J. Nathan Cole is the founding and managing partner of Cole Law Partners, P.C., a Massachusetts litigation boutique representing contractors, developers, owners, and businesses in construction, commercial, real estate, and employment disputes. He has more than 20 years of trial and appellate experience and holds an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Cole's practice centers on construction disputes, Prompt Payment Act claims, mechanics' liens and bond claims, bid protests, construction defect and delay claims, commercial litigation, employer-side employment matters, risk management, and insurance coverage disputes on behalf of policyholders. He appears regularly in the Massachusetts Superior Court, including the Business Litigation Session, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and the Supreme Judicial Court, and in arbitrations before AAA, JAMS, and private panels. He argued J.C. Cannistraro, LLC v. Columbia Construction Co., SJC-13819 (2026), a significant Prompt Payment Act appeal before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, on behalf of the subcontractor, having represented the client at every stage from arbitration through the SJC.
Mr. Cole also counsels clients before disputes arise, drafting and negotiating construction contracts and reviewing insurance requirements and risk allocation. He accepts referrals in Massachusetts construction litigation, commercial litigation, real estate disputes, and employer-side employment matters from general practice attorneys, out-of-state counsel, and in-house legal departments.
Representative Matters
Real Estate: Option Agreement; Partial Summary Judgment. Haven Realty Trust v. Corrigan, et al., Norfolk Superior Court (Doolin, J.), C.A. No. 22-01060, Lawyers Weekly No. 12-046-25 (October 2025). Obtained partial summary judgment for plaintiffs, defeating defendants' claim for specific performance of an option-to-purchase agreement. Defendants sought to compel repurchase of 3.838 acres of real property for $350,000 under an option that left parcel dimensions and future lot lines to be "mutually agreed upon." Successfully argued under Lucey v. Hero Int'l Corp., 361 Mass. 569 (1972), that an agreement to agree on the essential terms of a real estate contract is too indefinite to support specific performance as a matter of law. A promissory estoppel counterclaim survived as a factual question for trial. Featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, October 2025.
Commercial Litigation: Liquidated Damages; Federal Summary Judgment. Secure Our City, Inc. v. ECI Systems, LLC, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Gorton, J.), Lawyers Weekly No. 02-074-22 (March 2022). Obtained summary judgment for the defendant systems integrator on the plaintiff's breach of contract claim arising from an alleged violation of a non-solicitation agreement. Successfully argued that the liquidated damages provision, which required forfeiture of 25% of revenues derived from soliciting the plaintiff's clients, was an unenforceable penalty under Massachusetts law because it bore no logical relationship to the plaintiff's anticipated lost profits. The plaintiff's own designee had described the provision as a "penalty" at deposition, which the court found dispositive. The ruling allowed the defendant's counterclaims for unpaid work to proceed. Cover story, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, March 25, 2022.
Mechanics' Lien: Statutory Noncompliance; Summary Discharge. Atlas Contracting, Inc. v. Saleh, et al., Middlesex Superior Court (Barry-Smith, J.), Lawyers Weekly No. 12-022-18 (June 2018). Obtained summary discharge of a mechanics' lien for homeowner defendants under G.L. c. 254, § 2. Successfully argued that the contractor's notice of contract identified a $240,294 written agreement that was not the operative contract for the project, and that the contractor could not substitute a different, nearly identical contract for a lower amount after the fact. The court reaffirmed the strict compliance requirement: a lien notice must rest on the specific written contract for the project, and a contractor cannot cure a defective notice by producing a different version after filing. Cover story, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, June 20, 2018.
Commercial Litigation: Failure to Prosecute; Dismissal with Prejudice. Saladin v. Goslee, et al. and Saladin v. South Coast Music Group, et al., Essex Superior Court (Buxton and Dunigan, JJ.), Lawyers Weekly No. 12-043-24 (November 2024). Obtained summary judgment dismissing all claims against clients in multi-defendant litigation, then defeated the plaintiff's Rule 60(b) motion to reopen after dismissal for failure to prosecute. The court found a five-year pattern of failure to pursue the action, including failure to move for default against non-answering defendants, voluntary dismissal on the eve of trial without co-defendants' consent, and failure to appear at a status conference. Featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, November 2024.
Recognition
AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, Martindale-Hubbell. Massachusetts Super Lawyers, 2017 to 2026 (Rising Stars, 2013 to 2015). The Best Lawyers in America, 2021 to 2027. Boston Magazine Top Lawyer, Construction, 2022, 2024, and 2025. BTI Consulting Group Client Service All-Star, 2022 and 2023. Cole Law Partners: Chambers Spotlight Massachusetts 2027, Construction; Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Best Up & Coming Law Firms, 2026.
Leadership and Professional Affiliations
President-Elect, Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association (assumes the presidency May 2027), and Chair of its Construction Law Committee. Chair, Massachusetts Bar Association Real Estate Development and Construction Law Steering Committee (2025 to present). Past Chair, International Association of Defense Counsel Construction Law and Litigation Committee (2022 to 2024), and Northeast Regional Chair of the IADC Membership Committee. Member, MCLE Civil Litigation Curriculum Advisory Committee. Member, Defense Research Institute and Boston Bar Association. Frequent presenter to MCLE, the IADC, the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, and the National Electrical Contractors Association on Prompt Payment Act compliance, mechanics' lien practice, construction delay claims, and Chapter 93A.
