BUSINESS, ESTATE & ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING
About Us
JOHN D. SHEA, ESQ., LL.M.
Attorney John D. Shea has many years of experience in the private practice of law as well as over 18 years experience working in law related jobs prior to commencing his own practice in 2004.
He represents people of all levels of wealth with estate planning, including preparing wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and health care proxies, in addition to advising clients on the impact of income and wealth transfer taxes on their estates, both during their lives and upon their deaths.
Additionally, John guides families through the difficult and often time-consuming process of estate administration, drafts and negotiates business contracts, organizes new businesses (whether LLCs, S-Corps, C-Corps or others), handles commercial real estate and small business purchases and sales, develops business succession plans for small business owners, and creates asset protection plans for people wanting to secure their assets against creditor claims. John grew up in Auburn and Dennis Port, Massachusetts.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
While in law school, John won “Distinguished Paper” in the Suffolk Lawyer’s Guild’s 1998 National Writing Competition for his paper entitled, “An Empirical Study of Sexual Harassment/Discrimination Claims in the Post-Gilmer Securities Industry: Do Arbitrators’ Written Awards Permit Sufficient Judicial Review to Ensure Compliance with Statutory Standards?”, which as subsequently published in vol. XXXII, No. 2 of the Suffolk University Law Review.
EDUCATION
Western New England College School of Law, Springfield, MA, 2008, LL.M. (Estate Planning & Elder Law)
Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA, 1999, J.D. (Evening Division)
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 1994, M.S. (Labor Studies)
Connecticut College, New London, CT, 1986, B.A. (Government)
EXPERIENCE
In the years before John began the private practice of law, he was employed at several well-known Boston law firms as a Probate Paralegal, Litigation Paralegal and Corporate Paralegal. In addition, John worked as an Employment Law Paralegal and Contracts Negotiator at a Boston-based high technology company and as a Contracts Manager for a Boston-area internet start-up company before moving to Cape Cod where he dabbled briefly as a Realtor just prior to opening his law practice in 2004. John was a co-principal (with his wife, Maureen) of Shea & Shea, P.C. of Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts and The Law Office of John D. Shea, P.C. of West Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Most recently, before starting Safe Harbor Business, Estate & Asset Protection Planning, PLLC, John was Of Counsel to the law firm of Morrison Mahoney LLP, based out of the Springfield, Massachusetts office where he worked with high net-worth individuals handling estate and asset protection planning, business and real estate matters.
MAUREEN N. SHEA, ESQ.
Attorney Maureen N. Shea worked as a full-time paralegal after college while earning her juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School at night. After passing the Massachusetts Bar, Maureen worked as a lawyer at Boston law firms, primarily in commercial and residential real estate. She moved to Cape Cod in 2001 and continued working in private practice, handling residential real estate conveyances, commercial real estate transactions, title and leasing matters. After taking time off to focus on raising their children, Maureen joined John at Safe Harbor Law in 2014 as an associate attorney. She currently assists with estate planning, probate administration, trust administration, small business matters, business purchases and sales, and residential and commercial real estate transactions. Maureen is a native of Victor, New York, a suburb of Rochester.
EDUCATION
Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA, 1999, J.D. (Evening Division)
Providence College, Providence, RI, 1993, B.A., cum laude