Law Offices of Barry R. Crimmins, PC

10/03/2025

I am pleased to announce that, effective October 1st, I will be joining the Boston-based law firm Brooks & DeRensis, P.C., a well-established and respected firm of approximately 20 lawyers with offices in Boston, Natick and Hudson, and now Stoughton.

I will continue to practice from our office at 909 Washington Street in Stoughton, as well as being available to see clients at the Brooks & DeRensis offices at 2 Atlantic Avenue in Boston. I will be joined in this move by my long-time assistant and paralegal, Janet Guarino, who has been with me for over 27 years.

I will continue to focus my practice, as I have for the last 39 years, in the areas of real estate law, with an emphasis on land use planning and municipal permitting, as well as estate planning and probate administration.

In addition, our clients will now benefit from access to the combined firm’s strengths in many other areas of law, including real estate conveyancing, litigation, municipal law, immigration, corporate law, and business/transactional law.

I value the close working relationship I have been fortunate to establish with my clients and professional colleagues and referral partners throughout the years and I am confident and determined to continue to provide all my clients, both past, current and future, with the same professional attention and thorough support they deserve for all of their legal needs. I am especially pleased that my new firm can now assist them with an even broader variety of legal services to address all of their legal needs and concerns.

As before, we can continue to be reached by phone at (781)344-2886 or in person at our Stoughton office at 909 Washington Street (Rt. 138). We also will be happy to meet with our clients at the Brooks & DeRensis office conveniently located at 2 Atlantic Avenue on the Boston waterfront.

If you wish to learn more about Brooks & DeRensis, please visit the firm’s website at www.bdboston.com.

Thank you for your past trust and for allowing our firm to serve your legal needs. Together with our new colleagues at Brooks & DeRensis, I look forward to continuing to provide all of our clients with the same sound, practical and effective legal advice and service that they have come to expect from us.

All the best,

Barry

https://lnkd.in/e23E5qkD

I am so very pleased to announce Attorney Barry Crimmins has joined Brooks & DeRensis! Barry will continue his 35+ year career in the areas of Real Estate Law, Land Use Planning and Development, Zoning and Municipal Permitting, where he represents a wide variety of both residential and commercial developers, property owners and businesses before various municipal boards and commissions.

02/02/2025

Two important provisions of the Affordable Homes Act go into effect today. The first is the ADU (“Accessory Dwelling Unit”) provision that allows for ADU’s to be constructed by right either within the principle structure or as a separate accessory structure. One important aspect is that the property does not have to be owner-occupied, as has often been the case with so-called “in-law apartments.” The second provision, which has not received as much publicity but is equally important, is the provision to allow for undersized lots which are held in common ownership to be built upon by right if they contain a minimum of 10,000 square feet in area and 75 feet of frontage. Up until now those lots were considered to be “merged” and could not be separately built upon. The homes to be constructed cannot exceed 1,850 square feet of livable space and must contain at least 3 bedrooms. Both of these provisions are designed to promote more affordable housing which is sorely needed in our state and will be a welcome change by the development community and homeowners alike.

11/25/2024

I am pleased and honored to announce that I have been named as a Boston Magazine Top Lawyer for 2024 in the category of Land Use Law and Environmental Law, one of only twenty attorneys in the Greater Boston area to be so named.

It is indeed a privilege to be recognized for this distinction and I want to sincerely thank all of my clients, my colleagues and especially my staff for making this possible.

Congratulations to all of the attorneys in Greater Boston who were selected this year for this honor by Boston Magazine.

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/lawyers/Barry-Crimmins

11/05/2024

Today’s the day! Please don’t forget to vote! Polls are open from 7 am - 8 pm! Please cast your vote for my brother, Frank Crimmins, for Governor’s Council in District 2! As a former judge and practicing attorney for over 40 years, he is truly the most qualified candidate and will restore faith and trust in our judicial system! Thank you for your support!

04/22/2024

A ruling by a superior court judge is one more blow to a century-old practice in Massachusetts of municipalities taking the total value of a property even when only a small fraction of that amount is owed in taxes.

01/31/2024

In once again another example of "traps for the unwary," a pro se litigant seeking to appeal a Special Permit granted by the Melrose ZBA found out that the courts treat the filing requirements of Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 40A, Sec. 17 strictly, requiring that not only must someone seeking to file an appeal of a ZBA decision file the Complaint in the Land Court or the Superior Court within 20 days of the filing of the decision with the Town or City Clerk's office, but the litigant must also file a copy of the Complaint with the Clerk's office within the same 20-day period. The pro se litigant argued that his late filing should be excused due to his lack of legal knowledge, but the court said that is no excuse and does not relieve the pro se litigant of the strict filing requirements of the statute. What was it that Abe Lincoln said? "A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client." Well in this case, that may also apply to a private citizen representing himself when it comes to filing zoning appeals. Lesson to be learned? If you find yourself in a similar situation, hire competent legal counsel to represent you. You'll be glad you did.

Where a plaintiff has filed a complaint seeking judicial review of a decision by the Melrose Board of Appeals granting a special permit to demolish a two-unit dwelling and build a four-unit townhouse, the complaint must be dismissed because the plaintiff did not comply with the filing and notice req...

12/15/2023

Today, December 15th, marks my 37th year of being sworn in as a member of the Massachusetts Bar! Here's to 37 more!