The leader of Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey’s trusts and estates practice area, along with another attorney from the firm, have started their own estate-focused law firm in Newton. 

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The leader of Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey’s trusts and estates practice area, along with another attorney from the firm, have started their own estate-focused law firm in Newton. 

Kristin Shirahama and Rebecca MacGregor announced the formation of Fides Law earlier in January through separate LinkedIn posts, with two serving as the firm’s founding partners. 

The firm will focus on estate planning and administration, as well as trust administration, according to its website.

Shirahama was the leader of the trusts and estates practice area for Bowditch when she left the firm in January, according to her LinkedIn profile. She started at Bowditch in 2015 after a stint at Newton-based Rosenberg, Freedman & Goldstein. She obtained her law degree at University of Connecticut School of Law. 

MacGregor was a partner in Bowditch’s trusts and estates practice area when she departed in December, according to her LinkedIn profile. She joined Bowditch in 2020 after seven years at Wellesley-based Wilchins Cosentino & Novins. She obtained her JD from Roger Williams University School of Law and a master of laws from Boston University School of Law.

The new firm includes two other former Bowditch employees: other staff attorney Erika Alley and paralegal Vinitha Krishnan. The five-person Fides Law is rounded out by administrative assistant Julie Dorley.

Neither Shirahama nor MacGregor responded to WBJ requests for more information about the firm.

Shirahama and MacGregor’s departure comes after Bowditch merged with Boston-based Kenney & Sams in December, expanding its reach further in Massachusetts and into Rhode Island. That merger came after about a dozen attorneys left Bowditch in September 2024 to join Boston-based Prince Lobel Tye as it opened a Worcester office. 

Bowditch retains 12 employees focused on estate planning and administration, according to its website. 

Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.