Massachusetts

  • November 25, 2024

    Fla. Man Wants New Trial Over $1M Cash-To-Bitcoin Scheme

    A financial services provider convicted of facilitating fraud through $1 million worth of cash-to-bitcoin conversions told a Boston federal judge he deserves a new trial, saying the exclusion of a key expert hamstrung his defense.

  • November 25, 2024

    Plumbing Supplier Retaliated After Bias Complaint, Suit Says

    A former sales representative for plumbing supply retailer F.W. Webb Co. says he was forced out of the company after providing a statement to Massachusetts investigators backing up a Black co-worker's discrimination complaint, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in state court.

  • November 25, 2024

    DOJ Says Realtor Commissions Deal Is No Antitrust Shield

    The U.S. Department of Justice warned the National Association of Realtors that changes to broker commission rules agreed to in a settlement with home sellers do not shield the industry from government antitrust scrutiny.

  • November 25, 2024

    Condo Boards Likely Safe From Corporate Transparency Law

    New corporate reporting requirements under an anti-money laundering law likely do not apply to condominium associations, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Pass On Ex-Atty's Puerto Rico Bribery Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the bribery convictions of a former attorney who solicited and accepted payments from an environmental contractor to influence three Puerto Rican mayors and helped the contractor secure government contracts worth millions of dollars.

  • November 22, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: AI, NY Rent Control, NEPA

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including one BigLaw partner's view of local governments leveraging artificial intelligence for land use, how landlords may challenge New York's rent laws following the latest High Court cert denial, and what a recent D.C. Circuit ruling could mean for National Environmental Policy Act interpretation.

  • November 22, 2024

    How A Purple Jacket Led To A Murder Exoneration And $13M

    To win compensation under a Massachusetts state law, lawyers for Michael J. Sullivan, who spent 26 years in prison, were required to prove he was innocent of the 1986 crime for which he was convicted. A couple of lucky breaks helped.

  • November 22, 2024

    Nissan Automatic Brake Classes Dismantled By 6th Circ.

    A Sixth Circuit panel vacated class certification Friday for Nissan drivers who say their cars' automatic braking system activates unnecessarily, finding the trial judge failed to grapple with software upgrades that may have fixed the alleged flaw for some of the class vehicles.

  • November 22, 2024

    Capital One 'Abuses' Cast Pall Over Discover Deal, Dems Say

    As the Biden administration winds down with Capital One's bid to buy Discover Financial still pending, progressive Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are putting renewed pressure on federal bank regulators reviewing the deal.

  • November 22, 2024

    Dems Introduce Foreign Work Disclosure Bill For WH Picks

    Two Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill that would require presidential nominees to disclose any past work they've done for foreign governments, citing concerns that past nominees had potential conflicts of interest.

  • November 22, 2024

    Senior Dem Asks Schumer For Votes On Circuit Court Picks

    Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Friday pushed back against a deal Democrats and Republicans cut earlier this week that obligates Democrats to forgo votes on four appellate picks.

  • November 22, 2024

    1st Circ. Affirms Volvo Win In Dealers' Maintenance Pay Suit

    The First Circuit affirmed a pretrial win granted to Volvo in a suit brought by two dealerships claiming the carmaker was underpaying them for maintenance they perform under prepaid service plans.

  • November 22, 2024

    1st Circ. Backs Auction For Bankrupt Farmer's Milk Quota

    The First Circuit has affirmed a Puerto Rico regulator's ability to order the sale of a dairy farmer's milk quota despite his pending bankruptcy, ruling the action wasn't blocked by a stay blocking actions that can affect a bankruptcy estate.

  • November 21, 2024

    Judge Suggests 1st Circ. Should Hear Lobster Tracking Case

    A federal judge in Maine on Thursday tossed a case by lobster fishermen suing to keep their fishing routes secret from state observation, but the judge encouraged the lobstermen to appeal the ruling so that a federal appeals court can wade into this "significant" Fourth Amendment dispute.

  • November 21, 2024

    Tenant Class Attys Get $1.1M Fee In Race Bias Suit Deal

    A federal judge awarded a nearly $1.1 million fee to class counsel for housing applicants who accused a tenant screening company of disproportionately excluding Black and Hispanic renters, saying the requested fee was reasonable for the $2.2 million settlement the attorneys struck.

