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Massachusetts
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February 14, 2024
Breach Of Contract Claims Trimmed In $30M GameStop Suit
A Delaware federal court dropped some allegations related to the breach of contract claims against GameStop in a $30 million fee dispute, saying the plaintiff, Boston Consulting Group, has not pled a viable claim in some instances despite having three chances to do so.
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February 14, 2024
Biotech Nabs $200M Via Private Placement, Starts CEO Search
Public gene therapy company enGene Holdings Inc. announced Wednesday that it will sell 20 million of its common shares, raising an anticipated private placement of around $200 million, to fund the development of its lead compound EG-70.
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February 14, 2024
Mass. Court Doubts Northeastern Vowed To Keep Land Public
Massachusetts Appeals Court justices appeared Wednesday to question a claim by the town of Nahant and a group of residents that Northeastern University had implicitly dedicated oceanfront land it acquired in the 1960s as a wildlife preserve and park by allowing public access for decades.
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February 14, 2024
Ex-Atty Can't Delay Prison Amid Pot Bribe Appeal, Judge Says
A Boston federal judge on Wednesday shot down a former Massachusetts attorney's request to put off his 24-month prison sentence while appealing his conviction for bribing a local police chief to boost his client's retail cannabis application.
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February 13, 2024
House GOP Passes Measure To Impeach DHS Secretary
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday in favor of impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, over claims of "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and "breach of public trust" for his management of the southern border, after a failed attempt last week.
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February 13, 2024
Trans Inmate Wins Move To Women's Prison After 6-Year Saga
An incarcerated person with gender dysphoria will be moved to a women's prison and is on track to receive gender-affirming care after a Massachusetts federal judge found that her rights had been violated, ending a six-year wait for a ruling in a case that had stalled on the docket.
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February 13, 2024
Mass. Attys Welcome New Guardrails On Trial Time Limits
Massachusetts attorneys largely welcomed a recent decision by the state's high court blessing time limits in certain situations in civil trials, citing the ruling's helpful guidance and limitations that will likely make ticking clocks less common in state courts than their federal counterparts.
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February 13, 2024
Ex-Atty Appealing Pot Bribe Conviction Says Prison Can Wait
A former Massachusetts attorney convicted over an alleged cannabis licensing quid pro quo told a Boston federal judge Tuesday that multiple close-call legal issues warrant a delay of his 24-month prison sentence until the First Circuit decides his forthcoming appeal.
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February 13, 2024
Carl Icahn Sets Sights On JetBlue, Scooping 10% Share
Activist investor Carl Icahn has revealed in a securities filing that he has amassed a nearly 10% stake in JetBlue Airways, a disclosure that sent the airline's stock price soaring more than 20% on Tuesday.
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February 13, 2024
Ex-DraftKings Exec's Attys Seek $310K For Court Pingpong
Lawyers for a former DraftKings Inc. executive who recently defected to rival Fanatics are seeking more than $310,000 in attorney fees, arguing the amount is reasonable and would cover their work for two "objectively unreasonable" removals of the case to federal court by DraftKings, behavior they called "disturbing litigation conduct."
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February 12, 2024
State Street Inks $4.3M Deal To Resolve ERISA Claims
State Street Corp. has agreed to pay $4.3 million to resolve proposed class claims that the bank managed its 401(k) plan for its own benefit rather than for workers in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, plan participants told a Massachusetts federal court on Monday.
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February 12, 2024
Harvard Not Liable For Alleged Morgue Body Part Sales
A Massachusetts judge ruled Monday that a state law makes Harvard University immune from a dozen lawsuits seeking to hold it liable after a former medical school morgue manager was criminally charged with stealing and selling body parts.
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February 12, 2024
Schools' $104M Aid-Fixing Deal OK'd, Vanderbilt Deal Coming
An Illinois federal judge on Monday granted initial approval to a $104.5 million deal with Yale, Emory, Brown, Columbia and Duke in a proposed antitrust class action claiming that 17 universities conspired to limit student aid, with another settlement from Vanderbilt expected to hit the docket in the coming weeks.
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February 12, 2024
Ex-Melick & Porter Partner Says Colleague Forced Him Out
A former Melick & Porter LLP partner claimed in a Massachusetts state court lawsuit that he was pushed out of the firm by another partner who undermined him and stole clients.
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February 12, 2024
Hogan Lovells Builds Out Corp. Group With 2 Partners
Hogan Lovells announced Monday it has bolstered its corporate and finance group with the hiring of new partners in New York and Boston.
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February 09, 2024
Mass. Lobstermen Say Feds Used Bad Data To Close Waters
Lobster fishermen in Massachusetts filed suit Friday challenging the latest move by the federal government to close a swath of ocean to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, saying officials relied on faulty doomsday assumptions about the risk to the species.
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February 09, 2024
Amazon Cut Delivery Co. To Punish Complaints, Suit Says
Amazon mischaracterized the employment of a package delivery servicer and severed the team's contract after its leader complained about alleged sexual harassment, violating Massachusetts employment law, the team leader told a state court Friday.
