Business and real estate litigation in Massachusetts
I represent businesses and individuals with serious money at stake, generally $100,000 or more: broken contracts, unpaid invoices and loans, judgments nobody has paid, and real estate deals that went wrong. You can be anywhere, as long as the case belongs in Massachusetts. When a case is strong enough, I'll take it on contingency.
On a contingency case there is no attorney's fee unless money is recovered. Court costs and litigation expenses are handled as your written fee agreement says, and you may owe them whatever the outcome.
The cases I take
My practice is litigation to recover money and enforce agreements in Massachusetts courts. I represent the party who was wronged, whether that's a company whose customer won't pay or a person whose business partner, borrower or buyer walked away. I generally take matters with $100,000 or more at stake.
Breach of contract and business disputes
Supply, services, construction, consulting, licensing, partnership and business-sale agreements where the other side didn't pay or didn't perform.
Unpaid invoices and business debts
Large balances owed by customers, distributors, general contractors or former clients, pursued through suit, attachment and judgment.
Chapter 93A business claims
When a breach comes with unfair or deceptive conduct, Massachusetts law can double or triple the damages and shift your legal fees to the other side.
Collecting a judgment
You won, and you still haven't been paid. Supplementary process, trustee process on bank accounts, and executions on real estate.
Unpaid loans and promissory notes
Money lent to a business, a partner, a friend or a family member, with or without a signed note.
Real estate litigation
Purchase-and-sale disputes, withheld deposits, specific performance, partition, easements and boundaries, contractor disputes. I do not represent tenants.
Landlord-side lease defaults
Unpaid rent and guaranty claims for property owners against tenants and guarantors who stopped paying.
Clients outside Massachusetts
You don't have to be in Massachusetts to hire me. What matters is where the case belongs. If the other side or the assets are here, the case usually belongs in a Massachusetts court, and you need a lawyer who practices in those courts. We can work by phone, video and e-signature, and you won't need to travel unless the case goes to trial.
Three Massachusetts rules that favor the party who is owed
Debtors often assume that dragging things out costs them nothing. In Massachusetts it usually costs them a lot.
Statutory interest
Contract judgments carry interest at 12% a year from the date of breach or demand, unless the contract sets a different rate (G.L. c. 231, § 6C). A three-year-old debt can be worth a third more than the invoice. Estimate yours.
Chapter 93A
Between businesses, a breach that comes with willful or knowing unfair conduct can mean double or treble damages plus attorney's fees (G.L. c. 93A, § 11). A plain breach isn't enough, so the facts matter. How it works.
Attachment before judgment
With a strong enough showing, the court can freeze real estate and bank accounts at the start of the case, so assets are still there when you win (Mass. R. Civ. P. 4.1 and 4.2). Read more.
How a case moves
- Review. You send me the contract, invoices, emails and a short timeline. I tell you what the claim is worth, what the defenses are, whether the other side can pay, and how I'd charge for it.
- Demand. Many cases resolve on a well-built demand letter. It also fixes the date 12% interest starts to run if it hasn't already.
- Suit and security. If they don't pay, I file in the right court, and where the facts support it I ask the court to attach real estate or bank accounts right away.
- Judgment and collection. Winning is half of it. I follow through with supplementary process, trustee process and executions until the money is in hand.
About Jonas Jacobson
I've practiced law in Massachusetts since 2009 and have run my own firm in Cambridge the whole time. Most of my work is in the courtroom: business disputes, real estate cases and appeals. I handle every case myself, from the first call to the last dollar collected.
- RecognitionSelected to Super Lawyers, 2024–2025; Rising Stars, 2018–2019
- AdmittedMassachusetts, 2009
- Law schoolSuffolk University Law School
- MemberMassachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys
How fees work
For strong contract and business-debt claims against defendants who can pay, I work on contingency: my fee is a percentage of what I recover, set out in a written agreement we both sign. Some cases fit better on a hybrid arrangement (a reduced hourly rate plus a smaller percentage) or on an hourly rate. I'll tell you at the start which one I think makes sense for your case and why.
Common questions
Is there a minimum claim size?
I generally take matters with $100,000 or more at stake. That lets me give each case the attention litigation requires. If your claim is close to that line or unusual, send me the facts and I'll give you a straight answer.
The other side says they can't pay. Is it worth suing?
Sometimes not, and I'll tell you that before you spend anything. But "can't pay" often means "won't pay." Real estate records, corporate filings and the debtor's own business activity usually show whether there is something to collect.
I'm not in Massachusetts. Can you help?
Yes, if the case belongs in Massachusetts, usually because the other side, the property or the assets are here. I handle cases in courts across Massachusetts, from Berkshire County to the Cape. I'm licensed only in Massachusetts, so I don't take cases in other states' courts.
Do you represent tenants?
No. In real estate matters I represent owners, buyers, sellers, lenders, landlords and co-owners. I don't take tenant-side cases.