Three entrenched Worcester law firms received news of a new challenger arriving from the east in July, when high-profile, Boston-based Prince Lobel Tye announced it would open a Worcester office, convincing about a dozen Bowditch lawyers to join the firm in the process.
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Worcester’s legal scene has long been topped by three major law firms: Mirick O'Connell, Bowditch & Dewey, and Fletcher Tilton.
Founded in 1916, 1914, and 1822, these three entrenched firms received news of a new challenger arriving from the east in July, when high-profile, Boston-based Prince Lobel Tye announced it would open a Worcester office.
With plans of upward of 30 attorneys in Worcester, Prince Lobel convinced about a dozen Bowditch lawyers to join the firm, led by Michael Angelini, who has been the most-recognizable Bowditch attorney for decades and has been part of the firm since the 1960s.
“This is the first time to my knowledge a firm from Boston of the nature, character, reputation, and proficiency of Prince Lobel has come to Worcester. I think in that regard, it’s big news,” Angelini said.
The move led to the largest shakeup in the Central Massachusetts legal landscape in at least a generation, with a number of other well-known Bowditch attorneys joining Angelini at Prince Lobel. The sudden emergence of this new player had left several holes at Bowditch, which the established firm is confident in its ability to fill.
“We’ve been here for so long. We’re going to be here, we’re going to be a prominent player in the legal community,” Bowditch Managing Partner John Shoro said. “Another law firm is opening up in Worcester, but there’s a lot going on in Worcester. I don’t think that changes our philosophy or commitment to the area. People come and go from law firms all the time.”
Prince Lobel’s expansion shows how the Central Mass. economy is enticing new players from areas like Boston, said Leonardo Angiulo, past president of the Worcester County Bar Association.
“Having a presence in Worcester makes sense for any business because of how strong our local economy is,” said Leonardo Angiulo, who is a solo practitioner at Worcester-based firm Angiulo Law. “A Boston firm wanting local lawyers makes even more sense because members of our bar provide the best representation you can get. Our community growing is a net positive.”
Assembling the team
Founded in 1988, Prince Lobel represents a wide variety of clients, from cannabis companies to nanotechnology startups to soccer teams. The Worcester office will be its fourth location, joining its headquarters in Boston and offices in Manhattan and Purchase, New York.
“This is a talent and client business, and there’s a lot of great talent and great clients in Worcester,” said Craig Tateronis, a Worcester native who’s been managing partner of Prince Lobel since 2004. “I’ve looked at Worcester now for a number of years, and this conversation evolved pretty organically.”
Tateronis visits Central Mass. frequently to see family and shuttle his elderly parents to doctor appointments. He watched over the years as gritty industrial properties and vacant lots transformed into modern high-end apartments and advanced medical facilities.
As Boston-area residents are heading westward, he expects more businesses to follow suit, making Worcester a logical place for law firm expansion, he said.
Tateronis knew he needed a staff with current ties to the area in order for Prince Lobel Worcester office to hit the ground running. In addition to Angelini, he managed to craft a lineup of attorneys from Bowdtich with a range of experience and expertise. High on the list is Louis Ciavarra, another former Bowditch managing partner. A senior partner at Bowditch since 1985 specializing in intellectual property, contract negotiations, and litigation, Ciavarra is an early Angelini protege. Other well-established names include George Tetler, a business and finance lawyer with four decades of experience, and Doug Radigan, an experienced litigator who first joined Bowditch in 2008.
Younger lawyers making the jump from Bowditch to Prince Lobel include Karina Abeddy, Mark Borenstein, Brian Edmonds, Jared Fiore, Joshua Lewin, Tim Monahan, AiVi Nguyen, and Mark Powers. In November, Nguyen is set to be honored as one of the Top Women in Law by the publication Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Former Bowditch attorney Brian Beaton is joining, having later spent stints at Mirick O’ Connell and as the deputy general counsel of Lawrence fuel distributor Energy North Group.
Despite the impressive list of attorneys who have jumped ship to Prince Lobel, Angelini drew the most attention, and for good reason.
