Boston, MA

Michael Loconto has more than a decade of experience as a lawyer in higher education and government administration, with a significant focus on policy development and managing labor relations.

Mike recently served as the first General Counsel for Curry College, a small liberal arts institution located in Greater Boston.  Mike has also served in a succession of positions with Harvard University, as Associate Director of Labor & Employee Relations, Deputy Director for Policy & Compliance, and  as the University's first Youth Protection Officer.  He began his career as a Staff Attorney in the City of Boston's Office of Labor Relations. 

Aside from legal practice, Mike served for seven years in a volunteer, appointed role as a Member of the Boston School Committee. He was  unanimously elected by Committee colleagues to the Chairperson's leadership role three times (2018 to 2020), during which time Mike successfully hired two district superintendents and settled two teacher union contracts while leading efforts to reduce barriers to exam school admissions for marginalized populations, increase capacity for pre-kindergarten classes and inclusive (special needs) practices, implement a $1 billion, 10-year investment to build new and upgrade existing school facilities, and simplify grade configurations to stabilize resources across 125 schools.

Mike has also taught Legal Research and Writing as an adjunct professor in the Legal Skills in the Social Context (LSSC) Program for first-year law students at the Northeastern University School of Law, his alma mater, and has also served in a number of other volunteer roles in his community and profession, including membership in the Committee on Legal Education at the National Association of College and University Attorneys and past leadership positions with the Higher Education Industry Council of the Labor & Employment Relations Association, the Traditional Labor Law subcommittee of the Boston Bar Association, West Roxbury Main Streets, and the Boston Redevelopment Authority's ONEin3 Boston Mayor's Advisory Council.

(Updated December 2020). 

I am a licensed Massachusetts attorney practicing traditional labor law, including collective bargaining negotiations, contract interpretation, mediation, arbitration and administrative law practice.

I have a focused and complementary expertise on workplace investigations, Title IX policy development, investigations and hearings, and policy development across an organization. I am also an arbitrator and mediator for labor and employment matters.

I have developed complementary expertise in regulatory compliance across government and the education sector, with skills in disciplines that include human resources (employee classification and leave benefits), privacy and data security (including FERPA, HIPAA, DMCA and GDPR), student conduct and higher education administration.