ARCHSTONE LAW GROUP - Key Persons
Estate planning, estate administration, trust administration, asset protection and federal and state taxation are the central focus of Andrew Butler's practice. Drawing upon his financial and tax background, Andrew particularly enjoys working with clients and their other professional advisors to develop, implement, and monitor plans which address estate, financial, tax, long term care and retirement planning objectives and goals. Andrew has over 25 years of experience advising individuals, couples, families, and institutions. Additionally, Andrew provides counsel on elder law matters, including Medicaid/nursing home planning, as well as prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
Prior to joining the Archstone Law Group, Andrew developed his own practice, Butler & Kriegel LLP, a Wellesley law firm he founded and ran for 6 years. Previously, Andrew practiced in the Boston offices of Goodwin Procter LLP and Peabody & Arnold LLP. He also worked at the Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company and the Tax Division of the United States Justice Department in Washington, D.C. Andrew is an avid runner and has run the Boston Marathon in support of Find the Cause Breast Cancer Foundation five times.
Arlene Schuler is a corporate lawyer who counsels clients in the health care, hi-tech, and real estate industries. Arlene handles a range of business and transactional matters for clients who value high quality work and personal integrity when resolving both immediate and long-term business concerns.
With over 30 years of experience, Arlene is a practical problem solver. She often acts as outside general counsel for executives, business owners and medical and dental practices. She advises clients in connection with daily business matters, contract negotiation and drafting, commercial real estate transactions, acquisitions and sales of medical and dental practices and businesses, intellectual property and technology licensing agreements, entity formation and dissolution, employment agreements and general advice, shareholder agreements and other complex business negotiations.
Arlene was a founding shareholder of Archstone and was formerly an attorney in Boston-area firms. She also served for several years as a Staff Attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Brenda is an intellectual property lawyer with a focus on copyright and trademark law. She advises her clients on selecting, registering and protecting their trademark and copyright portfolios, negotiating software licensing contracts, drafting and reviewing publishing, licensing and consulting agreements, and creating and interpreting copyright and intellectual property policies. Brenda's clients include colleges and universities, health care organizations and companies, consumer and retail businesses, authors and publishers, and educational,
scientific and cultural organizations. Looked to as a leader in her field, Brenda regularly presents on copyright, trademark, publishing and higher education topics for the BBA, NACUA, TAA and other entities.
Brenda is actively involved in her industry, currently serving as the secretary of the Executive Council of the Textbook and Academic Authors Association (TAA). As a long-time member, she also serves on TAA's Executive, Governance and Publishing Practices committees. Brenda served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Boston Bar Association's College and University section from 2015-2021, serving as co-chair from 2016-2018. Brenda was also the co-chair of the BBA's Arts, Entertainment, & Sports Law Committee from 2006-2008. Brenda is an active member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) and the Copyright Society of the USA.
Brenda regularly provides pro bono legal services to individual artists through the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston's Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts and to the Voices and Faces Project. She is on the board of Making Music Matters, an organization committed to providing high quality instrumental music education to students in the Boston Public Schools. She is also on the board of and an active singer in the Back Bay Chorale, and serves as Treasurer for Scout Troop 1 in West Roxbury, MA.
Prior to joining Archstone Law Group as a shareholder in 2019, Brenda was a partner in her predecessor firm, Rubin & Ulrich, where she focused on copyright, trademark, publishing and higher education law. Brenda previously served as the Assistant Director of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of MA, and as a litigation associate at the firm of Palmer & Dodge, LLP (now Locke Lord).
Job Titles:
- Business Advisor
- of Counsel
- Commissioner of the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
Liz is a business advisor and disputes attorney whose practice concentrates on state and local regulatory, municipal, and licensing matters, business litigation, and business counseling. Liz advises a wide range of businesses, including large, international alcoholic beverage manufacturers and suppliers; U.S. and foreign boutique wineries; local breweries, hotels, restaurants, package stores, and brokers; and other small businesses, individuals, and nonprofits.
