Areas of Practice
Stephen Wald is a Shareholder of Craig and Macauley. As a trial attorney, he represents clients in all areas of civil litigation, including disputes involving business relationships, employment, workouts, and environmental law. Mr. Wald tries cases in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts. He also represents clients in arbitrations and before government bodies involved with land use and the environmental issues. His clients include public companies, closely held businesses, and individuals.
Representative Matters
- Victorinox/Swiss Army. Served as counsel for Victorinox AG, the maker of the Original Swiss Army Knife, in adversarial situations including successful major federal court litigation raising novel questions of law and fact that involved iconic rights to worldwide intellectual property.
- Computer Payroll Company v. Paychex, et al. Represented a payroll business in dispute against Paychex, Inc., a subsidiary, and others. In 2007, after an eleven-week trial, a jury awarded Mr. Wald’s client $26,000,000 for damages and punitive damages. In 2010, the verdict was affirmed in full, and Paychex paid $38,000,000 to satisfy the judgment and interest. An article on Mr. Wald’s cases against Paychex, entitled Big Paychex For Plaintiffs, appeared in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, September 24, 2007.
- Other Litigation Against Paychex. Represented 20 other payroll companies against Paychex and others in state and federal courts in Los Angeles. Obtained a jury verdict of $6,200,000 against a Paychex subsidiary in the first case that went to trial and a specific performance award in the second trial. After a failed defense strategy to avoid further trials by putting its subsidiary into bankruptcy, and following bankruptcy court orders that forced Paychex to guarantee its subsidiary’s debts, all but one of the cases against Paychex were favorably settled.
- Gender Discrimination Verdict Against Fortune 500 Company. Obtained a jury verdict of $1,250,000 for gender discrimination and punitive damages on behalf of the first woman chemical engineer to supervise a production line at her Fortune 500 employer.
- Lender Liability Against Fleet National Bank. Obtained jury verdict of $1,000,000 against Fleet National Bank on behalf of real estate developer with lending and joint venture relationship concerning the historic redevelopment of the Harvard Free Hospital For Women in Boston.
Other representative matters include:
- Enforcement of rights on retirement of founder of Boston area’s largest regional accounting firm.
- Represented 50 partners in connection with the dissolution of one of New England’s largest law firms.
- Multi-million dollar recoveries for investors related to the initial public offering of a NYSE real estate invest trust.
- In environmental cases, million-dollar recoveries for environmental remediation and property damage for owner of historic building and for owner of site of what had been the largest fertilizer plant in the U.S.
- Multi-million dollar recovery related to insurance coverage for environmental claims.
- Defense of class actions and employment claims.
Awards and Professional Activities
Mr. Wald has also been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” by Law and Politics and Boston Magazine. Mr. Wald is also a member of the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations.
Bar and Court Admissions
- Massachusetts
- New York
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- United States Courts of Appeals for the First and Ninth Circuits
Education
Mr. Wald received his A.B. from Vassar College (1976) and his J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School (1982).