George N. Papachristos

George Papachristos graduated from the Massachusetts School of Law with a Juris Doctor in the summer of 2004, and was admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts in 2005. While in Law School, George interned for the Criminal Clerk’s Office in Quincy, Massachusetts, and the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, opportunities that molded him for the practice. In serving the public, often in high stress situations, he fostered a talent for making quick, strategic decisions and cemented his core values at the very early stages of his career. During his internship for the Quincy Clerk’s Office, George quickly developed a great sense of the inner workings of the Court system while devoting his time to assisting the public with various concerns and questions, and assisting the Assistant Clerk Magistrate’s in sessions conducted at the courthouse, such as probation violation hearings, small claims and show-cause hearings.

While interning with the Norfolk District Attorney’s office, George solidified his devotion to serving the public and quickly fostered the core values required of a talented attorney: hard work, compassion, empathy and a passion for applying this knowledge to helping people. He adapted to the needs required of his cases and his supervisors, and continued on with his sights set on passing the Massachusetts Bar Exam.

Upon completion of law school, George was hired as a full time Assistant District Attorney with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office. After working in four of the five District Courts of the County, George was promoted to the Supervising Assistant District Attorney at Dedham District Court in 2006, where he oversaw all district court criminal matters, pre-trial and trial (misdemeanors and felonies) for the towns of Wellesley, Westwood, Dedham, Dover, Needham, Medfield and Norwood, as well as all jury trial matters for the towns of Brookline, Stoughton, Avon, Sharon and Canton. In addition to his role as the Supervising Assistant District Attorney in Dedham District Court, George was promoted to the Motor Vehicle Homicide Unit of the District Attorney’s Office, and remained in that specialized unit until October of 2012.

In 2007, George was promoted to the Major Felony Unit where he practiced exclusively in the Norfolk Superior Court. He handled a wide variety of cases, including major felonies that involved motor vehicle homicide and drug trafficking cases. His experience not only included countless hours in the courtroom, but also in the investigative phases of cases. During his career as a prosecutor, George worked with local, state and federal agencies in the development and prosecution of cases. As part of the Motor Vehicle Homicide Unit, George responded to crime scenes involving motor vehicle related fatalities that occurred within the County and participated in investigations involving local and state police.

During his tenure in District and Superior Court, George attended several trainings in regards to courtroom case development as well as the investigative phases. These include but are not limited to: Career Prosecutor Training; Forensic Evidence Training; Advanced Reconstruction Training and Prosecution; the Gang Prevention Summit; Medico-Legal Death Investigations Training; and Narcotics Investigations and Search Warrant Trainings. George was also the Trial Adviser for the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School in 2008 and was a featured speaker at the Norfolk County Superior Court Practical Skills Seminar in the area of Accident Reconstruction in April of 2012 at the Norfolk Superior Court.

Currently, George’s areas of expertise range from criminal defense to family law, including but not limited to divorce, child custody and support cases, contract disputes and litigation, franchise litigation and transactional work. As a lawyer with an eye for the community, George continues to work diligently with non-profit law programs such as Senior Partners for Justice, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Norfolk Bar Association and The Senior Partners for Justice, which partners with the Volunteer Lawyers Project to provide pro-bono legal services to Boston persons in need.

George is a native of Greece, is bilingual and currently services the Greek community in Greater Boston as a loyal attorney.

Massachusetts Bar, 2005

Federal Bar, 2013

 

Massachusetts School of Law, J.D.                                                                                                               Andover, 2004

 

Suffolk University, B.S., Paralegal Studies.                                                                                            Boston, 1999

CONTINUED LEGAL EDUCATION AND TRAININGS

Career Prosecutors Training, National College of District Attorneys                                                      South Carolina, 2006

Motions to Suppress, Motions in Limine Training (Suppression Issues) Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education                   Boston, 2007

Cross Examination Training, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education                                                                    Boston, 2007

Trial Adviser for the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop                                                       Harvard Law School, January 2008

 

Advanced Reconstruction Training and Prosecution, Massachusetts District Attorney’s Association                    Worcester, 2008

Forensic Evidence Training (DNA, Ballistics, Wound Analysis, G.S.R.)  National College of District Attorneys

San Antonio, TX, 12-2010

 

N.O.R.P.A.C. (Norfolk County Police Anti-Crime Task Force)                Narcotics Investigations and Search Warrants Training:                                                                                                              Norwood Police Department, April, 2011

