Counsel
Direct: 1-617-548-5388
Email: phippen@starklattuca.com
Michael Phippen oversees Stark | Lattuca’s growing Criminal Defense Department. As an experienced criminal litigator, Mike has successfully defended hundreds of clients in courtrooms across Massachusetts in cases ranging from simple misdemeanors, restraining orders, to high-profile felonies garnering national attention. Mike’s approach toward criminal defense is as straightforward as it is effective: meticulous preparation of each and every case in anticipation of trial. This strategy positions Mike’s clients to achieve a successful outcome, even when the facts and law warrant a negotiated plea.
Mike’s aggressive approach to criminal defense is a legacy of his years spent working as a criminal prosecutor. Before launching his criminal defense practice, Mike served as an assistant district attorney with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. There, he prosecuted criminal cases at both the district and superior court levels, learning the investigative and prosecutorial techniques utilized by state and local law enforcement agencies. Mike now applies that first-hand knowledge to expertly advise his clients facing criminal prosecution. Above all, Mike prides himself on his uncommon accessibility, polished courtroom demeanor, and careful consideration of his clients’ unique circumstances and needs.
As even casual observers of television courtroom dramas are aware, mounting a winning criminal defense often requires close collaboration with highly skilled expert witnesses. Over the years, he cultivated strong relationships with leading practitioners in key academic fields including medicine, forensics, and psychology. Expert witness analysis and insight guides a successful defense strategy because juries are more likely to deliver a finding of not guilty when the defense’s expert is well-respected by the prosecution’s own expert witnesses and the court. For this reason, credibility of defense expert’s testimony is often the key factor for jury, particularly when deciding complex cases.
Before practicing criminal law, Mike worked for many years in the investment banking industry in both New York City and Boston. After graduating with honors from the University of Vermont, Mike worked for premier European investment firm, Credit Suisse, in fixed-income trading, and later for Boston-based financial giant State Street Global Advisors. At State Street, Mike was an Assistant Vice President and Anti-Money Laundering Officer tasked with preventing, investigating, and reporting complex financial crimes with international ramifications.
Mike is a proud graduate of the Suffolk University Law School where he served as an editor for The Transnational Law Review and a senior member of the Suffolk University Law School National Trial Team. As a competitor, Mike was semi-finalist advocate among the top 16 nationally ranked trial teams in the 2011 National Civil Trial Competition, finalist at the 2011 Suffolk University Law School Mock Trial Competition, and semi-finalist at the 2013 ABA Labor and Employment National Trial Competition held in Boston.
When not practicing law, Mike is an avid fly fisherman, skier, world-traveler, and self-professed “world’s biggest Grateful Dead fan.” He serves as the vice president of the Plymouth District Bar Association, America’s oldest bar association.
Memberships: Plymouth County Bar Association, Boston Bar Association, National Association of Trial Attorneys, Massachusetts Bar Association, American Bar Association.