Joshua J. Butera
Senior Counsel

Contact Information

Phone

561-362-2030

Fax

401-824-5123

Email

jbutera@pldolaw.com

Biography/Practice Areas

Joshua J. Butera is Senior Counsel with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC and a member of the Corporate & Business Law, Municipal Law and Cannabis Law Teams. He concentrates his practice assisting clients in the areas of corporate compliance, administrative and regulatory law, policy and contract law and other general private and public sector issues. He is a skilled legal researcher and writer and has assisted in the representation of individuals, private organizations and public agencies on numerous legal matters before state and federal courts. He also provides business advice to corporate clients and negotiates complex transactions.

For his professional excellence, Attorney Butera has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® as a Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch® in the practice area of Corporate Law.

Attorney Butera is a former Special Counsel in the Office of Governor Gina Raimondo, where he conducted legal research and analysis on a wide range of legislative issues and public policies. He drafted briefs before the Rhode Island Supreme Court and Superior Court and prepared FOIA responses and other memoranda. In this position, he also advised senior staff on legal matters and policies related to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and the Rhode Island Airport Corporation. Prior to his public service for the State of Rhode Island, he worked in the litigation department of an international law firm representing clients in numerous areas of the law including contract law, the Fair Housing Act and the False Claims Act. He also represented pro bono clients regarding landlord/tenant disputes, asylum cases and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Attorney Butera earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law, cum laude, and was the Managing Editor of the Boston University Law Review. He is a Melville M. Bigelow Scholarship awardee and a recipient of the G. Joseph Tauro Distinguished Scholar. While in law school, he served as a judicial intern for the Honorable John J. McConnell, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island and in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. He graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Political Science. Attorney Butera is admitted to practice law in Florida, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and before the United States District Court -Southern District of Florida, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

Areas of Practice

  • Corporate & Business Law
  • Cannabis Law
  • Municipal Law
  • Public Policy Law

Bar Admissions

  • Florida
  • Rhode Island
  • Massachusetts
  • United States District Court – Southern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court District of Rhode Island

Honors and Awards

  • Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch®

Education/Professional Associations

Education

  • Boston University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts
    • J.D. – 2015
    • Honors: cum laude
  • Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
    • B.A. – 2009
    • Study Abroad, London School of Economics, 2007-2008

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Florida Bar Association
  • Rhode Island Bar Association

Pro Bono Activities

  • Children’s Workshop Foundation, Board of Directors

Representative Matters

  • Represented a large manufacturing corporation in a complex M&A transaction that involved a multi-disciplinary team approach to successfully close on a ~$50MM acquisition.
  • Represent software company in $25 million equity sale.
  • Represent renewable energy company in $17 million purchase of real property for development into solar farm.
  • Bond counsel to municipality for $2.8 million bond refunding.
  • Represent bank in purchase of $165 million grant anticipation bonds.