Dawn Mertineit Named a 2025 Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Dawn Mertineit, co-chair of Seyfarth’s Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes practice group, has been named a 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. This honor reflects Dawn’s exceptional advocacy before the Massachusetts courts and her leadership in one of the year’s most consequential restrictive covenant cases.

In her profile, Mertineit discusses her work in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., where she successfully persuaded the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that non‑solicitation agreements—even those tied to forfeiture clauses—do not fall under the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act. The decision reversed a surprising Superior Court ruling and clarified a critical issue for employers statewide.

Mertineit also reflected on preparing for her first SJC oral argument, describing the challenge of distilling a complex record into a concise presentation while anticipating questions from the justices. She credits her team’s extensive preparation and the clarity of the statutory language as key to the appellate win.

The feature is available here.