Lawrence and its 71,000 residents rest near the New Hampshire border on the banks of the Merrimack River. The city was the first planned industrial city in the United States and has long been known for its textile mills and (more recently) for its manufacturing plants.  Lawrence’s Bellevue Cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Lawrence was also the birthplace of maestro Leonard Bernstein.

On August 1, 1845, Lawrence entrepreneurs began excavations for the Stone Dam along side the Merrimack River.  Once complete, the owner, the Essex Company, sold waterpower to the Arlington Mills.  Next canals were built to channel water to other sites within the town for powering other factories.    In 1860, when the Pemberton Mill caved in killing 145 workers, the scene began to be set for change.  It was not until 1912 that the Bread and Roses strike, with immigrants bonding together for better conditions, that the union movement had any traction.

With over 76,000 people living in 7.4 square miles, Lawrence is densely populated.  It has a rich immigrant history; the Irish (after the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s) and Germans (when economic competition displaced many Germans from Saxony) in the mid 1800s, the French Canadians in the late 1800s (in 1872 they erected St. Anne’s church on Haverhill Street) the Eastern Europeans in the early 1900s, the Lebanese at that time as well, the Jews (including the founder of Lawrence classic men’s store, Kaps, which opened in 1902 and closed in 1990), and, in the later part of the 20th century, immigrants from Latin America, southeast Asia, especially Viet Nam.  Today Lawrence boasts more immigrants from more places in the world than any other city in the world per capita!

Lawrence is in Essex County.  The Superior Courts in Essex County are in Salem, Newburyport and Lawrence.  Lawrence also has a District Court, located at the Fenton Judicial Center, at 2 Appleton Street.  Lawrence lawyers Burns & Jain has tried cases in both Superior Court and District Court in Lawrence; in fact, the day after passing the Massachusetts Bar Exam in 1985, Burns & Jain assisted in a Lawrence personal injury trial in the Superior Court.   For an example of a Lawrence personal injury case undertaken by Attorney Neil Burns, see our article entitled Successful Settlement of Child’s Hand Injury Case Enables Education Trust about a seven year old who was injured on while playing ball in front of his home in Lawrence.

Burns & Jain is located at Six Beacon Street, Suite 600, in Boston, Massachusetts 02108.  We encourage folks to take the Haverhill / Reading  MBTA Commuter Rail from Lawrence into North Station and walk, or take the T to our office.  Driving directions to our office from Lawrence are as follows:  Head southwest on Salem Turnpike/Winthrop Ave. Merge onto I-495 South via the ramp to Lowell/Marlboro. Take Exit 40A to merge onto I-93 South toward Boston. Take Exit 24A toward Government Center. Turn left at John F. Fitzgerald Surface Road, and take your first right onto State Street. Make a left at Tremont Street, and a right onto Beacon Street.   We are on the left.

Call Lawrence personal injury attorney Burns & Jain for a free initial consultation:  617-227-7423.