Town Counsel

The Town Counsel is the attorney retained by the town, appointed by the selectmen, to advise town boards and officers and to represent the town in litigation. In the nineteenth century Billerica paid lawyers only case by case: the town reports record payments for legal advice to G. H. Stevens (1887) and to Frederic T. Greenhalge (1891), and from April 1893 regular counsel fees to Frederic A. Fisher. The March 1900 town meeting authorized the selectmen to hire a town counsel, and by 1905-06 Fisher was being paid a salary as Town Counsel. In 1905 the selectmen resolved to keep the freedom to seek legal advice where they saw fit, and for much of the early twentieth century the town used Lowell firms such as Qua, Howard & Rogers and Harvey, Harvey & Walsh as needed. In 1928 the selectmen appointed a resident attorney, Forrest F. Collier, to cut the heavy litigation costs of 1926-1927. A 1937 by-law proposal to require an annually appointed resident Town Counsel was dismissed, and a 1962 committee studied the feasibility of retaining a permanent Town Counsel. Edward J. Owens then served twenty-three years until 1990. Since 1990 the post has been held by attorneys of municipal law firms: Kopelman and Paige (1990-1999), Brackett, Lucas & Gannon (1999-2008), Louison, Costello, Condon & Pfaff (2008-2014), Kopelman & Paige / KP Law (2014-2024), Brooks & DeRensis (2024-2025) and, from late 2025, Harrington Heep LLP. The town also retains a separate labor counsel (Kevin P. Feeley, Jr. from 2001).