Higgins, William R.

Jocelyn Sedney has been a partner at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten, LLP for over fifteen years. She has over twenty years of experience litigating on behalf of individuals, businesses and insurance companies.  She practices in both trial and appellate courts in Massachusetts as well as in the First Circuit federal courts.  She began her practice in Alaska, trying and arguing cases in the state and federal trial courts, and arguing cases before the appellate courts of both Alaska and the Ninth Circuit. 

Practice Areas

Ms. Sedney's practice areas include toxic tort litigation, insurance coverage, professional malpractice, employment law, fire loss litigation, product liability (including class actions), construction litigation, corporate litigation counsel, and civil recovery for sexual assault victims. 

Toxic Torts: Ms. Sedney continues to represent clients in cases involving claims of exposure to lead-based paint, pesticides, molds, asbestos and other toxic substances. 

Insurance Coverage/Bad Faith: Ms. Sedney advises insurers as well as individuals and businesses on issues related to insurance coverage and litigates on behalf of both as well. She also responds to and brings bad faith litigation on behalf of insurers. She has successfully defended insurers at trial in bad faith litigation as well as advised on best practices in this area. 

Professional Malpractice: Ms. Sedney represents professionals who are accused of wrongdoing.  She has years of experience representing lawyers as well as other professionals including real estate agents, insurance agents and accountants.

Fire Loss Litigation: Ms. Sedney is also involved in representing parties in some of the most devastating fire loss cases in the Commonwealth.  These cases have involved large property loss and catastrophic personal injuries as well as wrongful death claims.  She represents property owners, contractors and installers of fire protections systems, including, but not limited to alarm, sprinkler, and testing companies. Ms. Sedney often coordinates cause and origin investigations, pre-litigation investigations and early retention of experts in an effort to provide clients with the best possible defense should litigation ensue.

Construction Litigation: Ms. Sedney continues to represent contractors in construction litigation involving alleged construction defects, indemnification issues and breach of contract litigation. Her clients typically include d/b/a's, corporations and individuals. The cases in which she has been involved include issues related to construction of single-family homes, remodeling/renovation of single-family homes to condominium buildings as well as commercial buildings.

Corporate Litigation Counsel: Ms. Sedney has acted as outside corporate litigation counsel in a variety of contexts including wrongful death litigation, breach of contract claims, alleged asbestos exposure, general tort litigation, product liability and mass tort litigation.

Sexual Assault Civil Recovery: Ms. Sedney is also involved in working with victims of sexual assault/discrimination to obtain civil recovery.  She focuses on advocacy for mentally ill victims of sexual assault.  Ms. Sedney represented a young girl who was awarded $2.5 million after being sexually assaulted by a counselor at a residential mental health treatment facility.  Ms. Sedney sought a court order to obtain a DNA sample from the counselor to establish paternity.  She successfully argued the matter before the Supreme Judicial Court, which held that DNA testing could be compelled in civil lawsuits.  The case resulted in a published opinion, Doe v. Senechal, 725 N.E.2d 225 (Mass. 2000).

Prior Experience

Before joining BHPK in 1995 at the inception of the firm, Ms. Sedney was a partner with the Boston firm of Morrison, Mahoney and Miller, where she concentrated on the defense of claims involving lead paint and other toxic torts, and product liability.  Ms. Sedney was previously associated with the firm of Ely, Guess and Rudd in Anchorage, Alaska where she represented clients in bankruptcy matters, civil litigation and employment litigation. She represented a number of insureds through insurance companies and also handled civil litigation for companies involved in oil production on the North Slope. Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Sedney worked in the mental health field.

Teaching and Publications

Ms. Sedney has served as an instructor in premises liability and lead paint liability for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) and various community groups. She has presented to employers and employees as well as corporations and individuals on risk management issues, which she is uniquely qualified to do as a result of the range of her experiences in litigation practice. She is the co-author, along with fellow partner Richard Brody, of The Law of Premises Liability in Massachusetts.

Education

Ms. Sedney graduated from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland and received her law degree from the University of Denver College of Law in 1985.

Professional and Community Affiliations

Ms. Sedney is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Alaska, the United States District Court for the Districts of Massachusetts and Alaska, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.  She belongs to the Massachusetts Bar Association and the American Bar Association.  She is also a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Ms. Sedney has achieved an AV© Preeminent Rating from Martindale Hubble for over ten years, and has been named a "Super Lawyer" and one of the Top Women Attorneys in Massachusetts. In addition to her affiliations within the legal field, Ms. Sedney is also actively involved in her community through both her neighborhood association and other civic groups.