Our Practices

Real Estate Law

Protect your real estate assets.

Purchasing or Selling real estate? We got you covered!

Business Law

Protect your business assets.

Registering a business, need a contract created, want us to review something? Look no further!

Wills, Trusts & Estate

Protect your personal assets.

Rest at ease knowing your affairs are in order and legally secured!

Civil Litigation & Criminal Defense

Protect yourself.

We will represent you in the court room and make sure you're legal needs are taken care of!

Education

Suffolk University Law School, 1967 to 1969 and 1971 to 1973. I was inducted into the Army in the spring of my second year (1969) and after basic training and upon completing infantry school, and leadership school I went to Vietnam, where instead of serving in an infantry unit I was assigned to the Staff Judge Advocate’s office at Long Binh Post. I returned to Suffolk, and since I had not completed my second year, the school policy was that I had to repeat it. Winner of a Criminal Law award and Participant in Voluntary Defenders Program in Salem, Massachusetts. This was a program administered by Prof. Thomas Lambert, Esq. who was a prosecutor in the Nuremburg Trials. I traveled to the Salem District Court through my third year and then throughout the summer after graduation to finish all of my caseload.

Suffolk University Law School, J.D., 1973, co-founder of The Advocate, a law school student magazine, still being published.

Boston University School of Management, B.S. in B.A., 1967

Awarded a Bronze Star during my service in Vietnam 1969-1970

Employment

Tomassian & Tomassian, Edgartown and Watertown, Massachusetts, 1976 - present. General practice specializing in real estate conveyancing, real estate related litigation, wills, trusts and estate, probate and estate litigation, civil litigation, business law and criminal defense

Self-Employed Title Examiner, 1974-1976

Law Clerk, Boyle and Montgomery, Edgartown, Massachusetts, 1973-1974

Title Examiner, Flynn and Flynn, Waltham, Massachusetts during the summer, working in the Middlesex County and Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, 1973

Law Clerk for Singer, Stoneman, and Kurland, Boston, Massachusetts (before and after classes and during the Defenders Program). A major assignment included incorporating multiple General Cinema Corporation theatres in at least ten states and then as I was graduating from law school, I was assigned to merge them into one corporation per state (up-stream mergers).

Law Clerk with the Staff Judge Advocate’s General Corps for the United States Army Support Command Vietnam (USARV) Claims Clerk; and assisted on several criminal defense teams, including one murder Court Martial with the late Bill Homans, Esq. of Boston. 1970-71

Professional Affiliations

Massachusetts Bar Association

Dukes County Bar Association

Massachusetts Real Estate Bar Association (REBA)

American Trial Lawyers Association, past member

American Bar Association, Sections on Real Property, Family Law, past member

Bar Related Activites

January 2018 Joined the Statewide Panel of Attorneys to Represent Lawyers Before the Board of Bar Overseers on a Pro Bono or Reduced Fee Basis

2010 -2015 Member of Joint Bar Committee for the Appointment of Judicial Nominees, served previously in 1986 & 1987

August 11, 2010 Sponsor of “Political Challenges Influencing (or not) Those Serving on the Bench” featuring Hon. Norman Stahl Senior Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1 st Circuit and Hon. Robert A. Gammage, Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (retired). Presented by the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Dispute Resolution at the Old Whaling Church, Edgartown, MA

2009 to present Certified Veterans Agent

2009 to 2015 Elected as Director of MLAC (Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation) by the Presidents of the various Massachusetts County Bars at a Bar Delegates Meeting.

2010 to Present Public Administrator-County of Dukes County

2005 to Present President of the Dukes County Bar Association, previously served as president from 1987-1988, 2000-2003.

2005 to Present Delegate to Massachusetts Bar Association, House of Delegates, previously a Delegate 1988-1989, 2002-2003.

