Waltham Works: Connors & Connors’ Shawn Keefe has come full circle

Wicked Local Metro (Needham, MA)

Oct. 15--All points of Shawn Keefe's career led him back to where he started from: Waltham. And today, he could not be happier with where he's ended up, he said.

"You've got to just go with the flow sometimes and let things happen," he said. "I learned quickly that it's not going to go as easily as you want it to."

As a lawyer at Connors & Connors LLP on Lexington St., he focuses on real estate law, estate planning and administration, and business law.

Love of sports

Keefe is a native of Waltham and returned to the city a few years ago after living in Boston.

He attended Connecticut College where his love of sports led him into the direction of sports law. After graduating in 2009--right in the middle of the recession--he went right to law school at New England Law, earning his degree in 2012.

Growing up, he loved sports, playing lacrosse, hockey, and baseball. His 2005 lacrosse team is going to be added to the Waltham High School Hall of Fame this year. His 2002 WHS hockey team already has that honor.

Keefe worked as a quality control person for The Kraft Group during the Patriots' undefeated season in 2007. That job was hard to beat, he said.

"I couldn't really complain about that [job]," he said.

While in law school he worked with the Worchester Sharks hockey team, continuing to pursue his goal of working in sports law. However, the NHL lockout put an end to that goal.

"I was still pursuing that route throughout law school, and I had a gig with the Worcester Sharks, and then the second NHL lockout happened," he said. "Everything that was I was building towards got put on hold."

Striking out on his own

Keefe began working for an environmental services company once he graduated but he found it was not where he wanted to be.

"It didn't fit," he said. "There wasn't enough variety. So I came back to Waltham and I hung up my own sign."

Emboldened by the success of one of his classmates, Keefe decided to go into business for himself, affiliating with another lawyer for support and guidance in the process.

"Once I made the decision to do it, one thing led to another," he said. "I had a law degree, I had passed the bar, and I had a ton of debt. So part of my hand was forced but at the same time, it was like, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do how I want. I had just worked a job I didn't like, (so I figured) what's better than trying to figure it out myself?"

He began focusing on real estate, however he found he was traveling more than he wanted to with a young family at home.

A fortuitous meeting

Keefe ran into Mike Connors who said that his firm happened to be looking to hire another lawyer. Keefe joined the firm nearly four years ago.

Connors & Connors LLP focuses primarily on land use and zoning, however the firm also helps clients with estate planning and administration, business law, and transactional real estate and liquor license matters.

"To have a role in how your city's going to be built for the next 30-40-50 years--it's nice," Keefe said.

The firm has been part of various developments in the city including the Salvation Army on Myrtle Street and the VFW on Trapelo Road.

"We're definitely a community firm," Keefe said. "The last thing that we want to do is to do something that we think is detrimental to the city in any way."

The team has also represented universities on different matters throughout the years.

The Waltham community is important to Keefe. He is a board member of Opportunities for Inclusion and continues to support a scholarship at Waltham High School named in honor of his late father, Kevin Keefe, who died from Lou Gehrig's disease. The Keefe Fund in Memory of Kevin J. Keefe has supported many student-athletes from WHS in their pursuit of college.

He is happy to be back in his city, he said.

"At the most general level, I didn't think I would be zoning and land use attorney," he said. "I'm happy to be hopefully contributing to what other people would see as a positive (contribution) toward the city for years to come."

___

Visit Wicked Local Metro, Needham, Mass. at needham.wickedlocal.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.