A graduate of Tufts University and Boston College Law School, Frederick Van Magness, Jr. began his legal career as an associate attorney at a small civil litigation firm in the heart of downtown Boston’s financial district.
Fred credits those years as demonstrating to him the basics of a successful law practice, especially how to work with clients and understand their goals and needs, and how to efficiently manage a case through the state’s trial court system.
“When you’re a new lawyer at a small firm, you’re given lots of responsibility from the very beginning,” he says. “Everyone needs to pitch in and work together, and by necessity, you get to know the rules of the road very quickly.”
Fred’s early practice involved helping to manage the firm’s inventory of collection cases for a variety of business clients.
“We represented all sorts of businesses, from individuals and small ‘mom and pop’ operations to multi-million-dollar household names,” he says. He frequently found himself attending hearings and trials in Boston Municipal Court and in various other trial courts around the state. “I enjoyed it because I not only learned a lot about how to represent these clients in court, but also a lot about how their individual businesses worked, which I found fascinating.”
Over time, his practice grew to working on a broad variety of litigation, including some of the firm’s complex insurance defense caseload. His focus was on pre-trial discovery, motion practice, trial preparation and courtroom advocacy.
“I’ll never forget those days,” he says. “I got the opportunity to experience both sides of the legal system, from the perspective of the plaintiff and defendant, and to work on some big cases from the lower trial courts all the way up to the Supreme Judicial Court and the United States District Court (D. Mass.). Every day, no matter where I was or what I was doing, I learned something new. When you’re a lawyer, you never stop learning.”
In 2002, a chance meeting with an old acquaintance led to a new opportunity for Fred to work in the law in a totally different capacity. He was offered and eventually accepted a position as Legal Counsel for the Minority Leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Beacon Hill.
Fred’s work involved analysis of legislation pertaining to matters of criminal justice, state regulatory oversight and the judiciary, as well as counsel to members of the caucus on legal matters. He also was responsible for advising members of the caucus and their staff on matters of parliamentary procedure and legislative drafting. “It was a small office, a small team, and it was a lot like working at the law firm, just from the new perspective of helping to make the law instead of applying it to cases,” he says.
Fred also says he learned a lot about Massachusetts state government while he was at the State House. “We got the opportunity to work first-hand with members of the Governor’s office and people from all different executive agencies, not to mention a lot of constituents who needed help,” he says. “As a lawyer, it was thrilling to see words that you had written get debated by the legislature and sometimes turn into the law itself. It was an exciting, eye-opening experience, and one I’d definitely recommend to anyone who’s interested in the law.”
Eventually, Fred was promoted to the position of Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Counsel, assuming staff responsibility for all matters of public policy, constituent service and communications within the House Minority Leader’s Office, in addition to personnel management and his legal responsibilities.
In 2008, Fred left public service to open a private consulting business along with a partner, Meredith Warren, with whom he had worked closely on Beacon Hill. Their business, Lyric Consulting, continues to provide communication and public relations services to entrepreneurs and candidates for public office across Massachusetts. “We love what we do, and we enjoy working together to help our clients grow and prosper,” he says. “We’re a great team and we have a lot of great people we work with. We help them tell their story, and every day presents exciting new opportunities.”
Alongside his work at Lyric Consulting, Fred remains engaged in the practice of law, and he continues to assist a variety of clients with legal issues. “Some of my favorite clients have been the non-profit groups I have represented,” he says. “I feel like it presents me with an opportunity to give something back to people who really need assistance.”
More recently, Fred became licensed as a real estate attorney-broker and has started his own real estate brokerage, Lyric Properties. The brokerage is located in Northeast Massachusetts and operates with Meredith as an affiliated licensee. “I enjoy helping people realize the dream of owning their own home,” he says. “And, even though I typically don't represent clients as their real estate broker and their attorney at the same time, I definitely have developed a deeper appreciation for the legal issues involved in the process of buying and selling property, which makes the work even more interesting.”
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