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Nicholas C. Cramb

Member / Co-chair, Real Estate Litigation Practice

[email protected]

+1.617.348.1740

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Nick is a commercial litigator and trusted advisor who is a key member of Mintz's national Insurance and Reinsurance practice and serves as Co-chair of the firm's Real Estate Litigation practice.

Nick has two decades of experience representing insurance companies, reinsurers, and brokers in a wide variety of complex litigation, including coverage disputes under commercial general liability, directors and officers, professional liability, property and excess policies, and claims alleging unfair trade practices and bad faith.  He serves as national coverage counsel for certain emerging risks and has represented clients in insurance and reinsurance disputes in state, federal and bankruptcy courts and arbitrations across the country.

Nick’s real estate practice focuses on zoning, subdivision, affordable housing, lease disputes, and environmental issues, including wetlands, waterways, coastal zone management, and air pollution control regulation. He has defended permits before the MassDEP Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution and defeated appeals to all levels of Massachusetts courts, including the Land Court, the Superior Court, the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court.

During his tenure at Mintz, Nick also served as a Special Assistant District Attorney with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, where he handled numerous criminal matters and tried several cases before juries. Prior to joining the Firm, Nick was a law clerk for the Honorable Alexander H. Sands III of the Massachusetts Land Court.

Nick is a commercial litigator and trusted advisor who is a key member of Mintz's national Insurance and Reinsurance practice and serves as Co-chair of the firm's Real Estate Litigation practice.

Experience

Insurance and Reinsurance

  • Represents a primary and excess insurer in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, which concerns the company’s liability for thousands of governmental enforcement actions and private lawsuits filed in state and federal courts alleging that Purdue Pharma's’ manufacture, promotion, and sale of OxyContin contributed to the opioid epidemic. 
  • Represents a liability insurer in consolidated asbestos cases, which concern the trigger of coverage for certain asbestos disease.   
  • Represented a UK based reinsurer in a $30 million reinsurance arbitration dispute involving rescission of a workers’ compensation program.
  • Successfully represented certain London Market Company Reinsurers in a lengthy litigation proceeding in federal court arising out of a cedent’s $120 million settlement with its insured resolving environmental contamination exposure. The matter involved complex issues of allocation, enforcement of coverage periods, and application of choice of law.
  • Defended an insurer through summary judgment and on appeal against breach of contract and bad faith claims by immediately deposing the insured and proving no damages, while preventing any depositions of the insurer.
  • Defended an insurer against claims that it converted subrogation claims, obtaining summary judgment from the US District Court for the District of Oregon.

Real Estate Litigation

  • Defended the developer of a mixed use project, which included over 60 residential units, in an appeal brought by a competing shopping center.
  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of developer in an action challenging of municipality’s inclusionary zoning determination.
  • Regularly represents an finance agency in litigation involving affordable housing in order to protect affordability of units.  
  • Argued an appeal of a Comprehensive Permit before the Supreme Judicial Court, which affirmed our client’s Comprehensive Permit for a residential development of approximately 150 units.
  • Obtained dismissal of lawsuit brought by a municipality challenging a funding agency’s determination of eligibility for a Comprehensive Permit.
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viewpoints

Massachusetts Appeals Court Upholds Liability Insurer’s Contractual Right to Settle

December 14, 2017 | Advisory | By Nicholas Cramb, Lavinia Weizel

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, applying New Hampshire law, held that a professional liability insurer did not breach the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by settling a New Hampshire medical malpractice suit over its insured’s objection. 
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On December 5, 2017, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued an important decision in Berger v. 2 Wyndcliff, LLC, No. 16-P-336 (Mass. App. Ct. Dec. 5, 2017), clarifying the extent to which land owners in a common-scheme development may extend restrictive covenants.
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On September 23, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit concluded that, “for now, at least, the long war over Long Wharf is at an end.”
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On September 7, 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court applied, for the first time, a pro rata allocation method to defense costs where commercial general liability policies provided coverage during a portion of the time of exposure in a long-latency disease case.
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Developers Who Elect Not to Pay Comprehensive Permit Fees in Full Proceed at Their Peril

September 19, 2016 | Alert | By Nicholas Cramb, Joel Rothman

The Massachusetts Appeals Court issued an opinion on August 29, 2016, that has significant ramifications for developers seeking Comprehensive Permits for affordable housing projects under chapter 40B of the Massachusetts General Laws (“Chapter 40B”).
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On Monday, March 7, 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) rejected the “selective tender rule” as contrary to Massachusetts insurance law and sound public policy in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Great Northern Insurance Company.
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On Tuesday, in Zoning Board of Appeals of Lunenburg v. Housing Appeals Committee, the Supreme Judicial Court soundly rejected a zoning board of appeals’ argument that inexpensive market-rate homes may be counted toward a town’s affordable housing obligations under Chapter 40B.
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News & Press

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Mintz is pleased to announce that 32 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 27 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2023.
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Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
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BOSTON –Mintz announced today that 39 of its practices and 81 of its attorneys earned recognition in the 2023 edition of Chambers USA, a guide to the country’s leading law firms.
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Best Lawyers named 85 Mintz attorneys to its 2018 list of The Best Lawyers in America. In addition, Mintz attorneys Matthew J. Gardella and Samuel M. Tony Starr were named “Lawyer of the Year” in their respective practice areas.
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Events & Speaking

Panelist
Nov
1
2017

2017 ARIAS-U.S. Fall Conference

ARIAS-U.S.

New York, NY

Panelist
Oct
13
2016

MREBA Fall 2016 Symposium

Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association

The Harvard Club of Boston- Back Bay Clubhouse 374 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA

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Nick is a commercial litigator and trusted advisor who is a key member of Mintz's national Insurance and Reinsurance practice and serves as Co-chair of the firm's Real Estate Litigation practice.

Recognition & Awards

  • Chambers USA: Massachusetts - Insurance: Up and Coming (2021-2023)

  • Best Lawyers in America: Litigation - Insurance, Insurance Law (2018-2024)

  • Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce: Boston's Future Leaders (2013)

  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Business Litigation (2023)

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Nick is a commercial litigator and trusted advisor who is a key member of Mintz's national Insurance and Reinsurance practice and serves as Co-chair of the firm's Real Estate Litigation practice.

Involvement

  • President of the Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association (MReBA) (2016)
  • Member, ARIAS-US
  • Board of Directors, Magic Garden Children’s Center (2016-2017)
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Nicholas C. Cramb

Member / Co-chair, Real Estate Litigation Practice

Boston