Jeffrey Denner has had his share of big Boston cases during a 35 -year career spent in the law. The Yale man with a Harvard law degree has catapulted into the public eye recently representing Clark Rockefeller and the family of Melina Del Dalle, who was crushed to death by the collapse of a cement roof panel in the Big Dig Tunnel on I-90.
Rockefeller is in jail awaiting appeal. The Del Dalle’s received a $21.8 million settlement.
Denner is a commanding presence, articulate, to the point, thoughtful, very bright, with a strong belief in himself. He is the epitome of the self-made man who remains enthusiastic about his profession and about the law firm he heads, and which he founded. Denner Pellegrino, LLP occupies the 35 floor at 4 Longfellow Place. It is busy firm with more than 40 lawyers. Denner describes the firm as an exceedingly talented group of lawyers, including many big names, former federal and state prosecutors as well as in-house forensic investigators.
Denner Pellegrino delivers litigation services to people with problems. Denner says there is a lot of talent. “We can operate successfully in many areas.”
At 62, he is building the firm at a time when many old-line firms in Boston have broken up, been bought out or disappeared entirely.
He wants to take the firm to the next level – and he’s the type of lawyer more than able to do it.
He was recently interviewed by our editor Josh Resnek at the Demoulas Market Basket dining area in Chelsea over a luncheon of sashimi and mixed Japanese vegetables.

Question: How is Clark doing?

Denner: There are a lot of different Clarks and they’re all doing well.

Question: Do you have a deeper insight into the legal system because the jury didn’t buy the Rockefeller insanity defense?

Denner: I learned a lot more about life than the law from this case. I always realized the insanity defense was disfavored by civilians and jurors. What I didn’t understand was the almost astonishing connection between a functionally insane person such as Clark Rockefeller and the society which both enabled and encouraged his insanity.

Question: Is there a book in the works?

Denner: A variety of movies and documentaries are apparently in the works. However, our focus is on the post conviction process that Clark is facing – and the matter in California where he’s a person of interest in the disappearance of a California couple who rented him an apartment in their home two decades ago.

Question: What about your law firm? What does Denner Pellegrino do best?

Denner: We specialize in major white collar crime. We’re also a litigation law firm. We do regulatory and licensing issues for professionals in federal and state courts. We go to trial at appellate levels in New England, nationally and internationally. And we have a strong civil practice to deal with high end and high profile clients from business to divorce.

Question: What cases have you done besides Rockefeller and the Big Dig that we’ve all read about?

Denner: I sued the FBI and the Irish mob – Billy Bulger and James “The Rifleman” Flemmi - for the execution style murder of John McIntire. McINtire was killed when the FBI disclosed to Bulger and Flemmi that he was cooperating. They tortured him before executing him. I represent David Swayne in the sensational murder of his wife in the Virgin Islands. And I am representing James Clarke, who killed his grandmother in Weston.

Question: So you are very busy. You tell me you go 90 hours in a week if necessary. How do you view the next five years as a lawyer?

Denner: I want to take the law firm to the next level. Whether it is criminal or civil, state or federal, high profile or nuts and bolts law for professionals – Denner Pellegrino will get the job done.

Question: When you’re not doing the law, what keeps you going?

Denner: My kids. I have two in college and one in high school. I have a 33 year old step-son. I’m active with all of them.

Question: What did you think of Ted Kennedy?

Denner: I never met him. Obviously, he was someone who matured in a good way. I thought, on balance, he did a lot more good than bad. He ended up living a life to be proud of.

CAPTION: The Charles F. Hurley Building at 19 Staniford St.

