Ashford & Kline
Consult
Boston · Est. 1998Business & Litigation

Ashford & Kline

Counsellors · Boston · Est. 1998

The Firm

Boston’s businesses call us when the outcome actually matters.

For twenty-seven years, Ashford & Kline has represented Boston's businesses and their principals in the disputes that decide their future — in boardrooms, at the negotiating table, and, when it comes to it, before a jury. We are a small firm on purpose: the partner who takes your call is the partner who tries your case.

Request a consultationSee our results
Boston's financial district at golden hour
The Financial District, where most of our matters begin — and a good number of them end.Boston, Massachusetts
Ashford & Kline

Going to press

Scene 01 / 06

Dawn

Most matters are won in the hours nobody bills for.

The Record

Selected results.

Recovered & protected for clients

$0M+
  1. 01
    Commercial litigation
    Breach of a supply agreement; counterclaim for fraud
    Defense verdict + fees
    $6.4M
  2. 02
    Employment
    Executive wrongful-termination and equity dispute
    Confidential settlement
    —
  3. 03
    Shareholder dispute
    Deadlock and buy-out of a founding shareholder
    Control retained
    $2.1M
  4. 04
    Trade secrets / IP
    Departing team; misappropriation and non-compete
    Injunction + damages
    $3.8M
  5. 05
    Real estate
    Development injunction threatening a $40M project
    Injunction dissolved
    Project saved
  6. 06
    Appellate
    Reversal of an adverse trial judgment
    Judgment vacated
    Reversed

Representative matters, some details changed for confidentiality. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Practice

What we handle.

01

Complex commercial litigation

Contract, fraud, and business-tort disputes — tried, not just filed.

02

Corporate & transactions

Formation, financings, M&A, and the governance that avoids the courtroom.

03

Employment

Executive exits, restrictive covenants, and workplace investigations.

04

Real estate & development

Land use, leasing, and the litigation that clears a project.

05

Intellectual property

Trade secrets, non-competes, and technology disputes.

06

Appellate & regulatory

Preserving the record below and winning it on appeal.

The Approach

A small firm, on purpose.

The firm's library

Big firms leverage. We staff a matter with the people who will actually stand up in court — a partner and, at most, one associate. You are never a training exercise, and you never pay three lawyers to attend the meeting one could handle.

We tell you early what a case is worth and what it will cost to get there. Most disputes settle; the ones that don’t, we try. Clients hire us for both — the judgment to avoid a courtroom, and the willingness to enter one.

“The partner who takes your call is the partner who tries your case.”

The Offices

Two floors on Federal Street.

No atrium, no wall of televisions, no reception desk you have to announce yourself at twice. Clients meet their lawyer in the room where the work is actually done.

A partner's desk, lamp lit
Above — the partners' floor, before the day starts.
The conference room. Every matter is staffed by the people in it.
The conference room. Every matter is staffed by the people in it.
Forty years of case files, still bound and still consulted.
Forty years of case files, still bound and still consulted.

The Firm

Who tries your case.

EA

Eleanor Ashford

Founding Partner

Complex commercial trials

MA Bar, 1996

MK

Marcus Kline

Founding Partner

Corporate & M&A

MA Bar, 1997

PA

Priya Anand

Partner

Employment & trade secrets

MA Bar, 2005

DW

David Whitmore

Partner

Appellate & regulatory

MA & 1st Cir.

Confidentiality

What you tell us stays between us.

Every matter is privileged from the first call. Documents move through an encrypted client portal — never unsecured email — hosted with SOC 2-audited vendors, with conflict checks run before we take a word of substance. The site itself is built to WCAG accessibility standards.

  • Privileged from first contact
  • Encrypted client portal
  • SOC 2-audited infrastructure
  • WCAG-accessible by build

The Journal

Notes on the practice.

Litigation
June 2026

The demand letter that settles the case

Most disputes are won before a complaint is ever filed. A note on leverage, tone, and knowing what you'll actually try.

Read →
Employment
May 2026

Non-competes after the new rules

What's still enforceable in Massachusetts, and how to write an agreement a court will actually keep.

Read →
Corporate
April 2026

Governance that keeps you out of court

The three provisions in a shareholders' agreement that prevent the deadlock we're most often hired to break.

Read →

Consultation

Let’s talk, in confidence.

Tell us enough to point you to the right partner. Someone from Ashford & Kline will be in touch to arrange a confidential consultation — or ask Margaret, our intake coordinator, at the bottom of your screen.

(617) 555-0158
  • Mon – Fri8:30a – 6:00p
  • ConsultationsBy appointment
  • Existing clientsAfter-hours line

Boston — Financial District, MA

Privileged · encrypted · conflict-checked before specifics