Legal Team
Attorney James T. Hilliard (1943-2022) received his J.D. from Suffolk University School of Law in 1969. After law school, Attorney Hilliard served 8 years in Massachusetts state government as Under-Secretary of Health and Human Services, and also as Assistant Superintendent of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. After shifting his focus to private practice, Attorney Hilliard, along with now retired Superior Court Judge John P. Connor, Jr. established the law firm of Connor & Hilliard, P.C. in 1978. Attorney Hilliard co-authored the book The Essentials of Massachusetts Mental Health Law (WW Norton 1998), and has published over 40 articles and book chapters on a variety of subjects in the field of mental health law. In addition to advising clients on mental health law issues, Attorney Hilliard is also currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Legal Medicine), Harvard Medical School (Part Time).
Attorney Alan B. Almeida, a partner at Connor & Hilliard, received his bachelor's degree from Boston University School of Management in 1978, received his J.D. with High Distinction from The John Marshal Law School in 1981, and his L.L.M. in Taxation from the Boston University School of Law in 1982. Attorney Almeida has been admitted to practice law in Massachusetts since 1981, and has been with Connor & Hilliard, P.C. since 1984. His practice is concentrated in the areas of tax, corporate business transactions, real estate, estate planning, elder law, and business-oriented litigation. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Tax Court. Attorney Almeida has extensive trial and appellate experience during his 37 years as a member of the Massachusetts bar. Furthermore, Attorney Almeida's L.L.M. in Taxation and years of experience also uniquely qualify him to consider the tax consequences of a variety of business transactions and estate plan structures.
Attorney Michael T. Porter received his bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, and received his J.D. from Suffolk University School of Law. Attorney Porter was Assistant General Counsel in the Department of Mental Health prior to joining Connor & Hilliard in 2000. Attorney Porter's practice is concentrated in mental health law, and he represents both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric units for guardianships, civil commitments, and risk management advice. Attorney Porter's appellate practice also focuses exclusively on mental health law, and his experience includes writing numerous briefs and representing clients at oral argument at all levels of appellate practice in Massachusetts, highlighted by his experience briefing and arguing cases before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Attorney Brian C. Almeida graduated Summa Cum Laude from Roger Williams University in 2014. He was accepted to Roger Williams University's School of Law a year early, where he graduated third in his class with his J.D., Summa Cum Laude. During law school, he won ten CALI awards, given to the best performing law student in each legal discipline at Roger Williams School of Law, including CALI awards in Contract Law, Property Law, Estate Planning & Drafting, Elder Law, Evidence, Senior Abuse and Neglect, and Massachusetts Civil Practice. Since becoming a member of the Massachusetts Bar in November of 2016, Attorney Brian Almeida's practice has focused on civil litigation at the Superior Court level, primarily on business-related litigation and zoning appeals. Attorney Brian Almeida's appellate work spans all of Connor & Hilliard's various areas of practice and the different levels of appellate practice, and he has co-authored numerous briefs submitted to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Attorney Brian Almeida is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Attorney Sydnee R. Grosberg received her bachelor’s degrees in Public Administration and Spanish from James Madison University in 2007, and received her J.D. from the Southern New England School of Law in 2010, now known as University of Massachusetts School of Law at Dartmouth. Prior to joining Connor & Hilliard in 2022, Attorney Grosberg has over ten years of experience with practices in the areas of Immigration Law, Social Security Disability Insurance, Family Law and Criminal Law as an Assistant District Attorney for the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. At Connor & Hilliard, Attorney Grosberg practices mental health litigation in various District Courts across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts along with practices in estate planning, civil litigation and employment law.
Melinda J. Kwart was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She is a 1979 graduate of the University of Wisconsin and graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1983 with high honors. Attorney Kwart clerked for a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court upon her graduation and was then hired as an assistant professor of business law at the University of Delaware for the College of Business and Economics. Attorney Kwart began actively practicing law in 1989 in Rhode Island and soon joined a law firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Since that time, Attorney Kwart has practiced with firms of all sizes in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, concentrating in the practice areas of trusts and estates, and business law. In 2002, Attorney Kwart earned an L.L.M. from the graduate tax program at Boston University School of Law. Attorney Kwart is licensed to practice in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware, and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts located in those states. She also serves on the Planning Board for the City of Attleboro.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court licenses Massachusetts attorneys in the general practice of law, but does not license any attorney as an expert or specialist in any specific field of legal practice.
