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Massachusetts
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June 18, 2024
Lender Sues To Recoup $1M From Renowned Boston Chef
A small Massachusetts bank is taking an award-winning Boston chef and restaurateur to court in an effort to recover more than $1 million in loans intended to start what turned out to be a short-lived eatery just outside the city in 2023.
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June 18, 2024
Epstein Becker Partner Rejoins Ogletree In Rhode Island
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC has rehired an attorney who spent the past three years working with Epstein Becker & Green PC on a range of employment-related matters, the firm announced Tuesday.
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June 18, 2024
Restitution Plan For Lead-Test Defects Leaves Judge Uneasy
A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday questioned the legality of a plan to have a claims administrator, rather than the court, oversee victim compensation in a criminal case alleging Magellan Diagnostics hid information about inaccurate results in its lead-testing devices.
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June 18, 2024
Insurers Must Keep Defending Heating Oil Co. In Class Suit
Two Crum & Forster units must continue defending a heating oil company and several executives in a class action claiming the company provided oil with elevated levels of biodiesel that caused property damage, a Massachusetts federal court ruled, saying the policies' "failure to supply" provisions do not limit or exclude coverage.
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June 17, 2024
Teva, DOJ Signal Key Kickback Case May Fizzle At 1st Circ.
A U.S. Department of Justice kickback case against Teva Pharmaceuticals — closely watched by False Claims Act lawyers because of its multibillion-dollar stakes and its link to a major circuit split — is poised for settlement, according to a new First Circuit filing ahead of eagerly awaited oral arguments.
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June 17, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says Errors Led To Injunction In Trade Secrets Suit
A Federal Circuit panel on Monday overturned a preliminary injunction against a South Korean insulin pump patch manufacturer that allegedly stole trade secrets from a rival, saying a Massachusetts federal court made a series of errors in its determination to grant an injunction.
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June 17, 2024
Split Mass. Top Court Backs Strict View Of Prompt Pay Law
The top appeals court in Massachusetts said in a divided opinion Monday that contractors must pay overdue invoices before disputing claims under the state's prompt pay law, with two dissenting judges criticizing the majority for trying to rewrite the law "by judicial fiat."
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June 17, 2024
Mass. Dentist Indicted In Alleged $2M Medicaid Fraud
A Massachusetts dentist and her practice have been charged with fraudulently billing the state's Medicaid program, MassHealth, more than $2 million for services that were never provided.
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June 17, 2024
College Students Say Mass. COVID Liability Shield Unjust
Three former students seeking tuition refunds are urging a Massachusetts court to rule on the constitutionality of a state law wiping away schools' liability for switching to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a statute that has all but doomed their separate federal complaints.
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June 14, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Special Servicers, 'Dirty' Money, Alt Energy
Catch up on this week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including recent litigation targeting special servicers, a 700% increase in brownfield funding, and one BigLaw real estate leader's take on alternative energy as interest rates hold steady.
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June 14, 2024
Mass. Seeks Damages From Trucking Co. In Highway Crash
Massachusetts is suing an Alabama trucking company whose driver crashed into and seriously damaged a highway overpass on I-93 just outside Boston three years ago, saying the firm hasn't paid for repairs to the structure.
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June 14, 2024
Dog Adoption Groups Assail 'Radical' CDC Import Rule
A "radical" new rule issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention banning the import of dogs younger than six months does nothing to combat canine rabies and instead will lead to the death of thousands of puppies that U.S. citizens are eager to adopt, according to a suit filed by a group of animal adoption charities.
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June 14, 2024
Dunkin' Franchise Must Face Customer's Race Bias Suit
An intermediate appellate court in Massachusetts on Friday revived part of a lawsuit brought by a Black customer of a Dunkin' franchise who says an employee deliberately ignored his order for 15 minutes, then threw his food at him and called him a racist epithet.
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June 14, 2024
Mass. Pot Regulators Lift Ban On Shipping To Islands
Massachusetts cannabis regulators approved an administrative order that will allow retailers on the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket to source their pot from mainland suppliers.
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June 13, 2024
1st Circ. Urged To Back TM Loss For Family Of Late MLB Star
A Puerto Rico agency planning a sports district in honor of late Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente has pressed the First Circuit to uphold the agency's dismissal from a trademark lawsuit filed by the baseball legend's family alleging unauthorized use of his name and likeness.
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June 13, 2024
Mass. Court Blesses Broad Liability In BMW Dealer Wage Suit
An intermediate Massachusetts appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a BMW dealership employee can sue not only her direct employer for wage law violations, but also a separate company that manages the dealership.
