Related Expertise
Goulston & Storrs an Am Law 200 firm, is pleased to announce that Director Richard M. Zielinski, Co-Chair of the firm’s Law Firm Defense Group, has been named a 2025 Go To Professional Malpractice Defense Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Zielinski is a nationally known “bet the company” trial lawyer who handles a wide range of complex litigation matters. He is recognized as a consummate “lawyer’s lawyer” for his representation of AmLaw 100 and 200 law firms in malpractice cases, disciplinary matters and intra-firm disputes. Zielinski also handles a broad spectrum of business and real estate disputes and defends manufacturers in product liability, mass tort, and class action cases.
Zielinski is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), the highest professional honor a trial lawyer can receive. He has served as Chair of the ACTL’s Teaching Trial Advocacy Committee, where he spearheaded a nationwide program devoted to teaching trial advocacy skills to public interest lawyers, and Chaired the ACTL’s National Trial Competition Committee, where he helped oversee the nation’s premier mock trial competition for law students.
Zielinski also served as a faculty member in the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop for over 30 years, and on the Board of Trustees of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for nearly a decade, where he also conceived, planned, and taught dozens of trial practice seminars. He is a recipient of the MCLE Scholar Mentor Award for his dedication to continuing legal education and innovative teaching methods. Zielinski has also actively participated in the Boston Bar Association throughout his career, holding several leadership positions in the organization.
In addition to being named a Go To Professional Malpractice Defense Lawyer, Zielinski has received numerous other awards and honors over the years. He was named Legal Malpractice Defense Lawyer of the Year in Boston by Best Lawyers in America on five separate occasions, and he is perennially ranked by Chambers USA in Band 1 for General Commercial Litigation in Massachusetts. In 2019, he was named a Litigation Trailblazer by The National Law Journal and, since 2022, he has been named as one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America on four occasions. Zielinski received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Colgate University where he graduated first in his class.