As a business advisor, Liz has a significant amount of experience advising her clients on strategic and tactical matters, including, for example, negotiating, drafting, and executing contracts, such as commercial lease agreements and purchase and sale agreements; obtaining a liquor license, common victualer license, and other state/municipal permits and approvals; and appearing before state courts, agencies, and local boards. In conjunction with that work, Liz advises clients on best practices so that they maintain compliance with laws and regulations. Additionally, alcoholic beverage licensees turn to Liz to defend them in actions brought under the Massachusetts franchise law, M.G.L. c. 138, § 25E.
In 2015, the Treasurer of the Commonwealth appointed Liz as a Commissioner of the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC), and Liz served in that role until 2019 when she founded Lashway Law LLC. In 2022, Lashway Law LLC became Of Counsel to Archstone Law Group. Prior to working for the ABCC, Liz spent nearly a decade as an Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Cambridge.
Liz was elected as a Wellesley Town Meeting Member in 2021 and was appointed as a Hearing Officer for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers in 2018 and in 2021 for three-year terms each. She is a Steering Committee member of the Boston Bar Association's Solo and Small Firm Committee. Liz also co-chairs Schofield Cares and is a co-founder of Wellesley Cares, both of which support families of Wellesley students in need. Liz lives in Wellesley with her husband and two children. She is a soccer coach, hockey mom, and long-distance runner (2002, 2008 Boston Marathons; numerous half marathons and road races).
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
- Retired
Eve Horwitz is one of the Boston area's preeminent specialists in corporate, regulatory, and transactional matters within the health care industry. Eve advises health care organizations, individuals, companies, and associations on operational, transactional, and strategic matters. Clients rely upon her 30+ years of in-depth industry experience to keep not only their daily operations running smoothly, but also to respond to both immediate and long-term matters.
Eve is an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation for her demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of her community, an honor bestowed on only one percent of all Massachusetts licensed attorneys. She is recognized as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer® for her healthcare expertise and was named a Top Women of the Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Eve speaks before local and national audiences, has published on a range of issues including Managed Care Contracting: A Practical Guide for Health Care Executives(Jossey-Bass Publishers), Qualifying for Tax Exemption(ExecuSense Ebook Publishers), and as co-author of the Chapter on Physicians in the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Law Manual(Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Publisher). Eve has served on the boards of publicly-traded and non-profit corporations, enabling her to bring a practical, value-driven focus to her role as advisor to both corporations and individuals.
Eve's practice at Archstone Law Group continues the practice she established at Eve Horwitz & Associates, P.C., a health law firm she founded and ran for 10 years. Previously she was a partner at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris Glovsky & Popeo in its Boston health care practice.
Eve enjoys life with her husband and two daughters, who bravely struggle to keep Eve's bad puns to a minimum.
Counseling employers, drafting employment policies, and representing companies before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Massachusetts courts are the primary focuses of Kara Johnson's law practice. Kara works with a range of businesses, including small companies, larger corporations, and both non-profit and for-profit clients. In addition, she is co-author of a chapter on Resolving Sexual Harassment Complaints, published by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, and co-wrote a law review article on medical marijuana in the workplace for the Massachusetts Bar Association's Employment Law Section Review.
In 2011 Kara joined Spruce Law LLC, which became Of Counsel to Archstone Law Group in 2015. Previously, Kara's practice was spread among employment, real estate, estate planning, and bankruptcy law. Before earning her law degree, Kara worked in the victim services field for many years, including with the Children's Advocacy Center at the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and as the Chief of Staff for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance. She has also served for several years as a Board Member for Fidelity House Human Services.
Kara received her undergraduate degree from Boston College and earned her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. She is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and before the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. From 2013 to 2015, she was named as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine. Kara enjoys music, reading, and spending time in Maine with her family.
Since 1997, clients from virtually every industry have turned to Kate for help solving problems ranging from employment disputes to theft of intellectual property. Kate works with her clients to resolve issues to their satisfaction with sound advice and if necessary, litigation. Kate has litigated everything from multimillion-dollar business disputes and tort cases to landlord/tenant and easement disputes. She has tried numerous cases to final verdict in the state and federal courts and argued on appeal in the appellate courts. Kate is admitted to practice in both Massachusetts and Maine.
