ARTHUR J. GOLDBERG brings 35 years of municipal law experience to Petrini & Associates.  Arthur served for over 30 years in the City of Cambridge Law Department.  For 9 years, he served as the Cambridge Deputy City Solicitor.  In 2007, Arthur was a recipient of a Cambridge Employee of the Year award.  Prior to working for Cambridge, Arthur served for over 2 years as an Assistant City Solicitor in the Worcester Law Department, and for over 2 years as Assistant General Counsel and Acting General Counsel in the City of Gloucester Law Department.

Arthur has decades of litigation experience on a broad range of municipal issues, including public construction disputes, police civil rights cases, employment discrimination and other employee disputes, licensing appeals, negligence cases, zoning and real estate disputes.  Arthur’s non-litigation experience includes reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts involving construction easements, consultant services, land transfers and leases.  Arthur has drafted ordinances and advisory opinions concerning cannabis business permitting, local charter changes, elections laws, health regulations including local Covid related orders, public procurement, tree protection, zoning, local business licensing, and myriad other topics too numerous to mention.  Arthur is expert on the public records laws, conflict of interest laws, and open meeting laws. 

 Arthur served for five months in 2015 on an interim basis as the Chair of the Cambridge License Commission which issues licenses for and has enforcement authority over restaurants, bars, taxicabs, and commercial parking facilities.  For the same period, Arthur served as Chair of the Cambridge Pole and Conduit Commission, which is the permitting authority for utilities using public ways for utility poles and wiring locations.

Arthur is licensed to practice in Massachusetts state and federal courts, and has tried cases to judges and to juries.  Arthur has argued in the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals.  He earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and a B.A. in Political Science from Brandeis University.

Arthur was an elected Wellesley Town Meeting Member from 2010 to 2020.  He also served for 2 years on the Wellesley Town Government Study Committee.

Publications include an article entitled “The Curious Case of the Underfunded Quinn Bill,” published in an MCLE Municipal Law Update in 1991; “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Municipal Attorney,” published in an MCLE Municipal Law Update in 2000; “Unique Representation Issues in the Municipal Context” Chapter 4, and “Public Records” Chapter 21 first published in 2002 and subsequently updated annually in the MCLE Massachusetts Municipal Law Manual.