Philip G. Cormier

Philip Cormier has been practicing law since 1989. His litigation practice is concentrated in the areas of criminal defense, the First Amendment, and student rights in the state and federal courts. In the criminal defense area, he has defended numerous individuals charged with white collar offenses and street crimes, including tax evasion, larceny, embezzlement, fraud, drug offenses, motor vehicle homicide, firearms, and murder. In the student rights area, he has represented and assisted numerous students in academic and disciplinary proceedings in private and public schools, and universities, as well as the representation of such individuals in related court proceedings. His First Amendment work has involved a variety of cases in which government authorities have sought to censor individuals or limit their rights to free expression.

Mr. Cormier has experience with the use of DNA and other forensic testing in the defense of criminal cases. He is responsible for overseeing the DNA testing for the defense in United States v. Jeffrey R. MacDonald, M.D., in which he and his firm are seeking to re-open Dr. MacDonald’s case and overturn his convictions for murder. In another case, Mr. Cormier recently obtained the reversal by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts of the conviction of his client Kareed Baker for first-degree murder, involving the death of Mr. Baker’s infant son, based on DNA and other forensic testing that was conducted post-trial. Commonwealth v. Kareed Baker, 440 Mass. 519 (2003).

Mr. Cormier is a 1989 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law (J.D.) and a 1983 graduate of Bates College (B.A Political Science). He is a member of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

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