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MARY BETH L. SWEENEY is a partner with the law firm of Atwood & Cherny and has been with the firm since 1998. Her practice includes all aspects of domestic relations and probate litigation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. A significant portion of her practice involves custody matters and children’s issues, including the impact of a child with special needs in a divorce case. Mary Beth has expertise in custody, removal, visitation, and Hague Convention matters (where a parent abducts a child to/from another country). She was one of the trial attorneys responsible for the first highlighted “virtual visitation” case in Massachusetts, as it pertained to a creative method of contact for a non-custodial parent in a removal matter. A component of her practice also includes representing family members in Estate Litigation matters in both the Probate and Superior Courts of the Commonwealth.  Mary Beth is an elected Trustee with the American Inn of Court, currently serving a four year term.  She is a Past President of the Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court and is the Past President of the North Shore Women in Business.  Mary Beth also serves by appointment and agreement as a Guardian ad Litem in family law cases and is regularly appointed as a Conciliator by various justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts.  She is a trained mediator and collaborative law attorney and also works as a Parenting Coordinator.  Mary Beth also volunteers her time with the Andona Society.

BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS

• Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• State of New Hampshire
• Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• First Circuit Court of Appeals

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Boston Bar Association 
• New Hampshire Bar Association
• Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association
• New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association
• Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court, President Court (Current President, 2015-16)
• ​American Academy for Certified Financial Litigators
• The American Association for Justice
• North Shore Women in Business Association, President
• American Inn of Court, Trustee
• Massachusetts Family & Probate American Inn of Court (Past President)
• Suffolk University Law School NH alumni Chapter, Vice President
  
  

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & PUBLICATIONS
Speaking Engagements

• NSWIB Divorce and Estate Planning Considerations (2015)
• Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court, considerations in light of the Pfannenstielhl case (2015)
• Boston Bar Association CLE titled “Discovery in the Electronic Age” (2012)
• MCLE, Representing Non-Traditional Families (2011)
• Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court, Evidentiary issues involved in the introduction of Medical Records (2010)
• Appearance, Emily Rooney Show (2005)
• American Association for Justice, the ABC's of Stock Options (2001)

Publications

• American Association for Justice, lecturer on Stock Options in Family Law Cases & 2001 Montreal Convention Manual (“The ABC’s of Stock Options”)
• Motion Practice Section of the MCLE Family Law Manual
• Evidentiary Privileges and Fiduciary Litigation, MCLE
• New Hampshire Bar Journal, issues relating to the Hague Convention

RECOGNITIONS

• The Best Lawyers in America© in Family Law 2020
• 2018 Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law
• Massachusetts Super Lawyers

NOTABLE CASES

• Schulman v. Schulman, 89 Mass.App.Ct. 1126 (2016)
• Healey v Healey, 87 Mass. App. Ct. 1125 (2015)
• Vedensky v. Vedensky, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 768 (2014)
• Baltzer v. Cleri, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 1105 (2005)

EDUCATION

• Suffolk University Law School - J. D. 1998
• Suffolk University - B.A. 1991 (cum laude)

MARY BETH L. SWEENEY
mbsweeney@atwoodcherny.com
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