  • November 21, 2024

    EzCater Fostered Discriminatory Workplace, Ex-Workers Say

    Four former employees of Boston-based ezCater are suing the online catering service, alleging that it engaged in discrimination based on their gender, race and pregnancy, then retaliated when they complained.

  • November 21, 2024

    Senate Deal Halts 4 Circuit Court Nominations

    Democrats and Republicans cut a deal Wednesday night to advance district court nominees before the year ends, while dropping four circuit court picks from confirmation efforts, Law360 has confirmed.

  • November 21, 2024

    Bettor Wants Class Cert. In Suit Over DraftKings' Voided Bet

    A man suing DraftKings over a canceled NBA wager he says would have put $150,000 in his pocket has asked an Indiana federal court to certify a class of 99 bettors, including himself, affected by the axed transaction.

  • November 20, 2024

    Prison Phone Cos. Say FCC Reg Fight Belongs In 5th Circ.

    There should have been no lottery to decide where to place an appeal challenging the Federal Communications Commission's new caps on rates charged for prison phone calls — the matter belongs in the Fifth Circuit, a pair of prison phone service providers told the First Circuit.

  • November 20, 2024

    Wells Fargo Must Turn Over E-Docs In TelexFree Litigation

    A Massachusetts magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered Wells Fargo Advisors LLC to hand over electronic files maintained by a compliance manager who investigated potential misconduct by an employee handling accounts of TelexFree associates under investigation in a $3 billion Ponzi scheme.

  • November 20, 2024

    Student Can't Undo Punishment For AI Use, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday refused to second-guess high school officials who disciplined a student for using a generative artificial intelligence program to write the text and find sources for a history report.

  • November 20, 2024

    Boston Mayor Touts Property Tax Relief Bill Before Panel

    Massachusetts lawmakers should allow Boston to adjust its property tax calculations to stabilize the share borne by residences, mitigating an impending tax hike, and boost a business personal property tax exemption, Boston's mayor told a legislative panel Wednesday.

  • November 20, 2024

    Mass. Gov. Nominates 3 To Probate And Family Court

    Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday nominated three judicial candidates to the state's Probate and Family Court, which handles divorce, child custody, guardianship and estate matters.

  • November 20, 2024

    Mass. Town To Pay $102K To Settle Firefighters' OT Claim

    Nearly 120 firefighters in Brookline, Massachusetts, have agreed to a $101,604 settlement to resolve claims that the town shorted them on overtime calculations, according to a Wednesday filing.

  • November 19, 2024

    HP Joins Patent Pool After Resolving Suit Over 'Unfair' Terms

    HP has agreed to join a patent pool for coding technology developed by companies like Dolby Laboratories, Mitsubishi and Philips, months after alleging that the group was engaging in "a money grab" to coerce it to accept "unfair and discriminatory licensing terms."

Expert Analysis

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Employer Lessons From Mass. 'Bonus Not Wages' Ruling

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    In Nunez v. Syncsort, a Massachusetts state appeals court recently held that a terminated employee’s retention bonus did not count as wages under the state’s Wage Act, illustrating the nuanced ways “wages” are defined by state statutes and courts, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Budding Lessons From Landmark Plant Seed Patent Battle

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    The Corteva v. Inari case involving intellectual property rights in genetically modified plants is now proceeding through discovery and potentially to trial, and will raise critical questions that could have a major impact on the agriculture technology industry, say Tate Tischner and Andrew Zappia at Troutman Pepper.

  • Useful Product Doctrine May Not Shield Against PFAS Liability

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    Courts have recognized that companies transferring hazardous recycled materials can defeat liability under environmental laws by showing they were selling a useful product — but new laws in California and elsewhere restricting the sale of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances may change the legal landscape, says Kyle Girouard at Dickinson Wright.

  • SEC Fine Shows Risks Of Nonpublic Info In X, LinkedIn Posts

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a settlement with DraftKings over charges arising from posting material nonpublic information on the CEO's social media accounts, highlighting that information posted to company websites and social media sites does not automatically qualify as "publicly disclosed" for purposes of Regulation FD, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

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