Rebecca O’Brien's practice focuses on complex civil litigation matters, including matters involving education, business and employment-related disputes. Ms. O’Brien regularly represents colleges, universities, and other educational institutions in a wide range of matters, including cases involving complaints arising under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, employment and tenure disputes, student and faculty disciplinary matters, and other matters involving student safety and campus security. 

Ms. O’Brien also represents businesses and individuals in contract and employment-related disputes, including matters involving the negotiation of employment-related agreements and the enforcement of restrictive covenants. Her work involves the conduct of internal investigations, administrative and disciplinary hearings, appearances before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and litigation in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts. 

Ms. O’Brien recently achieved a series of significant litigation successes in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where she represented several major universities in defense of a series of putative class actions seeking tuition reimbursement and other remedies arising out of the universities' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Prior to joining Cloherty & Steinberg LLP, Ms. O’Brien was a litigation associate at a midsize law firm where she concentrated on commercial litigation and education-related matters.  She previously served as a law clerk for a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the District of Massachusetts and as an associate at a large Boston-based law firm.