Patricia A. O’Connell is a partner at Kajko, Weisman & Colasanti, LLP, where she focuses her practice on family law, including:
- Sophisticated divorce proceedings involving high net-worth individuals, closely-held businesses, gifted and inherited assets, trusts, and other matters unique to complex marital estates
- Drafting and negotiating prenuptial, postnuptial, separation and cohabitation agreements
- High-conflict custody and parenting disputes, including the removal of children across state lines
- Paternity/parentage actions
- Actions to modify and/or enforce prior judgments
- Abuse prevention proceedings
- Agreements pertaining to the use of assisted reproductive technology; and
- Issues unique to divorces involving same-sex spouses.
Prior to joining Kajko, Weisman & Colasanti, LLP, Ms. O’Connell practiced exclusively in family law with another prominent domestic relations law firm in Boston. Every year since 2009, she has been recognized as a “Rising Star” or “Super Lawyer” in the field of family law by Super Lawyers (as published in Boston Magazine).
Ms. O’Connell, who has been an adjunct professor at Northeastern University School of Law, continues to write and lecture frequently on issues pertaining to domestic relations law. She is the co-author of all five editions of Trying Divorce Cases in Massachusetts, a step-by-step guide for lawyers litigating divorce cases. Ms. O’Connell is a frequent panelist for the continuing legal education, including the Massachusetts Bar Association’s 2013 Annual Family Law Conference. There, she shared her “Client Primer: The Basics of Equitable Distribution and the Treatment of Gifted and Inherited Assets in Massachusetts” (MBA, Inc. 2013, included in 2013 MBA Family Law Conference course materials). Other published works include “Meeting with the Custody Advisor” in The Family Advocate (American Bar Association, Spring 2012) and a chapter in “Calculating Divorce: It’s Getting Personal!” (MCLE, Inc. 2011).
She received her B.A. in History (cum laude) from the College of the Holy Cross in 1996 and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2000.
Areas Of Practice
Bar Admissions
- U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts, 2001
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia
- J.D. – 2000
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts
- B.A. – 1996
- Major: History
Published Works
- Client Primer: The Basics of Equitable Distribution and the Treatment of Gifted and Inherited Assets in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Bar Association, 2013 MBA Annual Family Law Conference (course materials), 2013
- TRYING DIVORCE CASES IN MASSACHUSETTS (3D ED.), MCLE, Inc. 2013, 3d ed. (Donald G. Tye, Peter A. Kuperstein, Patricia A. O’Connell, eds), 2013
- Meeting with the Custody Advisor, THE FAMILY ADVOCATE, American Bar Association, Spring, 2012
- Section 1, Information Gathering in CALCULATING DIVORCE: IT’s GETTING PERSONAL!, MCLE Inc. 2011, 2011
- TRYING DIVORCE CASES IN MASSACHUSETTS (2D ED.), MCLE, Inc. 2010, 2d ed. (Donald G. Tye, Peter A. Kuperstein, Patricia A. O’Connell, eds), 2010
- TRYING DIVORCE CASES IN MASSACHUSETTS, MCLE Inc. 2007, 1st ed. (Donald G. Tye, Patricia A. O’Connell, Phyllis Kolman, eds), 2007
Classes/Seminars
- Treatment of Gifted, Inherited, & Trust Assets, MBA Family Law Conference, 2013
- Calculating Divorce – It’s Getting Personal!, MCLE, Inc., 2010
Honors and Awards
- Named a “Rising Star” in Family Law by Massachusetts Super Lawyers
- Named a “Super Lawyer”, in Family Law by Massachusetts Super Lawyers
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Massachusetts Bar Association, Member, 2001 to Present
- Boston Bar Association, Member, 2001 to Present
Past Employment Positions
- Prince Lobel Tye LLP, Associate, 2008 to 2014
- Northeastern University School of Law , Adjunct Professor, 2007 to 2008
- Holland & Knight LLP, Associate, 2000 to 2002
