Dave Sullivan reaches for 'people's law office'
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NORTHAMPTON - Over the last seven years, David E. Sullivan says he's made the Hampshire probate and family court more "user friendly." Now, running for Northwestern district attorney, he hopes to do the same thing for what he calls "the people's law office."
"Accessible" is the byword of his campaign - that's what he's pledged to make the region's top law enforcement post, which in his view has become "isolated" in recent years from the broader legal community and the public at large.
"We need a visible and engaged district attorney," he said. "I've got the energy to do it, and I'm going make the real changes in this office."
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Sullivan, 50, of Easthampton, has had a varied legal career over the last two-plus decades. After earning his law degree from Northeastern University in 1986, he started out as a criminal defense lawyer, then branched into civil litigation and probate, housing and land court cases.
In 2002 he was elected register of probate - a job that doesn't require a law degree, but forbids practicing law on the side. The job pays $110,220.65 a year.
Sullivan's current term as register lasts until 2014. If he wins the district attorney race, the governor would appoint an interim replacement, and special election would be held in 2012.
Before he became register of probate, Sullivan was Easthampton's city attorney for three years. He served on the board of assessors - his first elected office - from 1990 to 1999.
Outside work, Sullivan has served on the boards of community groups, among them the Easthampton Interfaith Cot Shelter, the Western Massachusetts Shelter for Homeless Veterans (now Soldier On), the Treehouse Foundation and the Easthampton St. Patrick's Association.
He's also been involved in Democratic party politics, helping coordinate Hampshire County campaign efforts for Barack Obama and Howard Dean during their presidential bids, and Martha Coakley during her run for U.S. Senate.
The fifth of six children, David Edward Sullivan was born in Worcester in 1959. He lived on Marshall Street in Northampton until he was 3, when his family moved to Framingham.
His father, James Sullivan, worked for New England Telephone and helped establish that company's affirmative action office. His mother, Anne Sullivan, worked as a dietitian at a nursing home.
Two of his ancestors were in law enforcement: his grandfather, an Irish immigrant, was a police officer in Worcester, and an uncle investigated organized crime in New York and New Jersey as an FBI agent.
As a young man Sullivan ran his own house painting and chimney sweep business - work he says paid for his first year of law school.
After graduating he was recruited by the law firm Carter and Court, and relocated for two years to Frankfurt, West Germany, to represent military personnel at courts martial.
Sullivan returned to the Pioneer Valley in 1989 with his wife, Catherine Hancock, who is originally from Nevada. They met at UMass.
They have three daughters, Marie, 20, and Annie, 18, and Minh, 12. The family lives on Taft Avenue in Easthampton.
Sullivan said friends of the family had a "wonderful experience" adopting a child from Vietnam, after which he and Hancock decided to do the same. Hancock flew to Vietnam to pick up Minh when she was still an infant. Sullivan said Minh arrived in the U.S. on Halloween, and her new sisters, then 6 and 7, greeted her by dressing her up in a pumpkin costume.
In 1992 Sullivan and Hancock opened a general practice law firm together, which Sullivan left after he was elected register of probate. Hancock continues to practice law in Easthampton, focusing on Social Security appeals for people with disabilities, real estate law and estate planning.
Today Marie, a student at Northeastern, is teaching English in Peru. Annie recently graduated from the Williston Northampton School and plans to spend six months volunteering in Ecuador before pursuing college. Minh is in the seventh grade at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School in South Hadley.
Sullivan enjoys jogging, camping and reading history, though he said he's had to put his hobbies aside while campaigning and keeping up his duties at the registry of probate.
Hancock said her husband is a good multi-tasker, balancing family life, work and campaigning.
"He's a very compassionate person," she said. "He relates well to people. He's a genuine leader and people like him."
Legal background
As civilian defense counsel for military personnel, Sullivan won acquittals for three soldiers accused of rape and assault, including two in West Germany and one in Paris Island, S.C.
One major case Sullivan handled as a defense attorney involved a Springfield man who struck and killed a woman with his car in a Northampton cornfield in 1993. A jury convicted the defendant of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol.
The same year he represented a Chicopee man charged with a civil rights violation after punching a woman and making derogatory remarks about her sexual orientation outside a Northampton night club. A jury cleared that defendant of the civil rights charge but convicted him of assault and battery.
In 1999 Sullivan represented a Florence man who was assaulted by a state trooper during a traffic stop. A judge ruled the trooper used excessive force, but allowed drunken driving and other charges against the defendant to stand.
Sullivan highlighted two cases from his time as Easthampton's city attorney. In one, Sullivan successfully defended the practice of using undercover teenagers to verify whether businesses ask for identification before selling cigarettes and alcohol. In the other, he prevailed in a case against a city landlord whose apartments did not have two exits as required by law.
Probate run
In 2002 Sullivan ran for register of probate on a platform of revitalizing the family court which, in a recent interview, he called "moribund" prior to his election.
Several of the programs Sullivan helped start as register were meant to move cases through the family court more quickly and easily. While the vast majority of cases - including divorces, child custody suits and estate disputes - are resolved before trial, Sullivan said many took as long as four years to settle. Now the average is 12 to 16 months, he said.
Initiatives that made the family court process more efficient include mediation, dispute resolution training for never-married parents and assistance for people who can't afford to hire a lawyer.
During Sullivan's tenure the registry developed estate planning and health care proxy workshops for elders and a child visitation program for fathers in jail.
James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.
