Steinberg, Jessica A.

Michael Stefanilo, Jr. is an associate at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten, LLP. He joined the firm as an associate in the fall of 2012 after having spent the summer of 2011 and winter of 2011-2012 working at BHPK as a law student.  He graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in May 2012 and was recently admitted to the bar in November 2012.

Practice Areas 

Mr. Stefanilo represents both plaintiffs and defendants.  He concentrates in the areas of employment, personal injury, contract, property damage and civil rights claims.  Additionally, he represents clients, including municipalities, in claims brought pursuant to the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act and the Massachusetts and United States Civil Rights Acts.

Prior Experience 

Prior to joining BHPK, Mr. Stefanilo worked as a law clerk for GLAD ("Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders"), assisting with various legal issues facing the LGBT community, including its high-profile challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.  Mr. Stefanilo also spent three months clerking for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Awards and Honors

As a second-year law student, Mr. Stefanilo was awarded first-place in the Annual Michael Greenberg Law Student Writing Competition, a national writing competition focusing specifically on LGBT issues in the law. His award-winning piece, Identity Interrupted: The Parental Notification Requirement of the Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Law, was published in the spring of 2012 in the Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality, 21 Tul. J. L. & Sexuality 125. 

Recently, Mr. Stefanilo authored another article, titled If You Can Play . . . You Can Play—An Exploration of the Current Culture Surrounding Gay Athletes in Professional Sports with a Particular Focus on Apilado v. NAGAAA.  His article was published in the Sports Lawyers Journal in April of 2013, 20 Sports Law. J. 21. 

Education

Mr. Stefanilo is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Boston College.  In May 2012, he graduated from Northeastern University School of Law where, after serving as both a staff and senior staff member, he was selected to the position of Managing Editor of the Northeastern University Law Journal for 2011-2012.  He was also an active member of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, serving two terms on the Board as a student representative from 2009-2011, and the National LGBT Bar Association, where he served a yearlong term on the organization's Law Student Congress in 2010-2011.  Additionally, as an upper-level student, he served as a teaching assistant for the Legal Research and Writing Program.