Steve Churchill has practiced employment law and ERISA litigation for over 15 years, representing workers in cases involving discrimination, retaliation, reasonable accommodations, wage and hour violations, non-compete agreements, severance negotiations, unemployment benefits, and claims for disability or retirement benefits.  He has appeared in state and federal court at the trial and appellate level, including numerous trials and five successful arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.   He has participated in a wide range of administrative hearings, in agencies such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Division of Unemployment Assistance, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Boston Retirement Board.

From 1993 to 2004, Mr. Churchill worked at a small public interest law firm and then as an associate and partner at Conn Kavanaugh in Boston, where he practiced primarily in the areas of employment law and ERISA litigation, representing individuals and organizations.  From 2004 to 2010, he worked as a Clinical Instructor at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, most recently directing the Employment Civil Rights Clinic.  Since 2007, he has served on the faculty of Harvard Law School as a lecturer-on-law.  He developed and continues to teach courses on advocacy skills and employment law enforcement strategies.

Mr. Churchill co-founded and serves as the president of Fair Employment Project, Inc., a non-profit whose mission is to reduce violations of employment civil rights by providing assistance and information to workers and their advocates.  Mr. Churchill also served on the board of directors of the Somerville Community Corporation, a community development agency, from 1998 to 2010, including two years as its president.  During law school, he worked at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau for two years, first as a student attorney representing indigent clients and then as executive director.

In the News

A group of BPD officers say a promotional exam is discriminatory
WGBH | February, 2012

Publications

• Making Employment Civil Rights Real, Amicus (online supplement to Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review) (October 2009).
• Recent Developments Under the Massachusetts Wage Act, Massachusetts Continuing Education Business Litigation Conference (February 2003).
• A Fly In The Web: The Developing Law of Reasonable Accommodations, Boston Bar Journal (November/December 2002).
• Recent Legislation, Bills, and Agency Materials and Selected Cases Under Other Employment Statutes, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Employment Law Conference (December 2001).
• The Family & Medical Leave Act, Lorman Education Services (June 2001).
• Selected Legislative and Regulatory Developments, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Employment Law Conference (December 2000).
• Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace: A Shared Responsibility, 80 Mass. L. Rev. 73 (1995).

Presentations

• Boston Bar Association, Boston, MA. Speaker for program on ATT Mobility v. Concepcion - Cases, Trends & Issues: March 2012
• Volunteer Lawyers Project, Boston, MA. Faculty for training on handling employment discrimination cases: January 2008, April 2009.
• Harvard Law School, Moderator for panel on plaintiffs' firms: March 2009.
• Harvard Law School, Moderator for panel on employment law practice: November 2008.
• Harvard Law School, Moderator for Journal of Law & Gender annual conference: March 2008.
• Harvard Law School, Moderator for panel on small firms: November 2007.
• Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. Faculty for practical skills workshop, section on employment law: January 1999, January 2000, February 2001, February 2002, February 2003, February 2004, February 2005.
• EEOC/FEPA Trial Training. Faculty for trial workshop: September 2004.
• New England Society for Applied Psychologists, Presentation on Legal Considerations When Consulting in the Workplace: March 2003.
• Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. Faculty for Annual Business Litigation Conference: February 2002, February 2003.
• International Association of Consultants and Professional Recruiters, Presentation on Dealing with Executive Issues: November 2002.
• Lorman Education Services. Presenter for Time Off In Massachusetts: State and Federal Laws On Employee Leave, Vacations and Holidays: June 2001, June 2002.
• Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. Faculty for Annual Employment Law Conference: December 2000, December 2001.
• Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. Faculty for deposition workshop: January 1998; January 1999; June 2000; February 2001.

Education

• Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1993
  
• Stanford University, A.B. with Distinction, 1988

Professional Affiliations

• Member, National Employment Lawyers Association
  

Bar and Court Admissions

• Member, State Bar of Massachusetts, since 1993
• Admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit

Stephen Churchill
Partner

tel 617-994-5800
fax 617-994-5801
schurchill@llrlaw.com

Practice Areas

Employment law, including discrimination and wage and hour litigation.

Staff Assistant

Dymon Lewis
DLewis@llrlaw.com