Peter F. Durning

“While I used to take grabbing a glass of water or turning on the sprinklers for granted, working with water suppliers and understanding the myriad issues they address on a daily (and nightly) basis is humbling,” Peter says. “From supply chain issues, sustained drought conditions, purification protocols, and system reliability and redundancy, public water suppliers juggle a plethora of mission-critical decisions.”

Peter draws upon his seven years of pre-law experience as a history teacher to deliver legal arguments. He leverages his lesson-planning and presentation skills to set the arc of a deposition outline or deliver a closing argument at trial. Notably, he delivered the winning oral argument before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Town of Concord v. Water Department of Littleton, 487 Mass. 56 (2021), which involved the statutory interpretation of the Water Management Act.

Peter brings his experience in environmental law to assist Burns & Levinson’s cross-functional departments with complex transactions. Having addressed many hazardous waste cleanups and litigated issues of responsibility for site contamination, Peter’s skills complement those of our transactional and real estate attorneys to craft agreements and covenants that help clients evaluate risk and execute deals.

Peter is an active member of the Environmental Business Council (EBC), serving as the chair of its Water Resources Committee and as a member of its Solid Waste Management Committee. He has been a speaker, co-chair, and moderator at numerous EBC programs.

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a four-year member of the Band of the Fighting Irish saxophone section, Peter earned his JD from Boston College Law School. Before joining Burns & Levinson, he was a managing shareholder at Mackie Shea Durning, PC.