Maureen McBrien is a founding partner at Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey, LLP, a family law firm in Needham, Massachusetts. She focuses her practice on all aspects of family law, and prides herself in being a strong and reasonable advocate who can move a case forward in whatever fashion is appropriate depending on the facts and circumstances of the case. She is an advocate of private arbitration of family law disputes for the efficiency, privacy and convenience of all involved. Maureen enjoys writing and speaking engagements. She also handles family law related appeals. The firm has a great team of lawyers, paralegals and staff who provide a high level of service to each and every client.
Maureen is the co-author of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) book entitled Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science and acts as a consultant on family law related issues that arise from the use of assisted reproductive technology. She the co-author of Thomson Reuters 4th Edition of Massachusetts Practice – Family Law and Practice. She is also the author of the Massachusetts family law forms for Lexis Practical Guidance. She is on the ABA’s family law section’s publications board and is also a member of the family law section council. She is a graduate of Gettysburg College where she was a captain of the soccer team. She is also a graduate of Suffolk University Law School. She has been nominated as a Super Lawyer each and every year since 2015 and was named Top Women of Law in 2020 by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Maureen has three very active children. She enjoys playing sports including soccer, tennis and golf. She doesn’t mind running, but only when chasing a ball. Maureen also enjoys music, cooking and travel and is proud of her Irish heritage
Education
- Suffolk University Law School, JD, cum laude, 2003
- Gettysburg College, BA, cum laude, 2000
Publications / Speaking Engagements
- Maureen McBrien & Bruce Hale, Assisted Reproductive Technology, Third Edition, (400 pages), American Bar Association (Aug 2018).
- Maureen McBrien, ‘Public’ hearing to amend alimony reform slides by, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (3/31/16).
- Maureen McBrien, SJC clarifies debate on applicability of alimony reform, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2/12/15).
- Charles P. Kindregan, Jr. & Maureen McBrien, A Look at Embryos in Divorce, Family Lawyer Magazine, available at http://familylawyermagazine.com/articles/a-look-at-embryos-in-divorce (July 10, 2013).
- Charles P. Kindregan, Jr., Maureen McBrien & Patricia A. Kindregan, Family Law and Practice with Forms Vols. 1, 2, 2A, and 3, Mass. Prac. Ser. (4d ed.) (2013).
- Maureen McBrien, The Impact of cohabitation under Alimony Reform Act, 40 Mass. Lawyer’s Weekly 39 (April 30, 2012); Maureen McBrien, The Impact of Cohabitation Under the Alimony Reform Act of 2011, 30 Mass. Fam. L. J. 39 (May/June 2012).
- Diane S. Hinson & Maureen McBrien, Surrogacy Across America, Family Advocate, Vol. 34, No. 2 at pg. 32 (Fall 2011).
- Charles P. Kindregan, Jr. & Maureen McBrien, Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science, Second Edition, (447 pages), American Bar Association (December 2010).
- Charles P. Kindregan, Jr. & Maureen McBrien, Posthumous Reproduction, 39 Fam. L.Q. 579 (Fall 2005).
- Charles P. Kindregan, Jr. & Maureen McBrien, Embryo Donation: Unresolved Legal Issues in the Transfer of Surplus Cryopreserved Embryos, 49 Vill. L. Rev. 169 (2004).
- Panelist, Fast & Furious – Court Curveballs, Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, 2018 Annual Meeting (May 2, 2018).
- Panelist, State of the ART – Recent U.S. Cases on Third-Party Assisted Reproduction, American Bar Association Section of Family Law, 2017 Spring CLE Conference (May 5, 2017).
- Speaker, What Every Family Law Judges Needs to Know About Assisted Reproductive Technology, Rhode Island Family Court Judicial Conference (October 6, 2016).
- Panelist, Alimony Reform on Appeal, Social Law Library (June 11, 2015).
- Program Co-Chair, Trends in Legal Custody, Massachusetts Bar Association (May 20, 2015).
- Panelist, U.S. ART Legislative Update and Advocacy Tips, American Bar Association Section of Family Law, 2015 Spring CLE Conference (May 7, 2015).
- Panelist, An Alimony Roundtable, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers / Massachusetts Bar Association (March 12, 2015).
- Panelist, Family Law Financial Forum 2014, MCLE (May 30, 2014).
- Panelist, Intersection Between Child Support and Alimony, Massachusetts Bar Association Annual Family Law Conference (November 2013).
- Panelist, Facing Complex Issues in Family Court, Macaronis Institute for Trial & Appellate Advocacy, Suffolk University Law School (October 2013).
- Program Co-Chair, Appellate Issues Under the Alimony Reform Act, Massachusetts Bar Association (May 13, 2013).
- Panelist, International ART Case Law Update: Where Are They and How Does it Affect our Clients?, American Bar Association Section of Family Law, 2013 Spring CLE Conference (April 19, 2013).
- Panelist, Frozen Assets? The legal and ethical implications of selling sperm, eggs, embryos and stem cells, 11th Annual Meeting of the New England Fertility Society (Portsmouth, NH, April 27, 2013).
- Panelist, In-Vitro Fertilization, Custody Rights and Family Law, Lawyer2Lawyer, Legal Talk Network, available at http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/2012/03/in-vitro-fertilization-custody-rights-and-family-law/ (March 15, 2012).
- Panelist, Latest Developments in Alimony, Advanced Legal Studies, Suffolk University Law School (September 2011).
- Panelist, Massachusetts Bar Association Annual Family Law Conference, State of the A.R.T.: The Law in the Age of Assisted Reproductive Technology (November 2010).
- Lecturer, The Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Lecture series – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Boston IVF, Posthumous Reproduction (October 2010).
- Featured speaker on fertility’s legal issues on the nationally syndicated Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio (August 2010).
- Panelist, Harvard Ethics Consortium, Division of Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School, Posthumous Reproduction (October 2009).
- Panelist, American Bar Association Section of Family Law, Who’s Your Daddy (or Mommy?): A Fifty-State Survey of ART Law in America (April 2009).
- Panelist, Massachusetts General Hospital, ObGyn Grand Rounds, Case Study: A request for oocyte retrieval from a 34-year-old woman with anoxic brain injury (December 2008).
- Panelist, Massachusetts General Hospital, ObGyn Grand Rounds, Legal Issues Involving Assisted Reproductive Technologies (March 2007).
Honors / Awards
- Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2015-2018)
- Massachusetts Rising Stars (2007-2014)
Memberships
- American Bar Association – Family Law Section Publications Board Member
- The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
- Massachusetts Bar Association – Family Law Section