Attorney Elisabeth C. Goodman Joins Donovan O'Connor and Dodig

12:29PM / Friday, June 13, 2025Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Donovan O'Connor & Dodig, LLP announced that Atty. Elisabeth C. Goodman has joined the firm.

Goodman comes to the firm after many years of successful practice in the Commonwealth, primarily in Berkshire County.

She was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1984 and is also admitted in the District of Columbia. She has extensive experience in real estate, zoning, and environmental law and represents a wide variety of clients including developers with innovative re-use projects, homeowners who organized into special government districts, emerging and start up companies, non-profit organizations, and environmental engineering firms.

Goodman reviews and advises on complex transactions, including public financing and large-scale public construction projects. In addition to that work. Goodman is also experienced in estate planning and estate administration.

In addition to her advocacy for clients, Atty. Goodman is active in the community and has served as a board member of a number of local nonprofit organizations including, but by no means limited to, the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce, Greylock A Better Chance, Inc., and Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity. Goodman is presently the elected Town Moderator for Williamstown.

Marnie A. Clough, the current Managing Partner at the firm commented:

"Donovan O'Connor & Dodig, LLP is fortunate to have an attorney of Beth's caliber and background join the firm. Her knowledge and love of our area, coupled with her expertise in real estate, including zoning and environmental issues, as well as in estate planning and administration, is truly unique. We are excited to have her as part of our team."

Donovan O'Connor & Dodig, LLP is the region's oldest and largest law firm with offices in North Adams, Pittsfield, and Springfield, Massachusetts as well as in Bennington, Vermont and offers a wide range of legal services to meet the needs of the community.

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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