In this 10th annual issue, we highlight 15 "rising stars" — Massachusetts lawyers who have been members of the bar for 10 years or less, but who have already distinguished themselves in some manner and appear poised for even greater things. This year, Lawyers Weekly received more nominations for Up & Coming Lawyers than ever before, many of them truly impressive. While that made the selection process very difficult, it also means that the state has a great crop of lawyers for us to salute this year and in the years to come.
"My clients are always underdogs," notes Daniel C. Hill.
That's because Hill has created a specialized practice representing municipalities and abutters looking to fight developments created under Chapter 40B.
The statute gives developers broad rights to bypass local permitting processes in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the housing is considered "affordable," if the developers' projects include such housing.
And although Hill has spent plenty of time in the courtroom, he says his greatest victories often come at the negotiating table before he ever reaches the courthouse steps.
Hill points to a settlement he helped broker over a project that had been proposed in the Town of Stoneham. The units were still built, but the developer eventually "reduced the density and made it more appropriate for a neighborhood," he says. While it was a hard-fought battle, Hill says the settlement "was better than fighting this thing in court" and, in the end, the project was "tastefully done."
In fact, Hill has posted photos of the Stoneham development on www.40blaw.com, the website he oversees for the law firm of Anderson & Kreiger, where he is a senior associate.
The site provides regular updates on 40B-related legal issues. "There's not a lot of resources for my clients to understand what the law is about and keep up to date on legal developments," says Hill. "There are always new cases and new legislative proposals. So I thought it'd be a great service to my clients to have a website where we could update it on a daily or weekly basis," he says, noting that the site has proven to be an effective marketing tool.
Hill currently is representing clients in more than 15 separate 40B-related matters. He says 40B makes up about 70 percent of his practice, with municipalities accounting for the remaining third.
But Hill doesn't just counsel his clients on the ins and outs of 40B. The lifelong political junkie — a photo of former presidential running mates John Kerry and John Edwards hangs above his desk — has also taken an active interest in speaking out on proposed legislation that could change the law.
Most recently, he testified at the State House about 40B reform legislation that he feared would have "tipped the balance. I testified that the provisions that would have provided for severe bond requirements on abutters who appeal 40B projects went too far," he says.
Hill is also part of a small working group trying to create an affording housing covenant.
"It would operate the way mortgage covenants operate," he explains. "It would give towns the opportunity to foreclose on a 40B unit if there is a violation — for instance, if someone wins a lottery for affordable housing, and then they rent out the unit. And it would unify the way affordable housing restrictions are used. The point of 40B was to prod towns into building affordable housing; they need the rest of the tools."
Hill admits that his clients often have to fight the perception that their opposition to 40B is driven by a "Not in My Backyard," or NIMBY, philosophy.
To that extent, Hill has advocated affordable housing trust funds, which would allow municipalities to pool monies from grants and mitigation fees and use it to quickly take advantage of real-estate opportunities that would provide for affordable housing developments.
With his first position out of law school involving real-estate work, Hill never intended to become a 40B authority.
"They needed someone to review affordable housing restrictions, so I became an expert in those documents," he says. "40B started blossoming in 2001. I was in the right place at the right time."
He branched out from permitting to transactions to litigation, a mix he thinks has made his practice successful.
"You've got attorneys who are the best litigators, or the best at transactional [work], or the best at permitting. I'm not the best in any of those, but I am good at all of them."
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AGE: 32
GRADUATED: Northeastern University School of Law, 1999
POSITION: Senior associate, Anderson & Kreiger, Cambridge
Biggest obstacle he’s had to overcome: “Balancing my personal life with the pressures of work.”
One thing about him that might surprise people: “People think I’m opposed to affordable housing. I actually think we need a lot more. We just need to reform the way we permit it.”
August 28, 2006
