Steven M. Veenema - Boston, MA

Steve is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation Department. He helps clients resolve complex business disputes both in and out of court, focusing primarily on issues arising among board members and shareholders in closely held companies, intellectual property and unfair competition litigation, and employment-related matters for both employers and employees. Steve advises companies, directors, shareholders, and individual employees across industries, including finance, high-tech, healthcare, real estate, and retail. He also has notable experience litigating issues involving commercial real estate and leasing, insurance coverage, securities fraud, construction projects, and mergers and acquisitions. Steve’s intellectual property practice includes representing clients both in court and before the Patent and Trademark Office and the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board in trademark prosecution, maintenance, and protection.

Before joining Sheehan Phinney, Steve was a shareholder at Murphy & King, P.C.

Key Cases:

• Won bench trial on behalf of several individual investors in securities-fraud action arising from a failed cannabis venture.
• Won expansive injunctive relief and related contempt findings in unfair-competition action involving former employees who formed competing technology company using their employer’s confidential information, and then violated the court’s orders regarding the same.
• Secured an injunction on behalf of a surgical-center tenant to stop landlord’s daytime construction activities in adjacent premises.
• Successfully defended medical device company in bet-the-company litigation over allegedly improper lease termination.
• Succeeded in dismissing claims of contributory copyright infringement against online advertising company.
• Won advantageous settlement in post-M&A litigation involving precision parts manufacturer.
• Successfully defended multiple financial advisors against former employer seeking to claw back “forgivable
• Has counseled clients through all phases of closely held corporation disputes, including partnership formation and separation issues, direct and derivative actions, freeze-out situations, and valuation issues, among other things.
• Successfully resolved variety of trademark disputes both in and out of court.