John Achatz

John Achatz practiced real estate law in Boston, first as an associate and then partner at Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer (now Brown Rudnick LLP), and later as of counsel with Klein Hornig LLP. His practice centered on development, preservation, and financing of affordable housing and urban mixed-use projects. His clients included for-profit and nonprofit developers, financial institutions, and government agencies. A small but especially satisfying specialty was representing groups of artists in creating artist-owned live-work studio buildings.

John participated in the founding of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the Lawyers Clearinghouse, and the American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing. He regularly serves on the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s review panels for distribution of IOLTA fund grants to legal services organizations.

Interested in the performing arts, he has served on the boards of Emmanuel Music, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Shakespeare Company, and Old Stories: New Lives, among others. He was a trustee of the Boston Conservatory.

As an Access to Justice Fellow, John is a volunteer lawyer with the asylum practice group of Community Legal Services and Counseling Center (CLSACC) in Cambridge. Immigration law is an entirely new area. He is pleased to have new colleagues to guide him. CLSACC provides free civil legal aid and affordable psychological counseling to low-income people. Its services combat the effects of poverty and violence by helping clients and their children meet basic human needs for safety, income, health, and housing.