A mid-morning attack on a longtime Beacon Hill resident in the shadow of City Hall last month has called attention to the quality-of-life issues that have long plagued the area.
At approximately 8 a.m. on Aug. 18, Don Scott was walking his dog in the area of the Charles F. Hurley Building, a state facility at 19 Staniford St. that is home to the Division of Unemployment Assistance and the Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center, among other social service programs.
Scott passed a man as he walked up a staircase at the corner of New Chardon and Cambridge streets.
“Stop following me,” Scott heard the man say before he was struck in the back of the head.
When Scott came to moments later, he was laid out on a stretcher and surrounded by EMTs. Scott was then transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was treated for serious injuries, including a broken nose. Scott’s treatment included seven stables in the back of his head, and he has still not been able to return to work full-time.
According to State Police, officers arrested Robert Gaul, 35, of Boston in connection with the crime less than three hours later. Gaul, who was charged with assault and battery and has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Sept. 14 at Boston Municipal Court, was also arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and threats to commit a crime following an incident in May.
The arrest does little to set Scott’s mind at ease, however, because he said the Hurley Building and the adjacent Cardinal Cushing Park continue to be the sites of public intoxication, open drug use, aggressive panhandling and other undesirable activity.
City Council President Mike Ross has scheduled a meeting later this month with Scott, City Councilor Sal LaMattina and representatives from the State Police and the Boston Police Department to address ongoing problems in the area.
“Enough is enough,” Ross said. “It’s not acceptable for someone walking down the street to be attacked in broad daylight. This problem is not getting better, and it might be getting worse.”
Ross, a longtime proponent for the homeless, is also questioning the effectiveness of the programs currently based out of the Hurley Building.
“I want to know who are staffing the programs,” Ross said. “I’m getting frustrated.”
LaMattina attributes much of the problem to the short-term solution of moving the homeless from the Boston Common to other parts of the city.
“We need a comprehensive plan to deal with the homeless,” LaMattina said. “You can’t just move them from one area to another.”
Meanwhile, Scott, who serves on the City Council’s Special Committee on a Livable Boston, believes that the solution lies in simply enforcing the existing laws against public drinking, aggressive panhandling and other infractions.
“We have laws on the book,” Scott said “They need to be enforced.”

CAPTION: Beacon Hill Chocolates, 91 Charles St.

Those with a sweet tooth have reason to celebrate after Beacon Hill Chocolates moved into a more spacious storefront last month, making room for more candy and other treats.
The new 700 square-foot location at 91 Charles St. is more than twice the size of the 315 square-foot space at 92B Pinckney St. that the candy shop occupied since opening three years ago, according to proprietor and longtime Beacon Hill resident Paula Barth. As a result, Beacon Hill Chocolates is now offering cappuccino, espresso, hot chocolate, gelato, homemade fudge and mini-cupcakes, as well as expanded selections of chocolates from around the world and keepsake gift boxes that have become popular gift favors.
The expanded space can also accommodate 40 visitors for corporate chocolate-tastings, compared with the previous capacity of 15. In the coming weeks, the shop will open “Moo,” an organic milk and cereal and chocolate bar that Barth said will offer granola, corn flakes, rice crispies and a graham cracker cereal paired with pieces of milk chocolate.
Another benefit of the new location is its ample on-site storage, unlike the previous storefront that required an additional storage space located across Charles Street. “We were paying two rents before,” Barth said.
The new Charles Street location has also seen an increase in foot traffic, compared with the old store.
“We have better exposure now,” Bath said. “People can visually see us better.”
But the biggest improvement over the old location is the large display window that the new storefront offers.
“The old place had a small window, and we loved it, but we were losing some business,” Bath said.
Beacon Hill Chocolates, 91 Charles St., is open Monday to Saturday
From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 617-725-1900 or visit inquiry@beaconhillchocolates.com.

The death of Senator Kennedy

The death of Senator Edward Kennedy was a tragedy of the first order for Massachusetts. His death was our demise in the Senate, and in Washington, where Massachusetts held a very special position from year to year when budget time arrived. Senator Kennedy’s death ends our privileged place in the nation’s capital. No matter who his successor is, we will never know in our lifetime another senator who could strongarm the national government to do as he wanted. Senator Kennedy’s impact on the national government, his thoughts on foreign policy, his beliefs about prejudice being eradicated and discrimination put to an end – well – they won’t be matched by his successor. His successor is doomed to the place held by all those following in the footsteps of legends. It is, frankly, a space nearly impossible to occupy as you are always being compared with what and who came before. Even another Kennedy taking over where Edward Kennedy left off will fall short of the late senator’s ability to create legislation and to follow it through to passage. Another Kennedy will find it frustrating to begin anew at a task the late senator had mastered during more than 40 years in the senate. Massachusetts faces a brave new world without Senator Kennedy. In politics, where everything done and everything not done is about quid pro quo, Kennedy’s absence on the floor of the Senate will be hugely missed. No one in the Senate is indispensable. The Senate goes on even as the old guard dies off. But Senator Kennedy was indispensable to us, to the people of Massachusetts. His death is a sad reminder to us all that nothing remains the same forever. That leaders come and leaders go but the institution remains. Senator Kennedy will be sorely missed – and we will realize this in the days and months to follow.