Best Law Firms — Regional Tier 1
Commercial litigation and business organisations, Boston metropolitan area. Illustrative recognition for template purposes.
2026A firm built to outlast its founders
Halloway & Finch has practised from the same street in Boston’s Financial District since 1968. Three offices, thirty-four lawyers, and one rule that has not changed: tell the client the truth first.
Our story
Fifty-seven years of the same conversation
Arthur Halloway and Clement Finch were not trying to build an institution. They were two lawyers who had grown tired of being told which clients they could take, and who believed that a firm ought to be small enough for every partner to know every matter.
What began as a waterfront practice for shipping agents and printers became, over five decades, the firm that New England’s family businesses call when something has gone wrong — or, better, when they can see that it might. Our clients now include manufacturers in their fourth generation, hospital systems, developers, and the founders of companies that did not exist a decade ago.
The work has changed completely. The way we take it on has not. A partner still meets every new client personally, still writes an honest assessment before any money is spent, and still says no to matters this firm is not the right one to handle.
What we stand for
Four commitments, in writing
These are printed in every engagement letter the firm sends. If we fall short of one of them, we would rather hear it from you than from a review.
01
Candour before comfort
We would rather lose a matter than take one we do not believe in. Clients are told what we actually think, in the first meeting, even when it costs us the instruction.
02
The file belongs to the client
Everything we write, you can read. No internal memorandum says something different from what we have told you, and every client leaves with a complete copy of their file.
03
Small teams, senior hands
A partner is responsible for every matter and does the work that matters. We have never staffed a case to fill a budget, and we never will.
04
A price you agreed to
Fixed fees for defined work, written estimates for the rest, and a conversation before any step that changes the number. Surprise is a failure of service, not a fact of practice.
History
How the firm grew
1968
Two lawyers and one filing cabinet
Arthur Halloway and Clement Finch open a two-room practice on Ashcroft Street, representing the shipping agents, printers and family shops of Boston’s waterfront. The partnership agreement they signed runs to a page and a half; its opening clause about candour with clients is still in ours.
1981
The first business litigation group
As New England’s manufacturers consolidated, the firm followed its clients into the courtroom. The litigation practice that now employs eleven lawyers began with a single shareholder dispute the founders were told not to take.
1994
A generation arrives
Eleanor Halloway joins as an associate, three years before the firm elects its first woman partner. By the end of the decade the practice has doubled and moved into the Suite 1900 offices it still occupies.
2003
Providence
A Rhode Island office opens to serve development and permitting clients along the Narragansett corridor, and the firm is admitted to practise in a second state.
2016
New leadership, same terms
Eleanor Halloway is elected managing partner. The firm publishes its fee policy — fixed prices for defined work, written estimates for everything else — and has not billed outside it since.
2021
Hartford, and a third state
The Connecticut office opens with four attorneys, completing the tri-state footprint the founders sketched on the back of a docket sheet in 1974.
By the numbers
The firm today
1968
Founded in Boston
3
Offices across New England
34
Attorneys and 19 professional staff
2,400
Pro bono hours contributed in 2025
Community
Work we are not paid for
Every attorney at this firm carries at least one uncompensated matter a year. It is written into how we evaluate lawyers for partnership, which is the only way a commitment like this survives a busy quarter.
Housing
Eviction defence clinic
Eleven years in partnership with a Boston legal aid organisation, staffing a weekly clinic in the Housing Court and representing tenants through trial where a defence exists.
Immigration
Asylum representation
Our attorneys carry asylum and special immigrant juvenile matters end to end, supported by the firm’s translators and filing costs.
Non-profits
Board and governance advice
Free formation, governance and contract work for eight New England non-profits, including two community development corporations and a regional food bank.
Education
The Finch Fellowship
A funded summer place for a first-generation law student each year, with a standing offer of an associate position on graduation.
Recognition
Awards and rankings
Listed for template purposes only. Replace these with your own recognition, and check your jurisdiction’s rules on advertising ratings and awards before publishing.
New England Super Lawyers
Six partners and four rising stars listed across litigation, corporate, family and real estate practice.
2025Massachusetts Bar Association Pro Bono Award
Recognising the firm’s housing and immigration clinic partnership, now in its eleventh year.
2024Chambers USA — Band 2
General commercial litigation, Massachusetts. Two partners individually ranked.
2024Boston Business Journal, Best Places to Work
Listed in the small-company category for the fifth consecutive year.
2023A lawyer’s first duty is to tell a client what they do not want to hear, early enough for it to be useful.
Co-founder, 1968–1997 · Fictional