 

Introduction to Cell Phone Investigations(Geocell Communications Intelligence)                                                 Quincy, 2011

Handling Drug Cases Seminar, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education                                                     Boston, 2011

 

Norfolk County South Shore Street Crimes Unit Intelligence Meeting, Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office              Dedham, January, 2012

Gang Prevention Summit  (United States Attorney’s Office)                                           Bentley University, March 15, 2012

 

N.O.R.P.A.C. (Norfolk County Police Anti-Crime Task Force)                Narcotics Investigations and Search Warrants Training:                                                                                                              Norwood Police Department, April, 2012

 

Speaker:  Norfolk County Superior Court Practical Skills Seminar                                                      Norfolk Superior Court

Dedham, April 25, 2012

 

Medico-Legal Death Investigation Training(Boston University School of Medicine Professional Studies in Applied Forensic Sciences and Criminal Investigations)                                                                                     Boston, May 14-18, 2012

 

Guns, Drugs and Money (Ballistics, Narcotics and Narcotics Investigations Training) Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

Boston, June 6, 2012

A Guide to Expert Witnesses in Criminal Cases                                     Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

Boston, July 30, 2013

Divorce Law                                                                                 Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

Boston, May 30, 2013

Arrest, Search and Seizure in Massachusetts                                          Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

Boston, June 11, 2013

The Nuts and Bolts of Voir Dire for District Court and Superior Court Practitioners                   Norfolk County Bar Advocate Seminar

Norfolk Superior Court, April 30, 2103

The Norfolk County Veterans’ Court                                                                        Norfolk County Bar Advocate Seminar

Dedham District Court, June 18, 2103

Handling Sexual Crimes From Investigation To Trial                               Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

Boston, June 17, 2016

 

 

Played role of Judge for Westborough High School Legal Studies Mock Trial Competition      Westborough, January 10, 2013

 

Courtroom Training for Westwood Police Department                                                                  Westwood Police Station, MA

February and March, 2013

 

 

Private Practice                                                                                                                            December, 2012

DCF-51-A-51-B cases/investigations

• Privately retained in three separate care and protection cases- Brockton Juvenile Court (2015-2016), Milford Juvenile Court (2015-2016), Boston Municipal Juvenile Court-Central Division.
• Two of the care and protection cases initiated as emergency removals, and one case child was already in kinship placement when retained.
• Successful in 72 hour hearing and returning children to parent from foster placement.
• All three cases ending in dismissal of the care and protection proceedings against parent.

 

Norfolk District Attorney’s Office                                                     Norfolk County, MA, June 2005 – October, 2012

