Dennis P. Derrick is a seasoned attorney with an established appellate practice in Massachusetts since 1977. He is licensed to practice law in both Massachusetts and Connecticut and is a Member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, Massachusetts, Connecticut and the federal courts of the First Circuit, the Second Circuit as well as the Districts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Besides preparing Petitions for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court and Briefs for amicus curiae in that Court since 1980, Mr. Derrick has authored the prevailing brief in over 260 appeals in both state and federal court since 1977, including 63 reversals of the lower court judgment. Many of these decisions reflect important statements of the substantive law and have addressed emerging issues in family law, land use regulation, civil procedure, tort law, commercial law and criminal law. Most of those decisions are reflected in his Appellate Track Record below.

Mr. Derrick received his bachelor's degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and is an honors graduate of Suffolk University Law School in Boston. While in law school, he served as Note Editor of the Law Review and authored several Notes and Case Comments for that journal as well as inaugurating independent student newspapers at the law school.

After serving as law clerk for United States District Judge Robert C. Zampano in New Haven, Connecticut, Mr. Derrick entered private practice in New Haven and Boston, representing both plaintiffs in civil litigation and defendants in medical malpractice actions as well as criminal prosecutions. Since 1977, he has concentrated his practice in the preparation of appeals and appellate briefs in both State and federal court together with the preparation of Petitions for Certiorari and Amicus Curiae Briefs in the United States Supreme Court.

Some highlights of Mr. Derrick's appellate participation include:

–representing the petitioner-attorney in Elaine Boyd v. Roy Wisdom et al., U.S. Supreme Court No. 05-603, where the petitioner was punished with substantial financial sanctions and referred for disciplinary proceedings for bringing a fair housing claim in federal district court. On the strength of the petition for certiorari which challenged the due process deprivations incident to the proceedings, a settlement in favor of the petitioner was reached within a week of the Supreme Court's scheduled vote on the petition. The disciplinary proceedings were dismissed as well on the strength of the petition.

-representing the petitioner and authoring the prevailing petition for certiorari in Blaisdell v. City of Rochester, 544 U.S. ___(2005), where the United States Supreme Court GRANTED the petition, VACATED the judgment below and REMANDED the case to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of whether the doctrine of federal jurisdiction expressed in Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413(1923) and District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462(1983), was wrongly applied in order to deprive the petitioner of a trial on his civil rights claims in federal court.

-representing the grandfather and authoring the prevailing Brief in Blixt v. Blixt, 437 Mass. 649 (2002), which established the constitutionality of the grandparent visitation statue (G.L.c. 119, Section 39D). The decision, reported on the Boston Globe's front page of September 10, 2002, was selected by Lawyers Weekly as the second most important opinion of 2002. (See Lawyers Weekly, January 6, 2003). Blixt's sense of the evolving nature of the family in the twenty-first century provided a crucial part of the rationale for the High Court's recognition of same-sex marriage in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 440 Mass. 309 (2003).

-preparing an interlocutory appeal on behalf of Thomas Junta incident to the "Hockey Dad" criminal prosecution, Commonwealth v. Junta, Middlesex Superior Court Docket No. 2000-1000, selected by Lawyers Weekly as one of the 30 most memorable cases of the last 30 years. (See Lawyers Weekly, September 16, 2002).

-authoring the prevailing Brief on behalf of the father in Custody of Vaughn, 422 Mass. 590 (1996), which established the need for assessing domestic violence by both parents when making child custody determinations.

-authoring Briefs in MacDougall v. Acres, 427 Mass. 363 (1998), Hillier v. Hillier, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 486 (1996), Delk v. Gonzales, 421 Mass. 525 (1995), and Custody of Brandon, 407 Mass. 1 (1990), all seminal decisions in the law of interjurisdictional child custody disputes.

-authoring the prevailing Brief in Bouchie v. Murray, 376 Mass. 524(1978), establishing the inadmissibility of "totem-pole" hearsay evidence in hospital and medical records.

-authoring the prevailing Brief in Costello v. Pet, Inc., 17 Mass. App, Ct. 382(1984), which reaffirmed the fundamental rules of offer and acceptance in contrat law.

-authoring the prevailing Brief in Barry v. Barry, 409 Mass. 727(1991), which established the time limits within which an ex-spouse may seek the modification of an alimony award.

-authoring the prevailing Brief in Boudreau v. Landry, 404 Mass. 528(1989), holding that a minor plaintiff's insanity would toll the running of the statute of limitations for bringing a medical malpractice action.

–authoring Briefs in Sampson v. Sampson, 62 Mass. App. Ct. 366(2004), Boulter-Hedley v. Boulter, 429 Mass. 808(1999); Beaulieu v, Beaulieu, 46 Mass. App. Ct. 850(1999); Smith-Clarke v. Clarke, 44 Mass. App. Ct. 404(1998); Savides v. Savides, 400 Mass. 250(1987); Fugere v. Fugere, 24 Mass. App. Ct. 758(1987); Duro v. Duro, 392 Mass. 574(1984); Belsky v. Belsky, 9 Mass. App. Ct. 852(1980); and the Kennedy trilogy of appeals, all important precedents in family law.

–authoring the appellants' Briefs in Massand v. MMJUA, 420 Mass. 690(1995) and Daniels v. Board of Registration in Medicine, 418 Mass. 380(1994), both noteworthy decisions addressing the process constitutionally due doctors when fixing malpractice insurance rates or in license revocation proceedings.