Nothing lasts forever
During the summer of 1967, when tens of thousands of hippies were descending on San Francisco for what would become known as the Summer of Love, the Leominster-born Angelini was instead beginning his tenure at Bowditch as a summer clerk. He would join the firm full time a year later.
Six decades and 18 Worcester mayoral administrations later, he remained at Bowditch until his official departure on Aug. 30, serving two stints as the firm’s managing partner totaling 31 years.
A member of the inaugural WBJ Hall of Fame class in 2017, Angelini’s prior experience ranges from being the chairman of the The Hanover Insurance Group and the Worcester Redevelopment Authority to co-founding the First Wednesday Club, an invite-only coterie of some of the city’s top business minds.
He’s been involved in the leadership of numerous other organizations over the decades, including the Worcester County Bar Association, Clark University, the United Way of Central Massachusetts, Massport, and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
All of this made him the perfect point person for establishing Prince Lobel Worcester bonafides, along with Ciavarra, Tetler, Radigan, said Tateronis.
“Those guys are a critical piece of it, because it wouldn’t make sense for us to just state from Boston that we were arriving in Worcester and open for business,” Tateronis said. “It’s an opportunity to partner with the best of the best and do something I think will be big for our business but also has the potential to be game changing in the community.”
Angelini and Ciavarra made it clear they have no ill-will toward the firm they had spent a combined 96 years working for. Both noted they had differing opinions on decisions at Bowditch to expand into areas outside of business practices and beyond Worcester County. The main reason for their Bowdtich departure, though, was the unique opportunity to establish Prince Lobel in the city.
“Most people don’t even work for 40 or 50 years, nevermind in one place,” Ciavarra said in a July interview about the Prince Lobel expansion. “We have a lot of incredibly strong ties and feelings about [Bowditch] and the people we’ve worked with over the past decades. But nothing lasts forever.”
Refilling the ranks
Despite the high-profile exodus, the top brass at Bowditch seem confident in their business model, as the 110-year-old firm looks to refill its ranks and continue to be among the most prominent Central Mass. law firms.
Over a decade ago, the firm began proactively planning for its long-term vitality and talent growth, a process involving adding depth across its practice areas, ensuring no one lawyer played too big of a role in the firm’s financial picture, said Tina Bussone, executive director of Bowditch.
“The broader transition plan the firm has implemented over the last several years is that we have done a lot so our revenue stream comes from lawyers across the firm,” Bussone said. “We put business development resources across the firm, across the practice areas. We're not dependent on any one attorney like we used to be.”
Recognizing Bowditch was an aging firm, its leaders began adding to the ranks. Bowditch added 14 lawyers to its roster in 2024, said Shoro.
“Our focus going forward is going to be on revitalizing the Worcester office,” he said. “We're going to continue basically on the same path that we started a number of years ago, trying to grow the firm and bring in new talented lawyers.”
New office, new chapter
Expansion has allowed opportunities for Bowditch to assemble a roster to better reflect the community it serves, said Bussone.
“We've been able to diversify our population, not just in practice areas but also in demographics and years of experience,” Bussone said. “We're at over 50% female lawyers at this point. That's a far cry from 10 years ago.”
According to the American Bar Association, 39% of lawyers were female in 2023.
Bowditch will undergo further change, as the firm prepares to move from its longtime home at 311 Main St. to the Glass Tower at 446 Main St. in Worcester.
“Moving to a new space is like when you finally sell your house. You clean it out; you move on,” Shoro said. “I'm excited about the move, and I suspect other people in Worcester will be excited about moving to new space and that energy that you get from it.”
Younger talent now has the chance to move into more senior positions.
“People are starting to get excited about the opportunities, because now they're thinking them through and understand how those will potentially play out for them,” Shoro said. “We've been here for 110 years. We're not going anywhere.”
Eric Casey is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
CORRECTION: A chart accompanying an earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Mark Borenstein as having attended New England Law Boston. He actually attended Western New England University School of Law.