Assistant District Attorney                                                      

• Approximately 50-80 hours (or more) per week.
• Trainings conducted for the Office:
  • 2006: Conducted mock OUI Trial for Cadets leaving the academy.
  • 2007: Produced 2 videos for the Office to be shown as training for new ADA’s and police.  (OUI and Narcotics Distribution Charge with School Zone Violation)
  • 2011: conducted training for the Office on how to introduce a breathalyzer result into evidence.
  • 2012: speaker at the Norfolk County Superior Court Benchbar Committee, representing the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office at practical skills seminar in the area of Crash Reconstruction and “Black Box” data and their application in court with relation to Daubert-Lanigan
• Promoted to Superior Court Assistant District Attorney, September 2007.
• Promoted to second-in-command of the Motor Vehicle Homicide Unit, 2009.
• Promoted to the Narcotics Unit, March 2011.
• Spearheaded a four-month long grand jury investigation into a kidnapping and shooting case where two victims were forced at gunpoint to conduct a drug buy in order to produce a drug rip, that ended up opening a conspiracy involving other individuals and the current suspects in regards to gang activity, hiding of firearms, letters intended for witness intimidation, and conspiracy to impede the grand jury investigation and locate witnesses and victims.
• Part of the Superior Court Duty ADA rotation, requiring on-call ADA’s for the period of a week for twenty-four hours a day to deal with search warrant issues, arrest issues, complicated extra jurisdictional arrests and search warrants, and as such have dealt with, shootings, white collar-crime cases, search warrants, arrest warrants, and civilian phone call complaints and or issues.
• Provided case summaries, updates and interpretation of case updates as they apply to the street-level of law enforcement to the NORPAC, Norfolk District Attorneys Office State Police Drug Task Force, and remaining police departments within the Norfolk County.
• Have presented cases on a regular basis in front of the Norfolk County Grand Jury since 2006, and have tried cases within the Superior Court Department for the County of Norfolk within the major felonies unit of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
• Had active case load of approximately 20 to 40 cases in Norfolk Superior Court, comprising of drug trafficking, firearm/ammunition, assault with firearms, assaults on corrections officers in State Prison, multiple OUI/DUI offenders, armed robbery, assault with intent to murder, street crimes, firearm offenses, etc.
• Conducted several Grand Jury investigations involving Motor Vehicle Homicides and Motor Vehicle Manslaughter, Armed Robberies, Narcotics Trafficking and Distribution, Firearm Violations, Assault with Intent to Murder, Hazardous Waste Violations, and Larceny of Drugs from a Health Care Facility.
• Prosecuted Trafficking case with the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA Special Agents and Task Force Agents, including FBI Robbery Task Force Members, and cases with the United States Postal Service, Investigative Division for drug trafficking, delivery and drug courier cases.
• Prosecuted cases involving white-collar crimes, domestic violence, misdemeanors and felonies from every District Court in Norfolk County from June 2005 to Present.
• Supervising Assistant District Attorney in Dedham District Court, August 2006 to August 2007.
• Supervised Norfolk County Assistant District Attorneys prosecuting cases originating out of Dedham District Court, including reviewing, assigning, and authorizing disposition of all criminal cases.
• Researched numerous diverse issues pertaining to all areas of criminal law, varying from pre-indictment/pre-arrest to criminal trials.
• Drafted memoranda of law, discovery requests and responses, motion papers, oppositions to motions, indictments, grand jury subpoenas, grand jury summonses, etc.
• Promoted Norfolk County Motor Vehicle Homicide Team, August 2006.
• Handled the investigation and prosecution of fatalities involving motor vehicles anywhere in the County and at anytime during the each duty rotation. Sent to location of fatality and along with local and/or State Police, conduct an investigation as to what happened and whether criminal charges should issue.
• Worked with state and local police departments’ reconstruction teams in assessing evidentiary findings concerning each fatality responded to.
• Successfully handled own appeal before the Appeals Court of Massachusetts on a conviction after jury trial, Commonwealth v. Jonathan Blye. Researched, drafted, and submitted memorandum of law, and subsequently argued case in front of Appeals Court of Massachusetts, receiving a favorable opinion as well as affirming of conviction.
• Handled appeals issues presented in cases prosecuted at the trial level by conducting research and drafting memoranda eventually submitted to the Appeals Court.
• Participated and conducted conferences with victims, possible witnesses, law enforcement and maintain communication regarding the status of a case throughout every stage of the criminal proceeding
• Conducted negations with defense counsel concerning every issue of a criminal case from bail status at arraignment, to structuring plea deals.
• Consulted with local and state police officers and detectives on various issues arising out of criminal investigations and active criminal cases.

 

Clerk Magistrate’s Office, Quincy District Court, Internship                          Quincy, June 2003 – September 2003

• Approximately 30-40 hours per week.
• Assisted general public with legal questions and concerns.
• Assisted Magistrate in Small Claims cases by researching pertinent legal issues and possible dispositions.
• Assisted Clerk in conducting probation violation surrender hearings and pre-trial conferences.
• Assisted Magistrate in conducting Magistrate Hearings in determining probable cause for the issuance of criminal complaints.

National Association of Distinguished Counsel                                                               AWARD 2015:  Nation’s Top One                                                                                                                                                  Percent

Super Lawyers                                                                                                      AWARD 2015:  Top Attorneys in                                                                                    Massachusetts Rising Star (published in Boston Magazine, November 2015)

American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys                                                               AWARD 2016:  Best 10 Under 40 Criminal                                                                                                                              Attorneys In Massachusetts

National Academy of Family Law Attorneys                                                                 AWARD 2016:   Top 10 Under 40                                                                                                        Nationally Ranked for Excellence in Field of Family Law

American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys                                                               AWARD 2017:  10 Best  

Exceptional and Outstanding Client Service

American Association of Premier DUI Attorneys                                                            Winning DUI cases:  Membership 2017

 

American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys                                                               AWARD 2016-2017:10 Best Attorneys

for Client Satisfaction

National Association of Distinguished Counsel (Nation’s Top One Percent)                            Fellowship, June, 2018.