Stephen M. Leonard

Steve Leonard is one of the leading environmental lawyers and litigators in Boston.

He began his career as a legal services lawyer and public defender, where he acquired courtroom skills that have proved valuable throughout his career.

At the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Steve first began to specialize in environmental law.  His public career culminated in seven years as Chief of the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division, where he was responsible for all of Massachusetts’ environmental litigation in the federal and state courts.  These cases required close consultation with other public officials, including the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Governor’s Legal Counsel.  In addition to supervising a staff of ten Assistant Attorneys General, Steve handled major cases himself, including all of the successful federal court litigation challenging offshore oil drilling on the Georges Bank fishing grounds.

Following government service, Steve was a partner at two major Boston law firms, where he continued his environmental and litigation practice and broadened it to include work on major real estate and corporate transactions.

At Cronin & Leonard, Steve represents a variety of public and private entities in both litigation and transactional work.  His clients in private practice have included major multi-national corporations, real estate developers, public authorities and government agencies, municipalities, non-governmental organizations and individuals.  
 
Steve is a fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.  He has been listed for many years in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA/America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

Steve has long been active in civic and bar association activities.  He is a former Chair of the Boston Bar Association Environmental Law Section and of its Environmental Litigation Committee, and he served on the Association’s Public Policy Committee.  He has taught continuing legal education courses and panels at the American Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.  

Steve is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Celebrity Series of Boston, and he is the immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Environmental League of Massachusetts.

Steve has also been an adjunct faculty member at two Boston-area law schools, Northeastern (Trial Practice and Environmental Law) and Harvard (Federal Litigation).

Steve attended the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School.