O’Connell &
O'Connell was founded at the end of the nineteenth
century, and members of the family have maintained the
active practice representing both domestic and overseas
clients ever since that time.
Joseph F. O’Connell,
Sr. began his practice of law upon
graduation from Harvard Law School in 1897. Local
Boston politics during the early twentieth century
were dominated by such notables as John F. "Honey
Fitz" Fitzgerald, the grandfather of President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy, and James Michael Curley.
Active in politics during the
same era,
Joseph, Sr.’s career took him to
Washington DC to serve as a Member of Congress in the
US House of Representatives during in the Sixtieth and
Sixty-first Congresses, representing the 10th District
of Massachusetts from March 1907 to March
1911.
Following his defeat by Curley in
November 1910, he returned to the practice of law in
Boston with his new bride, the daughter of a fellow
Congressman from Pennsylvania. The two raised a large
family of eleven, three of whom were in time to follow
their father into the practice of law. He continued
the practice of law until his death in 1942.
His
brother, Daniel
T. O'Connell,
also practiced with Joe Sr. until Daniel was appointed
to the bench of the Massachusetts Superior
Court in 1928. Uncle Don, as he was known, also sat as
a judge during the war crimes trials in Nuremberg,
Germany, following World War II. Click for more on the
RuSHA trial.
Another brother,
James E. O'Connell, was
also a member of the firm during these years.
As mentioned, three siblings in the second generation
followed their father and uncles into the practice of law.
Joseph F. O'Connell,
Jr. served as a Judge Advocate in World
War II in the South Pacific (pictured here in New
Zealand in March 1945) and Southwest Pacific theaters.
He left active duty later that year and returned to
Boston.
Once he had returned home, he
continued as a reserve JAG officer rising to the rank
of Colonel, and rejoined the firm where he practiced
law until his untimely death in 1966. He had two
children, both of whom would follow their father into
the practice of law.
J.T. Lenahan O'Connell was
admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1938 and
practiced for many decades until his retirement at the
end of 2012. He served with the US Army in the
Southwest Pacific during World War II as a Judge
Advocate officer. He continued his service as a
reserve JAG officer, rising to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel at his retirement from the military.
Following World War II, he worked for a time as an
Assistant Attorney General in Massachusetts. He then
rejoined the firm where he was to practice until his
retirement in 2012.
He celebrated his 100th birthday in June 2013, surrounded
by his three sons, and his several grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. He passed away in January 2014.
Frederick P.
O'Connell, the third son in the large
family, served as a Lieutenant in the US Navy during
World War II. He returned to Boston after military
service to practice with the firm for a time before
moving to Kennebunk, Maine where he was subsequently
admitted to practice as well. After being appointed as
Maine's Commissioner for Veterans' Affairs, he
relocated his practice to Augusta, and remained there
for the remainder of his career. He served for a time
as an Assistant Attorney General and later as a
permanent Commissioner on Uniform State Laws. He was
active in community affairs as well, serving as an
active Rotarian, and as Chairman of the Augusta School
Committee. He was to continue his general practice of
law until his death in 1990.
During their absences to serve in World War II, the
practice was maintained by their aunt, attorney
Margaret F. Lenahan, a graduate of Trinity
College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Joseph F. O'Connell III, the grandson of
the firm's founder, was admitted to practice in 1975 in
Texas and Massachusetts, and in 1978 in the District of
Columbia. After some years working with Fortune 500
corporate clients in the insurance and reinsurance
industry, he joined O'Connell & O'Connell in 1997.
Retired as a Colonel after almost thirty-eight years of
active and reserve service in the US Army, he was recalled
to active service twice during his reserve career, serving
as a Judge Advocate General officer specializing in
international law in Saudi Arabia in 1990/1 during
Operations DESERT SHIELD / DESERT STORM, and then again in
1996 as a Staff Judge Advocate in Germany as part of the
implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended
fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He continued to serve for a
time after retirement as an adjunct lecturer at the Defense
Institute of International Legal Studies, where his travels
included seminars in West Africa, Central Asia and the
Caucasus.
In addition to his law degree, he has also earned
post-graduate masters degrees in business administration
and strategic studies.
