HOW THIS PRACTICE BEGAN

He went to law school knowing exactly what he wanted to practice.

Before law school, Stephen was already working as a condominium manager — at a time when condominium ownership in Massachusetts was still a relatively new way of living and the body of law around it was still being built. The day-to-day reality of running a building — board governance, insurance, the gap between what the documents said and what life inside the building actually required — convinced him there was a career here worth building.

By his own account, he entered law school as the only person he knew of who went specifically to become a condominium lawyer. Three years later, in 1979, he graduated and opened his own condominium law practice.

BUILDING THE FIELD

Practicing condo law from before it was a specialty.

After opening his own practice in 1979, Stephen became a founding partner of Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks in 1993 — a firm that grew to represent more than 5,000 community associations across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine, and one of the largest community association practices in New England. The firm grew alongside the field itself: as condominium ownership expanded from a novelty into a major form of housing in Massachusetts, condominium law evolved from a niche into a recognized specialty.

Stephen was deeply involved in shaping it. He worked at both the state and federal levels on the legislation that governs condominium living. He played a leading role in securing priority lien legislation for condominium associations in Massachusetts in the early 1990s — a foundational protection for boards trying to collect unpaid assessments, and a provision the Allcock & Marcus firm has publicly credited to his work. He contributed to federal bankruptcy law and the Federal Telecommunications Act as they apply to condominium communities.

Chapter 183A — the Massachusetts Condominium Act — was enacted in 1963, sixteen years before he started practicing. But very little of it had been tested in court. Much of what makes the Act work in practice has been built since, through case law, attorney general opinions, and statutory amendments. Stephen and his peers contributed a meaningful share of that.

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Beyond Massachusetts.

In 2015, Stephen served as president of the College of Community Association Lawyers — the national professional body for attorneys practicing in this field. CCAL is the credentialing organization for community association lawyers in the United States, and its fellowship represents some of the most experienced practitioners in the country.

In 2017, he received the Don Buck Lifetime Contribution Award — named for one of the founders of community association law. He was only the fifth attorney ever to receive it. The award recognizes attorneys whose careers have meaningfully shaped the field.

He has served on the CAI National Amicus Committee — which files briefs on community association cases of national importance — for decades, and as co-chair for several years. He continues to serve on the CAI National Federal Legislative Action Committee. He has spoken at CAI national conferences, written and presented on condominium policy at the state and federal level, and contributed to legislative work in multiple jurisdictions outside Massachusetts.

POST-SURFSIDE

The work that defined this chapter of his career.

On June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South — a 12-story condominium in Surfside, Florida — partially collapsed. Ninety-eight people died. It was one of the deadliest structural failures in U.S. history, and the building was a condominium, governed by an association, insured under condominium-specific policies, and operating under condominium law.

In response, the Community Associations Institute convened three national task forces charged with producing recommendations to help prevent another collapse. Stephen was named tri-chair of the Building Inspection Task Force. The work produced the Condominium Safety Public Policy Report — a framework covering reserve studies and funding, building maintenance, and structural integrity that has since been distributed to thousands of state legislators and is informing legislation in states across the country.

In many ways it is the culmination of the work Stephen began in 1979: applying decades of practical experience to the question of how condominium buildings should actually be run — safely, sustainably, and lawfully.

HOW THIS PRACTICE BEGAN

He went to law school knowing exactly what he wanted to practice.

Before law school, Stephen was already working as a condominium manager — at a time when condominium ownership in Massachusetts was still a relatively new way of living and the body of law around it was still being built. The day-to-day reality of running a building — board governance, insurance, the gap between what the documents said and what life inside the building actually required — convinced him there was a career here worth building.

By his own account, he entered law school as the only person he knew of who went specifically to become a condominium lawyer. Three years later, in 1979, he graduated and opened his own condominium law practice.

BUILDING THE FIELD

Practicing condo law from before it was a specialty.

After opening his own practice in 1979, Stephen became a founding partner of Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks in 1993 — a firm that grew to represent more than 5,000 community associations across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine, and one of the largest community association practices in New England. The firm grew alongside the field itself: as condominium ownership expanded from a novelty into a major form of housing in Massachusetts, condominium law evolved from a niche into a recognized specialty.

Stephen was deeply involved in shaping it. He worked at both the state and federal levels on the legislation that governs condominium living. He played a leading role in securing priority lien legislation for condominium associations in Massachusetts in the early 1990s — a foundational protection for boards trying to collect unpaid assessments, and a provision the Allcock & Marcus firm has publicly credited to his work. He contributed to federal bankruptcy law and the Federal Telecommunications Act as they apply to condominium communities.

Chapter 183A — the Massachusetts Condominium Act — was enacted in 1963, sixteen years before he started practicing. But very little of it had been tested in court. Much of what makes the Act work in practice has been built since, through case law, attorney general opinions, and statutory amendments. Stephen and his peers contributed a meaningful share of that.

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Beyond Massachusetts.

In 2015, Stephen served as president of the College of Community Association Lawyers — the national professional body for attorneys practicing in this field. CCAL is the credentialing organization for community association lawyers in the United States, and its fellowship represents some of the most experienced practitioners in the country.

In 2017, he received the Don Buck Lifetime Contribution Award — named for one of the founders of community association law. He was only the fifth attorney ever to receive it. The award recognizes attorneys whose careers have meaningfully shaped the field.

He has served on the CAI National Amicus Committee — which files briefs on community association cases of national importance — for decades, and as co-chair for several years. He continues to serve on the CAI National Federal Legislative Action Committee. He has spoken at CAI national conferences, written and presented on condominium policy at the state and federal level, and contributed to legislative work in multiple jurisdictions outside Massachusetts.

POST-SURFSIDE

The work that defined this chapter of his career.

On June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South — a 12-story condominium in Surfside, Florida — partially collapsed. Ninety-eight people died. It was one of the deadliest structural failures in U.S. history, and the building was a condominium, governed by an association, insured under condominium-specific policies, and operating under condominium law.

In response, the Community Associations Institute convened three national task forces charged with producing recommendations to help prevent another collapse. Stephen was named tri-chair of the Building Inspection Task Force. The work produced the Condominium Safety Public Policy Report — a framework covering reserve studies and funding, building maintenance, and structural integrity that has since been distributed to thousands of state legislators and is informing legislation in states across the country.

In many ways it is the culmination of the work Stephen began in 1979: applying decades of practical experience to the question of how condominium buildings should actually be run — safely, sustainably, and lawfully.