Edward F. Wallace   Laura Sheppard   William A. Simmons 

Ed has been practicing law over 30 years. He received his law degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1978. Ed is admitted to practice before all the courts of the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Ed is also certified as an Advocate by the National College of Advocacy*. Ed has completed the Brain Injury Association Trial Lawyers Conference. One of Ed’s cases was reported in Trial Magazine, a magazine published by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, reporting on the fact that Ed was able to introduce into evidence, for the first time in United States legal history, objective test confirming the diagnosis of PTSD. Ed has argued a case in front of the Supreme Court for the state of New Hampshire.

Ed is also a qualified mediator having completed the mandatory course in Mediation through Mediation Works Inc. In addition, he has, for almost a decade, sat as a conciliator in the Superior Courts of Massachusetts. Ed is a member of the New England Chapter of Alternative Conflict Resolution. (NEACR)

Ed has been married for 36 years and has two children. Ed tries to be socially responsible and drives a hybrid vehicle. Ed was a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary for almost 10 years where he taught public safe boating classes and went on safety patrols.

Attorney Laura Sheppard received her law degree from the Massachusetts School of Law in 1996. She is admitted to practice before all of the courts of the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. She has been handling personal injury cases for over 12 years. Attorney Sheppard litigates matters in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts State and Federal courts and routinely appears before the NH Department of Labor and MA Department of Industrial Accidents and Social Security Administration. In addition, Laura has helped clients to resolve their claims through mediation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution processes.

Prior to joining our firm, Laura worked in New Hampshire for a large Nashua law firm and later for a small Manchester law firm where she focused her practice on personal injury and workers’ compensation and social security disability matters. Prior to relocating her practice to New Hampshire, Laura worked for a busy downtown Boston personal injury firm. Prior to becoming an attorney, Laura worked for over ten years as a paralegal assisting clients with personal injury matters, including families of young children who suffered lead poisoning.

Laura is also a qualified mediator having completed the mandatory forty hour training from Mediation Works, Inc. Laura is a member of the New England Chapter of Alternative Conflict Resolution (NEACR). She also sits as a volunteer conciliator for the Lowell Superior Court. Most recently, Laura has become certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Committee for Public Counsel Services, to accept appointments to represent mental health clients in connection with mental health commitment hearings.

Laura is also an active member of the New Hampshire Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

She was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1996 and to the New Hampshire bar in 1998. Laura received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1987 and her Juris Doctor degree from the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover in 1996.

Outside of her busy law practice, Laura is an avid gardener and enjoys spending her free time outside in her gardens with her husband and German Shepherd. She also spends her summers camping.

    William A. Simmons

Attorney William A. Simmons is the former director of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Office of Emergency Response Site Assessment and Remedial Actions. Following his career with the DEP, he founded Simmons Environmental Services, Inc., with his wife, Karen.

As a Licensed Site Professional, Bill worked with clients to conduct complete removal, remediation and site restoration projects. He is one of the first people in Massachusetts to be certified as a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) by the Board of Registration of Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Professionals.

After working for several years as an environmental professional, Bill completed a law degree. He earned his Juris Doctor from the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in December 2006.

Bill is one of the few, if not the only, attorneys in Massachusetts who holds dual professional registration as a Licensed Site Professional. During his DEP career, Bill served as the first director of the Office of Emergency Response, Site Assessment and Remediation; deputy director of the Air Quality Control Division and assistant chief engineer of the Water Pollution Control Division.

In addition to his law degree, Bill has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Northeastern University and received his Juris Doctor from the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, MA in 2006. He is a member of the National Groundwater Association, the Licensed Site Professional Association and the American Chemical Society.