1989 -1992 Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, Alternate Hearing Committee Member for District 5 (Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes and Nantucket Counties)

1984-1986 Vice President of the Dukes County Bar Association

1983-1984 Secretary of the Dukes County Bar Association

1979 Appointed Land Court Examiner by Judge Randall

Interesting Cases

The case of Deaf Pilots
Was one of several attorneys representing two of the three plaintiffs in the airplane crash litigation of members of the Deaf Pilots Association vs. Cessna that crashed in Katama Airfield in Edgartown Massachusetts concerning a defective pilots seat. The case was settled after a four week trial, involving two signers supplied by the court system, using American sign-language. They were supplied by the Commonwealth and our own signer was present throughout the 4 weeks to make sure the ones supplied by the court were interpreting correctly.

The First Federal Case on Martha’s Vineyard
In the only Federal Court Trial, before Chief Judge Caffery, I represented thirteen Gay Head Wampanoag Indians against a homeowner who built a house on the wrong lot. In actuality it was the homeowner’s husband who built the house on the wrong lot and transferred it to his wife, the defendant, in a divorce settlement. The home owner was required to move the house onto the property she owned.

Booze in the Town of Gosnold
I represented about ten resident of the town of Gosnold whose residency was being challenged by the Gosnold Chief of Police and his wife who ran a Bed and Breakfast on Cuttyhunk Island. She wanted to serve alcohol in this historically dry town and they thought the only way to accomplish their goal was to remove certain individuals from the voting list. None of them owned land in Gosnold, as they all lived in homes owned by the Forbes Family Trust (no relation to John Kerry) and they rented the homes from the trust, mostly on Naushon Island where there is no private ownership of real estate. In the winter these folks may have lived elsewhere in Massachusetts or across the country but they chose to vote in Gosnold, giving up their voting rights were they lived. Many were also on various town boards and commuted to Cuttyhunk were the town hall was located, for various meetings, throughout the year. After the first two or three hearings before the Town Clerk which were decided in favor of the residents I represented, the town clerk cancelled the remainder of the hearings in disgust.

The case of the sisters vs the sister-in-law
My father had written a will for Mrs. Curry who lived in our home town of Watertown where my dad practiced law for over 40 years. Mr. and Mrs Curry lived upstairs in a two family and Mrs. Levy the daughter-in-law nurse lived down stairs. After Mr. Levy died, Mrs. Levy took care of her father-in-law until he died and then took care of her mother- in-law. Somewhere during the last year of her life. Mrs. Curry was spirited away from her home and taken to the cape where she executed a will leaving everything to her two daughters, who never lifted a finger to assist, aid or help their ailing mother. They were content to let their sister in law, take their mother food shopping, to the doctor, to the dentist, to hair appointments, to the hospital for tests, and later on change her colostomy bag, feed and cook for her. My father filed suit to set aside the will for undue influence and in contract for the fair value of services rendered. I left Martha’s Vineyard and tried the case in the Middlesex County Superior Court where the sitting judge was Sam Flaxman of Oak Bluffs who used to be the District Court Judge in Dukes County. When he retired he was on the list to be “called-up” to the Superior Court when and if needed. So he sat on my very first civil jury trial. Using “a day in the life of” formula for Mrs. Levey. The 12 jurors were repulsed by the actions of the two sisters. I prevailed for my dad’s client in both the Superior Court and the Appeals court.

The case of the Hospital Administrator
I represented Edward B. Hanify, Jr. a hospital administrator in the Air Force who had completed a MPH course at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. It was a cause celeb on Martha’s Vineyard where there was a hospital board consisting of remittance men from across the country and industry and doctors who thought they rand the hospital. The doctors did everything known to mankind to get rid of him including breaking into his office to steal his resume. I could find other lawyer who would help me. This was before computes so I had at least four 3x5 cards for every piece of evidence representing who wrote a letter, who received it, what was it about and a date. I ended up brining suit against four doctors and the president of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and out of 55 counts filed against the defendant only one was dismissed and that is because we dismissed it as the president had debilitating brain disease. There were many twists and turns to the case. For example my client’s father was a rain maker at Ropes and Gray in Boston. He represented the Archdiocese and was featured in the movie the Verdict starring Paul Newman based on the book by Barry Reed a Boston personal injury lawyer. Attorney Hannify butted into my case a few times so I went to his office. That is another story all by itself. The jury found against the doctors for over 6 million dollars.