Of Counsel
Litigation; Trusts & Estates/Probate Litigation; Bankruptcy
About Peter
After being chairperson of the firm’s litigation department for almost 40 years, Peter assumed the role of the department’s chairperson emeritus. In that role, Peter continues his active litigation practice and works with the chairperson of the department in its administration and management. He has handled and managed matters of almost every nature and description in Federal, State, Bankruptcy, and Probate courts and has litigated contractual disputes, land use disputes, probate and trust disputes, bankruptcy matters, and insurance cases of various kinds, including defense litigation, title insurance claims, financial institution bond claims, and personal injury matters. Peter also has been qualified as an expert witness on litigation matters in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts, and has appeared in courts in other jurisdictions and in foreign countries. Peter also serves as co-general counsel of the firm.
Peter has a recognized and distinguished record of service both to the Bar and to the community. In 1998, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court awarded him the first annual William J. LeDoux Clients’ Security Board Award for outstanding pro bono legal representation of a claimant before the board. He subsequently was named to and served from 2000 to 2005 on the Clients’ Security Board of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which was formed to compensate victims of lawyers who had stolen clients’ funds and had not made restitution. Peter also was a volunteer lecturer at the Boston University School of Law and has served as a trustee for charities and other trusts and as a personal representative of estates and is a co-founder and past president of the Hellenic Bar Association. He previously served as Chief Law Clerk for the Justices of the Superior Court in 1971 – 1972.
Peter is the author of “Obtaining Pretrial Security,” a chapter in the Massachusetts Superior Court Civil Practice Manual (MCLE, Inc. 3rd ed. 2013 & Supp. 2015). In 2024, Peter completed an update of Chapter Four of the 6th Edition of the Massachusetts Superior Court Civil Practice Manual, which focuses on how to obtain pretrial security in the Superior Court. The manual is a two-volume set published by the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Press.
Representative Matters
MoreLess- Successfully represented a religious institution as beneficiary of significant real estate holdings of decedent in will contest proceedings and liquidated said holdings for the benefit of the charity
- Successfully represented trust beneficiaries disputing distribution of trust principal and income
- Successfully defended a dog (pro bono) from execution for attack in defense of its owner
- Served as Superior Court receiver in Essex County regarding low income housing units
- Successfully represented Trustee in bankruptcy in numerous cases regarding obtaining contested assets for bankruptcy estates
- Represented clients in wrongful death and personal injury suits
- Successfully represented claimants in recovery of a fire insurance claims
- Retained by Rhode Island Department of Economic Protection to assist in recovery of assets diverted from thrift institutions
- Obtained contested recovery for banks under banker’s blanket bonds and under surety bonds covering defalcation of a bankruptcy Trustee
- Obtained recovery in a class action suit by lenders against surety to recover $35 million owed under payment bonds
Cases Of Interest
MoreLess- In re Duro Industries, Inc., 293 B.R. 271 (1st Cir. BAP 2003)
- Braunstein v. McCabe, 571 F.3d 109 (1st Cir. 2009).
- Beatrice v. Braunstein (In re: Beatrice), 246 B. R. 576, 581
In The News
MoreLess- Federal judge orders return of Ted Williams’s rings to John Henry Williams – Judge William Young of the United States District Court ordered that two championship rings, which once belonged to baseball great Ted Williams, should be returned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to his son. Peter Sutton, a senior partner at the law firm of Riemer & Braunstein, who represents Ted Williams and his son, had filed a motion with the Federal Court to have the rings returned to John Henry Williams, after one of the defendants, who had been found not guilty of extortion, had filed a motion to have the FBI turn the rings over to him.
Associated Press, July 28, 1999 - Debtor doesn’t have right to jury trial in action seeking turnover of property – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently held that debtors do not have a right to jury trials in actions by trustees seeking the turnover of property during bankruptcy proceedings. Mark Corner and Peter Sutton, who represented the trustee in this case, said the holding makes it easier in turnover cases for bankruptcy trustees to pursue assets of debtors and to cut down on delays and expenses in bankruptcy proceedings.
The United States Law Week, July 14, 2009