Alumnus/Alumna of the Month

Stephen Oleskey ’68

Read an Interview with Stephen Oleskey ’68

Stephen Oleskey is a partner in the Litigation and Real Estate Departments at WilmerHale. Mr. Oleskey
focuses his practice on complex civil litigation and appellate argument, with an emphasis on real estate-related litigation.

Mr. Oleskey has twice argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as before the Massachusetts Appeals Court; the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the First, Third, and Ninth Circuit US Courts of Appeals. Clients whom he has represented in significant litigation or related proceedings include: Thomas & Betts; BankBoston; Boston School Committee; Boston University; Boston Thermal Energy Corp.; Cabot, Cabot & Forbes; Carpenter and Co.; the City of Boston (electoral redistricting and school funding); the City of Lebanon, NH; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Equity Office Properties; The Gale Company; Global Petroleum Corp.; Gerald D. Hines Interests; John Hancock Mutual Life; Thomas H. Lee Co.; Lowes Home Centers, Inc.; Massachusetts Electric (National Grid); Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Mondev International; Monsanto Company; The New England (formerly New England Mutual Life Insurance Co.); Paine Webber Real Estate; Pepperell Power Associates; Sears, Roebuck; Spaulding & Slye Co.; Sterilite Corp.; Stockbridge Real Estate Fund, L.P.; Trigen-Boston Energy Corp.; Varian Semicondictor; and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

After 19 years at WilmerHale, Mr. Oleskey left in 1987 to serve as Massachusetts deputy
attorney general and chief of the Public Protection Bureau. In that capacity, he managed 140 attorneys, investigators, paralegals and support personnel in the Antitrust, Civil Rights, Consumer Protection, Environmental Protection, Insurance, Public Charities, Utilities, Nuclear Safety and Special Litigation (asbestos removal claims) Divisions. He was responsible for all civil litigation and enforcement proceedings in these divisions, and coordinated their activities with the attorney general’s Criminal Bureau.

Mr. Oleskey returned to WilmerHale in late 1988 and resumed his position as partner.

Mr. Oleskey has a long-standing commitment to pro bono work. The Boston Bar Association awarded him the Thurgood Marshall Award “for exemplary commitment to public service and outstanding advocacy on behalf of low-income citizens of Massachusetts,” and Greater Boston Legal Services has honored him with the Dow-Gardner-Landrum Award “for outstanding commitment to legal services for the poor.”

Mr. Oleskey recently received the firm’s 2004 John H. Pickering Award for Pro Bono Activities for his significant pro bono work with numerous organizations and individuals, including assisting the International Senior Lawyers Project in its implementation of legal reforms and advancement of the social and economic well-being of people in developing countries; working with Pact, Inc. in its mission to build stronger communities internationally; and playing an integral role in one of the firm’s largest and most important pro bono cases, representing six Bosnian-Algerian men wrongfully detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A past director and president of Greater Boston Legal Services, Mr. Oleskey is also a past director and chairman of the board of the Boston Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project. He was appointed to the board of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation in 1995 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and was chair from 2003–2005. He currently serves as chairman of the Equal Justice Coalition and chair of the board of directors of Pact, an international development nonprofit organization.

Mr. Oleskey has also served on the national board and as general counsel to the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, the preeminent national legal advocacy and education entity for women’s rights.

Mr. Oleskey is a member of the American, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Boston Bar Associations. He is a fellow of the American and Boston Bar Foundations and has served as an elected council (board) member of the Boston Bar Association. A trained and certified mediator, he is also a member of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, located in New York City.

Honors and Awards:
• Recipient of the Boston Bar Association’s 2007 President’s Award for his continued representation of pro bono clients detained at Guantanamo Bay
• Recipient of the American Bar Association’s 2007 Pro Bono Publico Award for his outstanding life long commitment to pro bono work, both in his individual practice and as an advocate for pro bono service at WilmerHale and throughout the legal community
• Recipient of the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services’ Distinguished Leadership Award for “his remarkable contributions to the legal profession, and most especially for his recent advocacy work on behalf of six clients...detained without charges for more than three years at Guantanamo Bay.”
• Recipient of the firm’s 2004 John H. Pickering Award for Pro Bono Activities
• Named as a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” in civil litigation defense in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 issues of Boston Magazine
• Recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Award for “exemplary commitment to public service and outstanding advocacy on behalf of low-income citizens of Massachusetts” (Boston Bar Association)
• Recipient of the Dow-Gardner-Landrum Award for “outstanding commitment to legal services for the poor” (Greater Boston Legal Services)
• Named a “Distinguished Alumnus” for his professional and public service achievements (Wesleyan University)