Springfield's Nicolai included in 'The Best Lawyers in America'

SPRINGFIELD A peer review survey of the nation's top attorneys selected Atty. Paul Nicolai for inclusion in the 25th anniversary edition of "The Best Lawyers in America" for 2008. The international publication will cite him in the field of Commercial Litigation, one of only four Springfield attorneys in that category, and one of only 73 statewide.

More than two million confidential evaluations by the country's top attorneys help formulate the lists for "The Best Lawyers in America." As an advertisement-free publication that requires no fee for listing, the reference work is considered a definitive guide to legal excellence in North America.

Nicolai founded Nicolai Law Group in 1988 after serving as Company Counsel and Assistant Clerk for Friendly Ice Cream Corporation. He has participated in a number of reported decisions, most recently Blockel v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc. in the First Circuit. He was recently named a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the ABA/BNA Lawyer's Manual on Professional Conduct a committee of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, and serves on multiple committees of the Business Law Section and the Center for Professional Responsibility. He has acted as arbitrator and mediator for approximately 550 cases as part of a class action settlement for Prudential policyholders, and as panel member or panel chair in many fee dispute arbitrations as a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Fee Arbitration Panel and panels of the American Arbitration Association, National Arbitration Forum and the American Dispute Resolution Center. As a member of the American Arbitration Association Large, Complex Case panel, he hears and decides complex commercial and intellectual property cases.

A former member of the Massachusetts Bar Association House of Delegates and the Section Council of the MBA Law Practice Management Section, Nicolai now serves as chair of the MBA Fee Arbitration Board, the entity which creates policy and rules for arbitrating disputes between lawyers and their clients. He also co-chaired the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Case Management and ADR Committee as part of the Reinventing Justice Task Force.

An active participant in local and regional affairs, Nicolai is a board member of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts and its Infrastructure Committee as well as a member of the Regional Technology Corporation's Steering Committee. His involvement in economic development activities in Western Massachusetts has spanned decades, including the creation and operation of the Springfield Enterprise Center and its Advisory Board, VCI Venture Forum, the Western Massachusetts Software Association, the Western Massachusetts Technology Business Council, the Technology Enterprise Council and the Regional Technology Corporation. He has also advised dozens of startup companies throughout the Northeast.

Understanding the important role of education in economic development, Nicolai has assisted the Springfield School Department as a member of its Technology Advisory Committee and its Human Resources Executive Director Screening and Selection Committee. He was also a director, vice-president and president of the Pioneer Valley Montessori Society, Inc.

Nicolai uses his professional credentials to improve the community as a member of both the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness, where he and other lawyers at Nicolai Law Group, P.C. provide pro bono legal advice for charitable organizations involved with those issues.

A frequent author and presenter on issues of business law, Nicolai has published in national legal journals and contributed to a recent report on internet legal issues for the American Bar Association Section on Intellectual Property Law. His professional education activities include training arbitrators and lawyers for various professional associations as well as contributing several chapters to the most recent edition of "Client Fees & Funds," a reference book for Massachusetts lawyers published by the Massachusetts Bar Association.

A graduate of American International College, Nicolai earned his JD degree from Western New England College School of Law and holds certificates from Harvard University Law School, among others.

The attorneys of Nicolai Law Group, P.C. represent businesses and their owners in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Washington, D.C. Their philosophy emphasizes preventive law to maximize business results for their customers through the appropriate use of professional talent. Nicolai Law Group prides itself on prompt and responsive customer service that gets the job done.