Falk, Gregory P.

Jerome (Jerry) Facher is a senior counsel in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department. He is former chair of Hale and Dorr’s Litigation Department.

Practice

Mr. Facher’s practice has been concentrated in trials and appeals before state and federal courts in Massachusetts and other states. He has focused on large-scale commercial litigation in the fields of securities, antitrust, contracts, intellectual property and product liability. He has represented diverse corporate and individual clients in a wide variety of litigation matters.

Trials in which Mr. Facher has successfully represented clients include:

• Defense of a major railroad in one of the longest antitrust trials in Massachusetts federal courts
• Representation of a major conglomerate in a five-month trial, which charged the company with deaths and severe injuries allegedly resulting from contamination of two public drinking wells in Woburn, Massachusetts
• Defense of a large securities investment and insurance organization in a nine-month arbitration concerning a complicated bond issue transaction

Professional Activities

From 1977 to 1979, Mr. Facher served on the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Commission, and in 1980, he was appointed by President Carter as chairman of the First Circuit Nominating Commission. He is chairman of the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure and a member of the Academic Committee of the Flaschner Judicial Institute. On two occasions, Mr. Facher has been appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court as special counsel to the Judicial Conduct Commission to investigate instances of judicial misconduct. In 1993, Mr. Facher served as reporter for the first ever Conference of the Superior Court Bench and the trial bar on civil procedures and trials. He produced a final report widely republished, and used by the bench and bar as a basis for further discussion and action.

Mr. Facher has been an academic visitor at New College, Oxford University, during the Trinity term. He was a lecturer at Harvard Law School, teaching a course in trial practice for 29 years, and is the author of a number of articles on Massachusetts practice and procedure. He has been a frequent lecturer and seminar participant before various legal organizations on matters relating to trial practice, evidence, procedure, and the continuing education and training of lawyers. He is the author and teacher of a four-part video series for the Boston Bar Association entitled “Excellence in The Courtroom.” Mr. Facher also has lectured at numerous law schools in the United States about the lawsuit and events portrayed in the book and movie, A Civil Action, concerning a case in which he was the successful defense counsel for one of the defendants.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Facher was assistant to the department counselor in the Office of the Secretary of the Army, and later served in Paris as US delegate to NATO's Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Facher is a member of the American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations.

Honors and Awards

Mr. Facher is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

In 2000, Mr. Facher was commencement speaker at Washington and Lee University School of Law. He is the recipient of the James Draper St. Clair Award for Professional Excellence and was the first recipient of the Jerome P. Facher Award for Excellence in Training.

In 1999, Mr. Facher was named one of Harvard Law School's Distinguished Alumni Speakers. In 2001, he was designated as a Distinguished Lecturer by the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General.