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June 13, 2024
Vero Biotech Tried To 'String Along' Safety Monitor, Suit Says
Georgia-based medical device maker Vero Biotech LLC reneged on a payment plan with a consulting firm hired to monitor its products, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court on Wednesday.
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June 13, 2024
FERC Gains Full Bench With 3rd Nominee Confirmation
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed former Massachusetts Undersecretary for Energy and Climate Solutions Judy W. Chang to fill a vacant commissioner slot at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, giving the agency a full complement of five commissioners.
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June 13, 2024
Mass. High Court Approves Tipped Wage Ballot Measure
Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday gave its blessing to a November ballot question asking voters to increase the state's minimum wage for tipped workers, finding that pairing the measure with a provision to allow tip pooling is part of an overall public policy goal to boost wages for all service industry employees.
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June 12, 2024
Internet Co. Hit With $4M Default Judgment Over Tower Bills
TPT SpeedConnect has been slapped with a nearly $4 million judgment after it stopped footing the bill on some 60 of its license agreements, which allowed the internet service provider to keep its telecom equipment installed on others' towers in exchange for rent.
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June 12, 2024
House IP Panel Eyes Transparency For Litigation Funders
A congressional committee on Wednesday began discussing whether to require more transparency of third-party litigation funding agreements to stem what lawmakers say are abusive patent lawsuits and national security concerns if hostile foreign governments meddle with cases anonymously.
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June 12, 2024
1st Circ. Finds PREPA Bondholders Have $8.5B In Valid Liens
The First Circuit said Wednesday that bondholders of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority have valid liens worth $8.5 billion on the revenue of the utility, reversing a lower court's ruling but leaving it up to the bankruptcy court to determine what effect that has on the restructuring plan.
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June 12, 2024
32 AGs Urge Justices Take Up Okla. PBM Law Fight
Thirty-two attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma's petition for review of a Tenth Circuit decision holding that federal law preempted portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing the justices needed to intervene to resolve a circuit split.
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June 12, 2024
Sen. Dems Seek Criminal Penalties For PE Hospital 'Looters'
A pair of Democratic senators are targeting private equity's role in the healthcare industry, introducing new legislation Tuesday that would give federal and state enforcers new tools to go after firms they say are "looting" hospital systems and other providers, including possibly jailing executives if patient deaths result.
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June 12, 2024
Massachusetts Pot Shop To Take Union Fight To 1st Circ.
A Massachusetts cannabis retailer found to have engaged in union busting is appealing a district court order that directed it to bargain with a United Food and Commercial Workers local and to offer to rehire two fired union supporters.
Expert Analysis
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Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions
As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.
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Minn. Noncompete Ban May Add To Nat'l Venue Choice Tangle
With federal courts already split on which laws govern choice-of-venue clauses in noncompete agreements, the new Minnesota statute that bans noncompetes and empowers workers to void any employment contract that requires out-of-state adjudication will complicate compliance for multistate employers, says Sarah Tishler at Beck Reed.
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3 Ways Courts Approach Patent Eligibility At Trial And After
Sorin Zaharia and Mark Liang at O’Melveny analyze all 36 district court cases where patent eligibility under Section 101 was decided at trial or post-trial after Alice, specifically focusing on how different districts address step two of the Alice inquiry, as well as the impact of each approach on the outcome.
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Employer Drug-Testing Policies Must Evolve With State Law
As multistate employers face ongoing challenges in drafting consistent marijuana testing policies due to the evolving patchwork of state laws, they should note some emerging patterns among local and state statutes to ensure compliance in different jurisdictions, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification
With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.
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Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled
In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.
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Challenging Gov't Use Of Nontraditional White Collar Tools
As the government prosecutes white collar cases with an ever-increasing reliance on nontraditional tools — including wiretaps, cooperating witnesses and racketeering charges — defense attorneys must understand how to mount effective defenses against such tools, say Glenn MacKinlay and Dean Elwell at McCarter & English.
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5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World
As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.
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Opinion
Bar Score Is Best Hiring Metric Post-Affirmative Action
After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies, law firms looking to foster diversity in hiring should view an applicant's Multistate Bar Examination score as the best metric of legal ability — over law school name or GPA, says attorney Alice Griffin.
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Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback
Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.
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Opinion
States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements
As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.
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Steps To Success For Senior Associates
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities
At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.
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What Affirmative Action Ruling Means For Higher Ed And Cos.
The U.S. Supreme Court's holding that race-conscious admissions programs at two educational institutions violate the Constitution's equal protection clause applied the "strict scrutiny" standard that governs race-conscious programs in a way that will be very difficult for educational institutions and other entities to satisfy, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.