Robert R. Pierce
Robert R. Pierce
   Robert R. Pierce
   Email: email bob

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Practice Areas
  • Litigation
  • Insurance Defense
  • Personal Injury
  • Intellectual Property Law


Bob Pierce is a shareholder in Pierce & Mandell, P.C. His practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance defense and personal injury, and intellectual property protection and litigation. Bob has extensive experience in trying cases in the state and federal courts, and has handled numerous cases in both the State and Federal Appellate Courts. Bob also has an active practice in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which hears cases involving the right to register trademarks with the United States Patent & Trademark Office.

Bob is a 1978 graduate magna cum laude from Boston College, and a 1986 graduate cum laude from Boston College Law School. He was admitted to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in 1986, and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Bob is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the International Trademark Association, and the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association.

Bob has had significant experience handling all types of commercial litigation, including shareholder freeze-out suits, patent and trademark infringement cases, trade secret cases, and non-competition actions.  In addition, Bob has an active insurance defense and coverage practice, defending construction accident and general liability cases, as well as professional liability actions. He also has represented plaintiffs in significant personal injury matters.

Bob is a frequent lecturer and writer in the field of trademark litigation and protection. In October of 1999, he spoke at the Massachusetts Bar Association's Seminar on Advanced Topics in Trademark Litigation, and he is the co-author of the article "The Role of State Courts in Trademark Litigation." He has also lectured on topics such as bad faith claims against insurers, copyright protection for musicians, and defending depositions.

In his spare time, Bob plays guitar in the Boston based band "Downtime," and also enjoys playing basketball. In addition, although a self proclaimed mediocre golfer, Bob was lucky enough to have two holes-in-one during one round of golf at a tournament in August, 2000.

Representative Cases:

  • Bob represented a severely injured individual who was a passenger on a bus that crashed in Vermont in 2002. The case went to trial in December of 2004 in Middlesex Superior Court. After six days of trial, the case settled based on a payment of $3.7 million to Pierce & Mandell's client by the bus company and its insurer.

  • Bob has represented at trial numerous defendants in a variety of personal injury cases that have resulted in defense verdicts.

  • In June of 2005, Bob and Jeff Seo represented the plaintiff in a shareholder freeze-out action in the Business Litigation Session of Suffolk Superior Court. The case was tried for six days and the court issued judgment in favor of Pierce & Mandell's client in the amount of over $290,000, including interest. Prior to trial, Pierce & Mandell's client had been offered nothing in settlement.

  • Bob and Tom Kenney have represented plaintiffs in numerous trademark and copyright cases in Federal Court in which they have obtained injunctive relief against a defendant's use of a plaintiff's trademarks or copyrights. In addition, our lawyers have successfully defended clients in cases in which injunctive relief was sought for violation of plaintiff's intellectual property rights.

  • Bob and Kim Riebling represented the estate of a woman who was killed in a fire that occurred during the Labor Day weekend in 2004. Pierce & Mandell sued the owner of a condominium unit below the condominium owned by the defendant, alleging that the defendant unit owner negligently caused the fire. The case was settled in several months for $865,000 based on a payment of the insurance policy limits of the defendant, and a significant contribution from the Condominium Association.

  • Bob and Tom Kenney represented two Russian individuals who sent money to a relative in the U.S. to hold pending the clients' emigration to the U.S. After the relative died, his ex-wife brought an action to claim the monies held by the relative. The case was tried in Middlesex Probate Court, and the court ruled that all amounts held by the decedent (in excess of $200,000) were to be paid to Pierce & Mandell's clients. The judgment was affirmed by the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

  • Bob defended a state governmental entity against a claim brought by a worker who was severely burned when steam escaped from an underground pipe. After a trial covering four weeks in Worcester Superior Court, the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Pierce & Mandell's client.

  • Bob and Tom Kenney represented a proposed adult entertainment establishment in Salisbury that sought an entertainment license from the Town. After the Town denied the license, Pierce & Mandell filed a lawsuit against the Town for violation of the plaintiff's civil rights. After a trial that lasted close to three weeks, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $455,000. In addition, the court issued an injunction requiring issuance of the desired entertainment license.

  • Bob has brought numerous cases on behalf of individuals for disability benefits, both under ERISA and in connection with individual disability policies. Bob won a jury verdict in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of a client whose policy was canceled by a disability insurer. In addition, Bob has settled disability cases for lump sums of $500,000, $395,000 (on the first day of trial), $260,000, and $160,000.

  • In November of 2004, Bob and Kim Riebling defended a client in a Petition to Partition action. After several hours of trial, as a result of favorable rulings by the court, the case settled based on a payment to the Petitioner by Pierce & Mandell's client that was the same amount offered months before trial.

    E-Mail Address: email bob