Michael Angelini serves as an advisor to public and private companies in Massachusetts and the northeastern U.S. and as a trial lawyer who concentrates in the resolution of business disputes. His clients are typically large family businesses facing internal, multi-generational conflicts, manufacturers, banks, other financial organizations, and educational and other not-for-profit entities.
Mike has served for many years as a director of public and private companies and is a former Director and Chairman of The Hanover Insurance Group, the largest public company headquartered in Worcester County.
He has extensive experience in matters relating to the rights and responsibilities of shareholders. His career reflects a combination of problem-solving talents as a business advisor and a trial lawyer, including experience with internal investigations. He has been the lead lawyer in cases which have significantly affected the development of business law in Massachusetts and has had primary responsibility for complex trials in both Massachusetts and Federal Courts.
Mike was Bowditch’s Managing Partner from 1990 to 1996 and the firm’s Chairman from 1997 to 2022.
Affiliations
Professional/Community
- Chair, Worcester Redevelopment Authority
- Chair, Buzzards Bay Coalition
- Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers
Previous
- Former Director and Chair, The Hanover Insurance Group‘s Board of Directors
- Former President of the Worcester County Bar Association and, for many years, served as a member of its Executive Committee
- Founding Director of the Worcester County Bar Foundation and a former Director of Community Legal Aid
- Recently completed his term as Chairman of the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) and was formerly a Director of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority; Has served on a variety of other public and quasi-public boards and commissions
- Former member of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Nominating Committee of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Appointed member of the Criminal Justice Act Board for the Federal District of Massachusetts and served as special prosecutor for the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct
- Co-Chair of Massachusetts Governor-elect Deval Patrick’s Transition Committee in 2006
Honors
- Best Lawyers in America, selected by his peers for inclusion in the fields of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law, Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, and Litigation – Labor and Employment since 1989
- Selected to Massachusetts Super Lawyers since 2004 for Business Litigation; also in the Super Lawyers top 100
- Member of Worcester Business Journal’s (WBJ) Power 50 Class of 2019, 2020 and 2023
- Recognition, 50-year Member, Worcester County Bar Association (2018)
- Has twice received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Community Service Award
Articles + Talks
Mike regularly lectures and participates in symposia on a variety of legal topics on behalf of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Worcester County Bar Association and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, mostly with respect to matters involving trial practice and the resolution of business disputes.
Other talks
- “Examining Damages Experts,” Massachusetts Bar Association, January 31, 2023
- “4th Annual Economic Development Summit: The Pitch for Growth,” Bowditch & Dewey, Worcester, MA, November 13, 2018
Media Mentions
- “What is ESG and what could it mean for your retirement savings?” (Worcester Telegram)
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
Education
- J.D., Duke University
- B.A., Wesleyan University
Solving a dispute with a dissident shareholder
Mike recently advised a public company’s board of directors regarding its relationship with a dissident shareholder. “The shareholder had an objective which the majority of the board determined was not in the company’s interest,” Mike explained, “and was insisting on certain privileges to which he was not entitled.” The company ultimately negotiated a settlement by which the dissident’s shares were sold.
Mediating between a foundation and its founder
When the founder of a large, private foundation alleged that the foundation was making grants beyond its stated objectives, Mike mediated an agreement whereby the founder withdrew his objections and was engaged by the foundation as an informal advisor.
Events + Recordings
News
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23 Bowditch Attorneys Recognized in the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and 10 Bowditch Attorneys Recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™
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Michael Angelini Selected for the Worcester Business Journal Power 50
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Michael Angelini Quoted in Worcester Telegram’s “What is ESG and what could it mean for your retirement savings?”
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Eighteen Bowditch Attorneys Named to 2022 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists
