Law Offices of Stephen Neyman

Focus and practice areas

The Law Offices of Stephen Neyman is a criminal defense firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. It represents people who have been accused or charged with crimes in Boston and the towns nearby. The whole of the firm's public work is criminal defense, so a client is not hiring a general practice that also takes the odd criminal file.

The named practice areas cover drug crimes, OUI cases, sex crimes, domestic assault and battery, and white-collar matters. The drug work covers simple possession, possession with intent to distribute, and trafficking. In my opinion, that spread reads as a defense practice built around the charges that most often reach a Massachusetts criminal court.

How cases are handled

The firm takes cases at each stage of a criminal matter. It appears at arraignment, it prepares matters for trial, and it files appeals after a conviction. That last point matters, because not every defense firm carries a case into the appeals courts.

Each area carries its own procedure. OUI cases in Massachusetts often turn on breath tests and on the traffic stop itself. Sex crime and domestic assault charges carry heavy consequences and strict court conditions. White-collar matters tend to involve documents and financial records rather than a single event. A firm that lists all of these takes on both street-level charges and paper-heavy files.

Who leads the firm

Stephen Neyman has practiced criminal defense in the Boston area for over 38 years. Before he moved to Massachusetts in 1990, he was a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles County. In that role he prosecuted gang offenses, including drug crimes and murders.

That prosecutorial start shapes how the firm's defense work reads. A lawyer who once built cases for the state has seen how prosecutors gather and present evidence. Neyman now applies that view from the defense table.

Over 38 years is a long run in one field. It points to a lawyer who has watched the criminal courts change and has kept a defense practice going through those years. For a client comparing options, that length of experience is one of the clearer facts on the page.

What the record shows

The firm reports that Neyman has taken more than 400 criminal cases to trial. It also reports about 50 appeals of criminal convictions in state and federal courts in Massachusetts. Those are the counts the firm publishes on its own site.

Trial numbers and appeal numbers describe different kinds of work. A trial record points to a lawyer willing to put charges before a jury. An appeal record points to work that continues after a verdict, in the higher courts. The firm claims both, and for a criminal defendant weighing options, both are useful signals.

Counts like these come from the firm itself, so a reader should treat them as the firm's own account rather than an outside audit. Still, the claims are specific, and specific claims are easier to test than vague ones.

How the team is built

Denise Dolan works at the firm as an associate. She started there in the summer of 2009 and joined as an associate in 2010. Her work centers on drug crimes cases and on search and seizure questions.

Much of that search and seizure work involves motions to suppress evidence. A motion to suppress asks a court to exclude proof that police gathered improperly. It is detailed, record-heavy work, and the firm gives an associate room to focus on it.

A second attorney focused on drug cases and suppression work also spreads the load. When Neyman is in trial, those motions still need drafting and argument. A two-lawyer structure gives the firm a way to keep that work moving.

Offices and reach

The firm keeps two offices in Massachusetts, one in Boston and one in North Andover. The bulk of its work sits in Boston and the area around it. The firm also states that it has handled cases in New Hampshire, Maine, New York, California, and Arizona.

Two offices, one in the city and one to the north, give clients in different parts of eastern Massachusetts a place to meet. The North Andover office sits closer to the New Hampshire line, which fits a firm that has taken work in that state.

The firm says it can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For a person facing an arrest at an awkward hour, that stated availability can matter. A criminal defense client often needs answers before the next business day, and the firm makes round-the-clock contact part of how it presents itself.

What a prospective client should weigh

The firm presents a clear picture. It is a criminal defense firm led by a lawyer with a long trial and appeal record, with a second attorney who handles a defined part of the work. A client knows what the firm does and who will be handling parts of a case.

What the firm publishes is concrete: decades of practice, a trial count, an appeal count, and a defined set of practice areas. As a reviewer, I would rather read those specifics than a page of adjectives, and this firm leans on the specifics.