Stephen C. Reilly

Massachusetts

Fitch Law Partners LLP
84 State Street
11th Floor
Boston, MA 02109

Tel: 617-542-5542

Email: scr@fitchlp.com
Web: www.fitchlp.com

Professional Biography

Stephen C. Reilly is a Partner in the Boston office of Fitch Law Partners LLP, a preeminent New England litigation law firm dedicated to the practice of excellence in the resolution of complex disputes.

For nearly 30 years, Mr. Reilly’s practice has focused on commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on the defense of banks and other financial institutions in complex liability cases. He has achieved consistently outstanding results in both state and federal trial and appellate courts in Massachusetts.

Mr. Reilly has represented several different banks and financial services companies in connection with claims involving, among other things: letters of credit; bank operations and collections; commercial paper and check fraud; wire transfer fraud; safe deposit box litigation; the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; the Fair Credit Reporting Act; the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and Regulation E; the Truth In Lending Act, and Regulation Z; and legal process issues, including subpoena compliance, trustee process, attachments, search warrants and restraining orders.

Prior to joining Fitch Law Partners LLP in January, 1995, Mr. Reilly had been with the Boston law firm of Hale and Dorr, where he became a junior partner in the litigation department in 1994. Mr. Reilly graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in 1986 from Middlebury College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Mr. Reilly is admitted to the Massachusetts state bar, the District of Columbia bar, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Since 2004, Mr. Reilly has been recognized as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in an annual list published by a Thomson Reuters rating service in Boston Magazine. He is also recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2023 for work in: Litigation – Banking and Finance and Commercial Litigation.

Key Cases of Note

Mr. Reilly represented the defendant bank in both the trial and appellate courts in Grassi Design Group, Inc., et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., et al., 74 Mass. App. Ct. 456, review denied, 454 Mass. 1108 (2009). In that case, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the bank in a convoluted check fraud saga. The Grassi decision is significant because it marked the first instance in which an appellate court in Massachusetts had ruled on the “same wrongdoer” rule set forth in Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) § 4-406(d)(2) — a key defense to many check fraud claims. The Appeals Court also made it clear that, in a check fraud case such as Grassi, the bank’s customer bears the burden of proving that the bank did not exercise “ordinary care” as that term is specifically defined in UCC § 3-103(a)(7).

Mr. Reilly also represented the defendant bank in both the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Demelo, et al. v. U.S. Bank National Association, 727 F.3d 117 (1st Cir. 2013). In that matter, which involved complex allegations of predatory lending and wrongful foreclosure, the First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims. The First Circuit’s decision, which turned on he application of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”), establishes binding precedent for federal courts located in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.

Publications and Teaching

  • Stephen C. Reilly, Creating a Discovery Plan, which appears as Chapter 3 of Massachusetts Discovery Practice (MCLE, Inc. 2002). Portions of that article were re-printed in a leading civil procedure textbook: Subrin, Minow, Brodin and Main, Civil Procedure: Doctrine, Practice, and Context 2nd Ed. (Aspen Publishers, 2004).
  • Stephen C. Reilly & Charles Donelan, Preparing To Take A Deposition, which appears as Chapter 3 of the Massachusetts Deposition Practice Manual, 2nd Ed., 1st Supplement (MCLE, Inc. 2008).
  • Mr. Reilly has participated as a Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education faculty panelist on multiple occasions.

The Banking Litigation Practice

FITCH has represented some of the nation’s largest banks, as well as several regional financial institutions, in hundreds of bank operations claims, check fraud, wire transfer fraud, and other cases. The firm has extensive experience representing banks in litigation involving claims made against them and claims for recoveries arising out of alleged bank operations failures.

We have specific expertise in the following areas: letters of credit; bank operations and collections; commercial paper and check fraud (including Check 21 and remote deposit capture issues); wire transfer fraud; disputed security interests; insurance bond claims; safe deposit litigation; legal process issues, including subpoena compliance, trustee process, attachments, search warrants and restraining orders; Truth in Lending Act claims; and representation of bank officer — and employee — witnesses at nonparty depositions.

FITCH has represented numerous financial institutions in operations and counseling matters. Our services include negotiating and drafting software purchase agreements, service provider agreements and customer agreements for financial institutions. Our expertise includes negotiating and drafting software purchase agreements, service provider agreements and customer agreements for banks.

About Fitch Law Partners

Fitch Law Partners LLP is a litigation law firm distinguished by its preeminent lawyers and the successful results it has achieved for its sophisticated group of clients in diverse and complex cases. We represent leading regional, national and international corporations, utilities, insurers, financial institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations. We also represent entrepreneurs, general and limited partnerships, closely-held companies, lawyers, accountants and other professionals, and individuals involved in civil and criminal matters.

The firm pursues the highest ideals of client service and professional ethics. Its internal environment is defined by the values of cooperation, intellectual engagement with peers, mutual respect for all who work at the firm, and a shared commitment to excellence in the resolution of complex disputes. We love what we do, we enjoy the people we work with, and we are energized by the urgent needs of the clients we are prvileged to represent.

Our reputation for excellence in the practice of complex litigation is widely recognized by the leading industry rankings. A total of nineteen of our partners and other lawyers at the firm have been named as “Massachusetts Super Lawyers”​ or “Rising Stars Under 40″​ in the annual lists published by the Thomson Reuters rating service in Boston Magazine. Eight partners of Fitch Law Partners LLP are listed in the Best Lawyers in America. Four of our partners have been listed as among the “Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers.”​ Fitch Law Partners LLP has been recognized as an “AV”​ rated law firm in the benchmark Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory – the highest rating for legal ability and professional ethics – for the last thirty-two years. It has also regularly been recognized as among the Best Law Firms in America by U.S. News and World Report.