Grand Manor: Extending the Claims Period for Environmental Property Damage
by Dylan Sanders Case Focus In a significant development under the Commonwealth’s hazardous waste cleanup law, Chapter 21E, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the statute of limitations for a claim...
View ArticleExtending Opportunities to Junior Lawyers in the Courtroom
by Hon. Janet L. Sanders Voice of the Judiciary When I began sitting in the Business Litigation Session of the Superior Court in 2011, I was struck by two things. First, as many as three or four...
View ArticleTransition H.O.P.E.: Boston Public Schools’ Efforts to Assist System-Involved...
by Janelle Ridley Viewpoint Janelle Ridley works for the Boston Public Schools (BPS) as the Coordinator for System-Involved Youth. She is an expert in identifying and implementing services to aid youth...
View ArticleTrauma Informed Care: What Lawyers Representing Children and Teens Need to Know
by Kirstie MacEwen, MSW, LCSW Practice Tips Introduction Modern social work principles present trauma informed care (TIC) as the most effective and safe way to work with clients of any age. TIC is...
View ArticleGoodwin v. Lee Public Schools
by Joseph N. Schneiderman Case Focus On August 23, 2016, the Supreme Judicial Court held that a student who was unlawfully suspended under the felony suspension statute, G.L. c.71, §37H1/2, did not...
View ArticleStudent Viewpoint: The World is not Peaches and Cream
by Schama Viewpoint Schama, who has chosen to be identified by only her first name, shares her experience appealing her expulsion from her Boston high school. The world is not peaches and cream: we...
View ArticleStudent Viewpoint: Fighting a Suspension
by JMC Viewpoint An alumnus of the Boston Public Schools, who has chosen to be referred to as “JMC,” shares an experience with school discipline that led to the student’s eventual suspension. During...
View ArticleParent Perspective
by Deidre Dailey Viewpoint Deidre Dailey is the parent of a student who was repeatedly suspended from school during his sixth-grade year. Her son is referred to throughout as “John,” a pseudonym....
View ArticleDeconstructing the School-to-Prison Pipeline
by Hon. Jay Blitzman Voice of the Judiciary The Supreme Court has abolished the juvenile death penalty, mandatory juvenile life without parole, and in acknowledging the reality of adolescent brain...
View ArticleSchool Discipline Law, Ch. 222 of the Acts of 2012: Effective Application and...
by Liza Hirsch and Janine Solomon Legal Analysis Brief History of School Discipline Reform in Massachusetts In Massachusetts and nationwide, one of the most commonly used responses to students who...
View ArticleSchool Discipline in Massachusetts Today
by Marlies Spanjaard Legal Analysis Even if you haven’t heard the term “school-to-prison pipeline,” you probably know what it describes: The national trend by which students are funneled out of the...
View ArticleSpecial Edition Foreword
by BBA President Jon Albano Earlier this year, the Boston Bar Association launched the pilot phase of its Service Innovation Project. Made possible by the Burnes Innovation in Service Fund of the...
View ArticleStanding in the Wake of Rental Property Management Services v. Hatcher: Only...
by Lauren D. Song Practice Tips On May 15, 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court articulated a bright line rule strictly construing the summary process statute, G.L. c. 239, § 1 (“Statute”), to hold that...
View ArticleTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017: New Tax Law May Affect Charitable Giving
by M. Bradford Bedingfield Legal Analysis In December 2017, Congress changed the tax laws in a number of ways that affect incentives for individuals and businesses to make charitable contributions....
View ArticleExtensive Amendments to the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure...
by Joseph Stanton & Patricia Campbell Malone Heads Up The Supreme Judicial Court has approved extensive amendments to the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure (“Rules”), which become...
View ArticleThoughts on Some Less-Obvious Threats to Campus Free Speech
by Jeffrey J. Pyle Legal Analysis Debates about free speech on campus have long centered on “speech codes”—overt policies that restrict constitutionally-protected speech deemed offensive to others....
View ArticleUnderstanding Expressions of Bias and Hate on Campuses Today
by Melissa Garlick Viewpoint Since 2017, college and university students across the country, including in Massachusetts, have noticed their campuses papered with fliers declaring, “It’s OK to be white”...
View ArticleMassachusetts High Court Rules Judges Can Require Sobriety as Part of...
by Martha Coakley and Rachel Hutchinson Case Focus On July 16, 2018, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled in Commonwealth v. Eldred, 480 Mass. 90 (2018) that judges can require...
View ArticleMajor Changes to Superior Court Motion Practice
by Victoria Fuller Practice Tips Superior Court Rule 9A was amended effective November 1, 2018. Although the Rule has been amended several times in the last few years, the most recent changes are big....
View ArticleReflections on the Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Grand Jury Proceedings
by Hon. Robert L. Ullmann Voice of the Judiciary Advising the Commonwealth’s highest court about an institution older than the Massachusetts Constitution, and one that operates in secrecy, was the...
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