wide array of criminal matters.
Many laws are enforced by threat of criminal punishment, and the range of the punishment varies with the jurisdiction. The scope of criminal law is too vast to catalog intelligently. Nevertheless, the following are some of the more typical aspects of criminal law.The criminal law generally prohibits certain acts. Thus, proof of a crime requires proof of some act. Scholars label this the requirement of an actus reus or guilty act. Some crimes – particularly modern regulatory offenses – require no more, and they are known as strict liability offenses
Nevertheless, because of the potentially severe consequences of criminal conviction, judges at common law also sought proof of an intent to do some bad thing, the mens rea or guilty mind. As to crimes of which both actus reus and mens rea are requirements, judges have concluded that the elements must be present at precisely the same moment and it is not enough that they occurred sequentially at different time.
Workers Compensation
Attorney Donatelle can assist you with you worker's compensation case. You pay no upfront fee. The legal fees and expenses are paid by the insurance companies. If your case settles, our fees and expenses are deducted from the settlement.
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence. The tradeoff between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the worker compensation system is known as "the compensation bargain"​