Care and Protection of Walt: Breathing New Life into the Decades-Old Policy...
by Ann Balmelli O’Connor Case Focus To many, the Supreme Judicial Court’s holdings in Care and Protection of Walt, 478 Mass. 212 (2017)—that the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) must comply...
View ArticleThe Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence: What Lawyers Should Be Thinking About
by José P. Sierra The Profession During the Spring and Fall legal conference seasons, emails addressing “data breaches,” “improving cyber defenses,” and “what you (or your general counsel/board) need...
View ArticleThe Privity Defense in Commercial Warranty Actions: Still Lingering...
by David R. Geiger and Richard G. Baldwin Legal Analysis On July 21, 2017, in Organic Mulch & Landscape Supply of New England LLC v. Probec, Inc. [i] the United States District Court for the...
View ArticleThe Internet and the Afterlife
by Colin Korzec and Mary H. Schmidt Case Focus On October 16, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued Ajemian v. Yahoo!, Inc., 478 Mass 169 (2017), which holds that federal law,...
View ArticleMassachusetts Appeals Court Permits Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duties...
by Michael Cohen and William Cushing Case Focus In Baker v. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, 91 Mass. App. Ct. 835 (2017), decided this past July, the Massachusetts Appeals Court allowed the...
View ArticleThe United States Court of International Trade
by Hon. Gary S. Katzmann Voice of the Judiciary From October 27, 2004 until September 15, 2016, it was my great privilege to serve as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. On...
View ArticleNavigating Rising Waters: The Public Waterfront Act
by Matthew J. Kiefer and Louise B. Giannakis Practice Tips The Commonwealth of Massachusetts prides itself on being “first in the nation” for many milestones: the first public park (Boston Common), the...
View ArticleHow to Get an LLC into Federal Court: Tips for Pleading Diversity...
by Thomas Sutcliffe Practice Tips For federal diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, a plaintiff, or removing defendant, must establish diversity of citizenship between the parties. Typically,...
View ArticleDirector Liability Under the Massachusetts Wage Act: The Supreme Judicial...
by Mark D. Finsterwald Case Focus In Segal v. Genitrix, 478 Mass. 551 (2017), the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) addressed whether members of a company’s board of directors may be personally liable...
View ArticleJust the Right Size: Benefits (and Potential Pitfalls) of Limited Assistance...
by Christopher T. Saccardi Practice Tips Every day in Massachusetts state courts, people take on the burden of representing themselves in civil cases. While there are a number of reasons for this, the...
View ArticleTrustees of Cambridge Point Condominium Trust v. Cambridge Point, LLC – SJC...
by Samuel B. Moskowitz Case Focus On January 19, 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a condominium bylaw that, “for all practical purposes, makes it extraordinarily difficult or even...
View ArticleA Signed Text Message Can Result in a Binding Real Estate Contract
by Peter F. Carr, II Practice Tips The commonplace reliance upon and acceptance of text messaging in commercial dealings has forced courts to examine the legal implications of texting within the...
View ArticleThe Nuts and Bolts of Crafting a Derivative Case
by Tara J. Myslinski and Stephanie R. Parker The Profession Filing a new complaint? If your client is part of a for-profit corporate entity and the dispute concerns that entity, there is a good chance...
View ArticleDistinguishing Employees’ “General Skill or Knowledge” From Protectable Trade...
by Gregory S. Bombard and Adam M. Santeusanio Legal Analysis Trade secret claims often arise when a highly skilled employee leaves to work for a competitor. Under Massachusetts trade secret law, this...
View ArticleHow to Hire a Domestic Worker and Stay Out of Trouble
by Andrea Peraner-Sweet Practice Tips The Massachusetts Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (“DWBR”), G.L. c. 149, §§ 190–191, enacted in 2015, provided expansive new protections to domestic workers and...
View ArticleSCVNGR, Inc. v. Punchh, Inc.: The SJC Instructs Trial Courts and Litigants on...
by Evan Fray-Witzer Case Focus In SCVNGR, Inc. v. Punchh, Inc., 478 Mass. 324 (2017), the Supreme Judicial Court reversed a Superior Court Business Litigation Session decision that had dismissed the...
View ArticleEducation Reform: Doe v. Secretary of Education
by Ryan P. McManus Case Focus On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld the constitutionality of a Massachusetts law regulating the number of Commonwealth charter schools that can been...
View ArticleThe Supreme Judicial Court Steps into the Complicated World of Student Mental...
by Phil Catanzano Legal Analysis For several years, higher education institutions, both in Massachusetts and nationally, have faced student populations with increased mental and emotional health...
View ArticleCaplan v. Town of Acton: The Supreme Judicial Court’s Decision on Public...
by M. Patrick Moore Viewpoint At the heart of Caplan v. Town of Acton is the fascinating question of whether a municipality may use public funds for preservation of historic religious structures that...
View ArticleCaplan v. Acton: Three Pence is Too Much (Sometimes)
by Kate R. Cook Viewpoint The recent Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decision Caplan v. Acton, 479 Mass. 69 (2018), addresses whether taxpayer dollars can be used to fund an active church. It’s an...
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