Lori Yarvis is a corporate lawyer whose practice focuses on asset and stock purchases and sales, buy/sell agreements, commercial leases, shareholder and operating agreements, contracts and business agreements, business transactions and transitions, and asset protection and risk management. Lori's client businesses range from medical, dental, veterinary and other health care practices and providers, to food and hospitality industry companies, to professional services companies, among others. Lori is named to the Best Lawyers in America® list in the area of Health Care Law as well as the Super Lawyers list for Business & Corporate law.
With 30 + years' experience working with businesses, Lori brings a practical, creative and business-minded approach to solving problems and addressing issues. She also encourages and assists clients to be proactive-helping them to implement best practices while achieving their business goals and to manage growth while staying legally compliant. She is particularly effective at integrating with the management team of her client businesses, including family businesses, and collaborating and strategizing with her clients' team of professional advisors.
Lori joined Archstone Law Group in 2011, continuing the business law practice she developed on her own, first in New York City, and then, after moving to Newton, Massachusetts in 2002, at Schlesinger and Buchbinder, LLP. Lori practiced as a corporate and transactional attorney in the New York City office of Winston & Strawn LLP and is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York. Lori has been practicing yoga for many years and will continue running as long as her knees hold out.
Giving compliance-based advice while keeping an eye trained on business realities is the hallmark of Tracey's employment law practice. Tracey provides counseling and training to employers to help keep them out of the courtroom, and when that can't be avoided, she represents them in litigation. Tracey also conducts and oversees workplace investigations into a variety of misconduct allegations, including sexual harassment, discriminatory practices, and bullying behavior.
Tracey represents a wide variety of clients involved in health care (including medical and dental practices), technology, renewable energy, life sciences, and professional services (including private equity, architecture, marketing and law firms). Tracey has over 20 years' employment law experience, and enjoys her work most when she helps her clients "do the right thing" for their employees, which is often what the law requires anyway.
Tracey began her legal career in the Labor and Employment Department at Foley Hoag LLP, and then served as in-house Employment Counsel for an internet company in Cambridge. In 2005, she started her own employment law practice, and in 2015 her firm, Spruce Law LLC, became Of Counsel to Archstone Law Group. Tracey graduated from Boston College Law School, summa cum laude and from Middlebury College, cum laude. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 2009, she was named as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers magazine named her a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Tracey enjoys reading, cooking, yoga, and keeping up with her husband and two children on the ski slopes of Vermont.
Education
B.A., Dickinson College (cum laude)
J.D., Suffolk University Law School
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Brenda Ulrich Co - Author Article on Court Certifying Class of Textbook Authors in a Class Action
Zick Rubin has practiced publishing and media, copyright, trademark, and higher education law for the past 30 years. He drafts and negotiates publishing, licensing, and collaboration agreements, advises educational, scientific, and cultural organizations on intellectual property issues, devises strategies for copyright and trademark protection, and helps his clients to resolve intellectual property disputes. A former psychology professor at Harvard and Brandeis Universities, Zick is a textbook and trade book author. He is an active member of the National Association of College and University Lawyers (NACUA) and the Text and Academic Authors Association.
Zick has been recognized for the past 17 years as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the field of intellectual property and has been listed in Boston Magazine as one of Boston's five best intellectual property lawyers. Before joining the Archstone Law Group in 2019, Zick was a partner in the law firm of Rubin & Ulrich, LLC. Before that, Zick was a member of the litigation and business law departments of the Boston law firms Palmer & Dodge and Hill & Barlow.
Zick received a B.A. from Yale University, a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Levin H. Campbell, then Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Zick's columns on the lighter side of the law are compiled in his book How the Internet Tried to Kill Me - and Other Startling Pieces. For a free copy, send an email to Zick at zrubin@archstonelaw.com.