Thomas W. Aylesworth

Thom is a partner and senior litigator in the firm with over 25 years of experience as a practicing attorney litigating cases in Massachusetts and the New Hampshire courts. He represents condominiums, home owners associations, corporations, and individuals in a wide range of matters with a primary concentration in condominium and complex real estate litigation. His specific areas of practice include construction defects, condominium enforcement, zoning and land use litigation, beach rights, and other property disputes. Thom has also handled matters in various administrative agencies and served as an administrative law judge. Since 2008, Martindale-Hubbell has recognized Thom with an AV-Preeminent rating, the highest such rating available to any individual attorney. Thom has successfully represented clients in lawsuits before the state and federal courts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, recently including: a case in which a large judgement was obtained in favor of condominium client against a developer for violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act in connection with construction defects; a case in which the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the trial courts award of a condominiums fines and late fees assessed against a unit owner for violations of rules and regulations and in which the court awarded the condominium its attorneys fees in both the trial court and appeal proceedings; a case in which he successfully defended a condominium trust against claims by a unit owner who did not represent the interests of the other unit owners; a case in Federal Bankruptcy Court to resolve claims by a condominium declarants bankruptcy creditors that they had financial interests in the remaining condominium development rights; and a Massachusetts case against a condominium unit owner for unlawful expansion of a unit. In addition, Thom worked with a bi-partisan legislative committee and drafted an amendment to the New Hampshire Condominium Act to close a loophole that had been interpreted by the New Hampshire courts as allowing developers to construct condominiums without being subject to the Acts time limit for convertible land condominiums. The amendment was signed into law in August 2018. Outside the practice of law, Thom has been an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire, where he developed and taught a course on law and public policy. During law school, Thom was an intern at the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D. C. during the confirmation hearing for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He also worked for several years as an assistant to Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe in appeals before the United States Supreme Court. Prior to law school, Thom was a public high school English teacher in his home state of Wisconsin. EDUCATIONUniversity of Wisconsin (1985)Boston College, Law School (1995)PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONSMassachusetts Bar Association New Hampshire Bar Association Community Associations Institute (New England)Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts ADMISSIONSMassachusetts New Hampshire United States District Court (Massachusetts)United States District Court (New Hampshire)CERTIFICATIONSCertified limited assistance counsel for clients involved in litigation matters brought in the Massachusetts Land Court PUBLICATIONS AND EVENTSA frequent lecturer at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education conferences, including topics involving beach rights at Annual Real Estate Law Conferences in 2016 and 2018SJC Ruling Deals Blow to Beachfront Lot Owners, Mass Lawyers Weekly (11/22/15)Click to email Thom Aylesworth