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February 09, 2024
1st Circ. Wipes Out German's $3M Penalty In SEC Fraud Case
The First Circuit on Friday ruled that a German citizen does not have to pay back $3.3 million in allegedly laundered funds sought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, reversing a lower court's order and finding that American courts have no basis for sanctioning the foreign national.
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February 09, 2024
Former Pharma Exec Faces Criminal Contempt For Fake Name
A former leader of now-defunct BioChemics Inc. who admitted to using a false name for six years while allegedly flouting an order not to work in any aspect of the securities field is facing a criminal contempt charge and possible jail time, a Massachusetts federal judge said Friday.
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February 09, 2024
Healthcare-Focused SPAC Hits The Market After $160M IPO
Blank-check company Helix Acquisition Corp. II hit the public markets on Friday following its upsized initial public offering, which raised $160 million by offering 16 million shares at a price of $10 apiece.
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February 09, 2024
Audacy Floats Two Ch. 11 Sales That Could Net Debtor $21.6M
Bankrupt radio station operator Audacy Inc. wants to sell two pieces of real estate near Boston for as much as $21.6 million to raise funds for its estate in Chapter 11, asking a Texas judge to approve the deals so that it can close on them by early March.
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February 09, 2024
23andMe Led To Late Father And $28M Verdict, Woman Says
A Massachusetts woman's successful quest to learn her father's identity through the ancestry-tracking company 23andMe took a surprising turn when she later learned her new flesh-and-blood relatives left her out of her father's wrongful death suit that resulted in a $28 million jury verdict, according to a state court lawsuit.
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February 09, 2024
Off The Bench: NCAA NIL Rule Lives; Dartmouth Players Win
In this week's Off The Bench, a Tennessee judge sends mixed signals to the NCAA in the fight over its NIL recruiting ban, Dartmouth's basketball players tally a win for college athletes' unionization efforts, and DraftKings tries to stop rival Fanatics from benefiting from a former executive who switched sides. If you were on the sidelines over the past week, Law360 is here to clue you in on the biggest sports and betting stories that had our readers talking.
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February 09, 2024
US Gun Cos. Will Ask Justices To Toss Mexico Trafficking Suit
Smith & Wesson, Glock, Baretta and other gun companies said during a hearing Friday that they will turn to the U.S. Supreme Court after the First Circuit revived a suit by the Mexican government that seeks to hold the firearms industry responsible for thousands of trafficked weapons.
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February 08, 2024
SEC Fights Hedge Fund Priest's Fee Bid After Mixed Verdict
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has urged a Massachusetts federal judge not to grant more than $1.7 million in attorney fees to a Greek Orthodox priest and hedge fund manager who fended off some of the agency's claims at trial, saying there is no justification for giving "adjudicated fraudsters money for their legal fees."
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code
As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.
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Joint Representation Ethics Lessons From Ga. Electors Case
The Fulton County district attorney's recent motion to disqualify an attorney from representing her elector clients, claiming a nonconsentable conflict of interest, raises key questions about representing multiple clients related to the same conduct and highlights potential pitfalls, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Grace Wynn at HWG.
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Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI
In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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Opinion
It's Time For Lawyers To Stand Up For Climate Justice
The anniversary this week of the Deepwater Horizon disaster offers an opportunity for attorneys to embrace the practice of just transition lawyering — leveraging our skills to support communities on the front lines of climate change and environmental catastrophe as they pursue rebuilding and transformation, says Amy Laura Cahn at Taproot Earth.
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Don't Forget Alumni Engagement When Merging Law Firms
Neglecting law firm alumni programs after a merger can sever the deep connections attorneys have with their former firms, but by combining good data management and creating new opportunities to reconnect, firms can make every member in their expanded network of colleagues feel valued, say Clare Roath and Erin Warner at Troutman Pepper.
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Without Stronger Due Diligence, Attys Risk AML Regulation
Amid increasing pressure to mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risks in gatekeeper professions, the legal industry will need to clarify and strengthen existing client due diligence measures — or risk the federal regulation attorneys have long sought to avoid, says Jeremy Glicksman at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
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Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
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Building On Successful Judicial Assignment Reform In Texas
Prompt action by the Judicial Conference could curtail judge shopping and improve the efficiency and procedural fairness of the federal courts by implementing random districtwide assignment of cases, which has recently proven successful in Texas patent litigation, says Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper.
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Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
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Opinion
Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
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Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy
As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Distressed Cannabis Cos. Have A Few Options, With Caveats
As the cannabis industry falls on tough times and a potential recession looms, attorneys should understand the limited restructuring options available to distressed cannabis businesses, absent key bankruptcy protections — and the pitfalls these options may present, say Griffen Thorne and Ethan Minkin at Harris Bricken.
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Opinion
Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats
An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
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Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation
A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.
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Opinion
Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse
The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.