Two North County Law Firms Merge

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Local law firms Donovan & O’Connor, LLP, and DeRosa Dohoney, LLP, have merged as of the first of the year.

The combined entity will maintain the name Donovan & O'Connor and plans to locate its North Adams headquarters at the current DeRosa Dohoney offices in Building 1 of the Mass MoCA complex.  

The region's oldest and largest law firm, Donovan & O'Connor traces its roots back to 1913 when Walter Donovan first began the practice. Before the merger, the firm had 15 actively practicing attorneys with offices in Pittsfield, North Adams and Springfield, as well as Bennington, Vt.

DeRosa Dohoney is the successor law firm to Freedman, DeRosa & Rondeau which was founded in 1976 by Morton Freedman, John B. DeRosa and Patrick Rondeau. In addition to representing its private clients, the law firm has had a visible profile in Berkshire County, playing a lead role in the development of Mass MoCA and other city and county wide economic initiatives. The firm has represented the city of North Adams since 1983, which Attorney DeRosa will continue to do.

Richard M. Dohoney, also a partner at DeRosa Dohoney, will also join Donovan & O’Connor, as well as several staff members. Dohoney, who earned a Rising Star designation from Superlawyers Magazine from 2010 through 2012, will work primarily out of the firm's Pittsfield office and will continue to serve clients from throughout Berkshire County.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.