Dean Elwell represents businesses and individuals in white collar criminal defense, commercial litigation, and appellate matters. A former federal law clerk, Dean has counseled elected officials, Fortune 500 companies, and other public and private businesses through internal and government investigations, novel prosecutions, and high-stakes civil and criminal trials and appeals. Dean has litigated in state and federal courts across the country, including in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, and Michigan. In addition to arguing significant matters before the Delaware Supreme Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Dean has authored state and federal appellate briefs for interlocutory appeals, post-trial appeals, and certified questions of law. As a Special Assistant District Attorney from 2022 to 2024, Dean investigated and prosecuted conflict cases for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Dean sits on the Board of the Federal Bar Association, Massachusetts Chapter. He also serves as Vice Chair of the Complex Commercial Litigation Section Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association, which publishes BLS Bench Notes, a guide to practice in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court. Dean is a member of the Massachusetts Editorial Advisory Board for Law360.
Dean maintains a robust pro bono practice, volunteering with Greater Boston Legal Services, Veterans Legal Services, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association. He received the firm’s 2025 Pro Bono Award for his trial victory on behalf of a lawful permanent resident facing removal proceedings.
Before joining McCarter, Dean clerked for Judge William G. Young in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts and interned for Judge Bruce M. Selya in the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Justice William P. Robinson III in the Rhode Island Supreme Court. During law school, Dean worked in the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit, Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit, and Defensive Litigation Unit of the US Attorney’s Office in Boston. Dean also served as a research assistant to Professor Daniel R. Coquillette, Senior Editor of Moore’s Federal Practice and Reporter to the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
