Brothers, Bruce J.

Paul Brountas joined Hale and Dorr, the predecessor of WilmerHale, in 1960. He became a partner in 1968 and served as senior counsel to the firm from 2003 until his retirement in 2005. At Hale and Dorr, Mr. Brountas was chairman of the Corporate Department, chairman of the Executive Committee and chairman of the firm's Strategic Planning Task Force.

Practice

While his practice encompassed most areas of corporate and securities laws, Mr. Brountas also focused on:

• Start-up and emerging growth companies
• Venture capital transactions and IPOs
• Public and private corporate financings
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Corporate governance

His clients have looked to him not only for legal advice, but also for his judgment as a business counselor and problem solver.

Professional Activities

Mr. Brountas was a frequent lecturer and panelist at various professional and trade association programs, ranging from venture capital financings, joint ventures, and public offerings to mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and duties and responsibilities of directors. For several years, he also served as a guest presenter at Harvard Business School’s course on entrepreneurial management.

In 1987 and 1988, Mr. Brountas served as National Chairman of the Committee to Elect Michael S. Dukakis President of the United States, and in 1968 he served as a campaign aide to Senator Edmund Muskie during the Humphrey-Muskie presidential campaign.

Mr. Brountas has an extensive record of public service, including service as a director of the Massachusetts Centers of Excellence Corporation; corporate member of Children's Hospital Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Museum of Science and Newton-Wellesley Hospital. He has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bowdoin College, and as an overseer and president of the Board of Overseers of Bowdoin College. He has also served as a member and former chairman of the Marshall Scholars Selection Committee New England Region, a member and chairman of the Weston (Massachusetts) Planning Board, chairman of the Metropolitan Boston Citizens' Coalition for Cleaner Air, and as director of the Association of Marshall Scholars and Alumni. From 1956 to 1958, he served as a lieutenant in the US Army in France.

Honors and Awards

Mr. Brountas earned a reputation as one of the nation’s leading high-technology lawyers. The National Law Journal selected him as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” Boston Magazine named him one of “Boston’s 100 Most Powerful People,” and Electronic Business magazine named him one of the top 10 high-technology lawyers in the United States. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America and in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. In addition, Mr. Brountas has also been named a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer" in the 2006 issue of Boston Magazine. He is also among a selective list of lawyers named to BTI Consulting Groups's 2009 "Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms."

Publications

Mr. Brountas is the author of Boardroom Excellence: A Common Sense Perspective on Corporate Governance, published by Hale and Dorr LLP in 2003 and by a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons in 2004, and available at amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders and other notable bookstores. He is also the author of "Counseling the Public Company,” published as part of Massachusetts Business Lawyering by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.