Robert M. Buchholz

Robert Buchholz represents companies in a variety of litigation matters in state and federal court, with an emphasis on professional liability defense and risk management, product liability defense, commercial litigation, coverage litigation, and complex general liability matters. He is a go-to resource for companies operating in a broad scope of industries, including law firms, accounting firms, insurance companies, drug and medical device manufacturers, closely-held businesses, and security guard companies. Well-versed in all phases of litigation, Robert's clients rely on his counsel when facing claims of malpractice, negligence, wrongful death, bad faith, defamation, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, and fraud.

Before joining Hinshaw, Robert practiced at a major Boston law firm. While there, he counseled governments and quasi-public authorities on issuing tax-exempt and taxable debt, as well as institutional investors and indentured trustees in workouts and restructurings. Prior to entering private practice, he clerked for the Honorable Robert J. Cordy on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

During law school, Robert interned for the Honorable Peter M. Lauriat and the Honorable Dennis J. Curran on the Massachusetts Superior Court and was the Editor-in-Chief of the New England Law Review. In addition to being the valedictorian of his law school class, Robert was the recipient of the Dean Arthur E. MacLean Award for Academic Excellence, the Dean's Award, and the New England Scholar Award.

Prior to his legal career, Robert was the assistant senate clerk in the New Hampshire State Senate. He also worked as the deputy director of a New Hampshire state-level political action committee.

• Selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation, 2021 – 2025

Robert has a successful track record of representing companies and firms in high-stakes litigation with significant exposure:

• Summary judgment in a professional liability case against an accounting firm client, with $10 - $15 million at stake.
• Obtained a favorable settlement in a $100 million defamation suit against a leading national law firm client.
• Dismissal of claim against a construction company in a significant $5 million complex workers compensation case.
• Obtained an $800,000 settlement on behalf of a minority shareholder in a closely held business dispute.
• Advised a tower of insurance companies as monitoring counsel in a legal malpractice case with potential exposure in the hundreds of millions and ultimately facilitating settlement.

Robert has participated in a number of pro bono matters, including:

• Drafting an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in a matter involving a challenge to a Massachusetts law implementing a "buffer zone" around abortion clinics.
• Drafting a brief to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of a veteran challenging the denial of his application for court costs under the Massachusetts indigency statute.
• Drafting a complaint and memorandum in support of declaratory and injunctive relief to the Massachusetts Superior Court relating to an administrative appeal from the denial of a public records request.
• Counseling clients as part of the Civil Appeals Clinic pilot initiative held at the Brooke Court Service Center and the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
• Representing an asylum seeker before the Department of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR).
  
  

• Moderator, "Behavioral Legal Ethics: The Impact of Social and Cognitive Biases on Attorney Decision-Making," Hinshaw's 24th Annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference (LMRM), Chicago, Illinois, March 6, 2025
• Panelist, "Legal Ethics Lessons Learned from Fictional Attorneys," Spring 2024 National Legal Malpractice Conference, American Bar Association (ABA), New Orleans, Louisiana, April 4, 2024
• Moderator, "Closing the Deal: Drafting and Enforcing Settlement Agreements," Hinshaw’s 23rd Annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference (LMRM), Chicago, Illinois, March 7, 2024
• Moderator, "What is Fee-sible? Splitting Fees with Other Lawyers and the Pitfalls to Avoid," Hinshaw’s 22nd Annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference (LMRM), Chicago, Illinois, March 8, 2023
• Co-Presenter, "What Not To Do: Ethics Lessons Learned From Fictional Lawyers," Nebraska State Bar Association CLE, Webinar, June 21, 2022
• Moderator, "Litigating Through Technology in the COVID Era: How the Medium Affects the Process," Hinshaw’s 21st Annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference (LMRM), Chicago, Illinois, March 2, 2022

• Co-Author, "Regulation of the Legal Profession in the United States: Overview," Thomson Reuters Practical Law, June 2021
• "When Your Best Friend Is Your Worst Enemy: How 18 U.S.C. §1519 Transforms Internal Investigations into State Action and Unexpected Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege," New England Law Review, July 2012

• Penn's Hill Neighborhood Association, Inc., Treasurer and Board of Directors, 2015 – 2023