Maureen McBrien

Maureen is a seasoned Massachusetts family law practitioner. Her career started as a law clerk in the Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts followed by eight years in the domestic relations department at Todd & Weld LLP in Boston. Maureen then joined as a partner the firm that became Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey LLP – a divorce and family law firm in Newton, MA that primarily represents high net worth individuals through their divorces and related matters.

Maureen has significant experience at both the trial and appellate levels in a vast array of family law matters. She has particular expertise in alimony cases, addressing the numerous arguments and issues that have arisen since alimony reform was enacted in 2012. She also has niche expertise in family law related litigation that arises from surrogacy and assisted reproduction.

Maureen was elected a Rising Star by Boston Magazine each and every year from 2007 through 2014 and has been elected as a Super Lawyer each year since 2015. She is the co-author of Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science and is the co-author of the 4th Edition of Massachusetts Practice – Family Law and Practice. She is on the publications board for the family law section of the American Bar Association. Maureen has published several articles and has been quoted on numerous occasions in the Wall Street Journal and other periodicals. She has served as a panelist for legal education programs for the ABA, MCLE, BBA, the MBA and for the Diane Rehm show on NPR. She is a legal consultant to author Jodi Picoult.

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

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