Donovan & O'Connor Adding Dodig to its Name

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire County's oldest and largest law firm, Donovan & O'Connor is changing its name to Donovan O'Connor & Dodig as of July 15.

The addition of Chris S. Dodig's name marks the first name change for the well-known law firm since 1954, when J. Norman O'Connor Sr. joined Walter Donovan in the general practice of law. Donovan, an Adams native, had been practicing law in Berkshire County since 1913.

Dodig joined the firm in 1990, at age 24, after receiving his juris doctorate from Albany Law School. Dodig focuses his practice on litigation, including serious injury cases, and broke new ground for the firm by securing numerous million and multi-million dollar settlements, judgments and verdicts. His most notable cases include a $5.9 million settlement in a Vermont double fatality case, an $8 million settlement in a Massachusetts medical malpractice case, a $9.5 million judgment in a domestic battery case and $7.9 million jury verdict on behalf of a Bennington family in a medical malpractice matter. He also represented the family of Richard O'Bert in the civil rights claims surrounding his shooting death by Vermont State police in April 2000.

In addition to practicing law, Dodig is active throughout the Berkshire County community. He has been a Big Brother and has served on the board of directors of the Family Life Support Center (Louison House), tThe Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, the North County Development Corporation and the Northern Berkshire United Way and he has been elected to  Mt. Greylock Regional School Committee. He has served as a coach in the Williamstown/Lanesborough Youth basketball and softball leagues and participates regularly in the Community Reading Day at Lanesborough Elementary School. He also has served as president of the Berkshire County Bar Association and is a member of the Board of Governors for the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys.

Dodig has also been active in the management at Donovan & O'Connor, serving as the firm's first managing partner and the firm's director of marketing for the past 20 years.

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.