Attorneys
Craig A. Ciechanowski, Partner
BIO
Attorney Craig A. Ciechanowski focuses his practice in the areas of transactional and general business matters, as well as commercial land use and development.
He represents a wide variety of businesses, including large corporations, family-owned businesses, franchise owners, venture capital-backed and privately funded startups, limited liability companies, professional corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorships. Craig assists business owners and entrepreneurs in initial startup, mergers, acquisitions, sales and financing. In addition, he provides counsel and guidance on daily business issues, including employment, regulatory compliance, governance and contract issues.
Craig frequently represents clients before municipal and state boards in connection with the development and leasing of complex real estate projects, including multi-use commercial buildings, retail centers, office buildings and industrial and warehouse facilities. In addition, he represents institutional lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions, as well as foreclosures and workouts.
Craig is presently a member of the Board of Directors of The League School of Greater Boston, a leading educator of children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder and Asperger syndrome, where from 2008 through 2013 he served as President and Chairman of the Board. He is corporator of Middlesex Savings Bank. He is a former president of the Walpole Youth Lacrosse League and a former chairman of the Town of Walpole Conservation Commission.
Craig was recently named a Massachusetts “Super Lawyer” by his peers.
Education
- Northeastern University Law School (1987)
- State University of New York at Buffalo (1984)
Bar Memberships
- Massachusetts (1987)
Lori Atkins Drayton, Partner
BIO
Named within the “Top 50 Women of Law” by Lawyers Weekly and a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers, Lori Atkins Drayton is a skilled trial attorney. She has conducted over 100 civil and criminal trials in Housing, Superior, District and Juvenile Courts through Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. She specializes in housing law and landlord tenant litigation.
Lori represents national management companies and large landlords in summary process cases, civil actions and complex litigation involving affordable, subsidized and market housing. She has litigated thousands of landlord tenant cases throughout every Housing Court in Massachusetts on issues of lead paint, mold, smoking, bedbug issues, retaliation, implied warranty of habitability, covenant of quiet enjoyment, sanitary code enforcement, unauthorized occupant and/or pet, non- payment of rent, security deposits, breach of contract and class actions disputes. Lori also regularly removes tenants from multi-family properties under G.L. c. 139 §19 as a result of violent crimes, possession of firearms or illegal drugs. She is well-versed in fair housing regulations, reasonable accommodation requirements and housing discrimination claims. Lori appears in court daily to mediate cases as well as to conduct substantive motions and trials in a high-volume housing law practice.
Prior to transitioning to private practice, Lori was an Assistant District Attorney with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. She was responsible for all phases of criminal prosecution in five district courts throughout the Commonwealth. Lori prosecuted hundreds of juvenile and adult matters. She was also the Assistant District Attorney in charge of the drug court and substance abuse rehabilitation initiatives in Boston, Charlestown and Chelsea.
Lori is a Council Member of the Norfolk County Bar Association and runs the Lawyer for the Day program for the Metro South Housing Court in Canton. She is an active member of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island Bar Associations.
Education
- Cornell University, 2019
- Suffolk University Law School, 2004
- Suffolk University, magna cum laude, 2001
Bar Memberships
- Massachusetts (2005)
- Rhode Island (2011)
- New Hampshire (2012)
- United States District Court of Massachusetts (2012)
