Massachusetts

  • February 23, 2024

    US Gun Cos. Seek Time For Justices' Input On Mexico's Suit

    Gunmakers facing a recently revived lawsuit looking to hold them liable for firearms trafficking and cartel violence in Mexico on Friday asked a Boston federal judge to stand down and halt proceedings so the U.S. Supreme Court can have a chance to review the case.

  • February 23, 2024

    Mass. Tax Panel Grants Part Of Homeowner's Value Appeal

    The Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board said that the valuation of a single-family home should be slightly increased from the previous tax year because of rising home values in the neighborhood, but it determined that the local assessor's valuation was too high.

  • February 23, 2024

    Motorola, Mass. Police Sued For Using Intercepting Devices

    Motorola sold technology that let the Massachusetts State Police make illegal, warrantless recordings during investigations, according to a federal class action filed by four men claiming to be subjects of the secret recordings.

  • February 23, 2024

    Red Sox Network Exec Says 18 Mos. Enough For Billing Fraud

    A former vice president with the network that broadcasts Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins games argued Thursday that he should spend no more than 18 months in federal prison after a jury convicted him of bilking his former employer through a phony invoice scheme.

  • February 22, 2024

    Mastercard Faces Monopolization Claims Over Digital Tokens

    Mastercard has been stonewalling digital wallet startup OV Loop, refusing to provide needed tokens and thereby excluding OV Loop from the mobile payment services market, all part of Mastercard's effort to maintain its chokehold on payment processing and continue to charge supracompetitive fees on transactions, according to a suit filed Wednesday.

  • February 22, 2024

    CVS Says Redbox Won't Remove Kiosks Despite Expired Deal

    Pharmacy chain CVS filed a lawsuit against Redbox in Illinois state court Wednesday alleging the DVD rental company has refused to remove its kiosks from 10 CVS stores across the country after their deal expired, and is seeking over $424,000 in unpaid commissions and the removal of the kiosks.

  • February 22, 2024

    YouTube Privacy Judge 'Flummoxed' By Kids' Liability Theory

    A California federal judge indicated Thursday that she's open to trimming a revived proposed class action alleging Google and companies that host child-friendly YouTube channels illegally collected children's data from targeted ads, expressing concerns about the requested relief and saying she's "flummoxed" by the consumers' belated liability theory against the channels' owners.

  • February 22, 2024

    Mass. Medical Regulator Seeks Pregnancy Center Records

    A group of pregnancy crisis centers in Massachusetts and their medical director have been hit with a civil investigative demand by the state's medical board, which says it is looking into allegations the clinics "may be engaging in deceptive practices" and allowing unlicensed employees to perform ultrasounds and other procedures.

  • February 22, 2024

    Feds Can't Offset Nuclear Cleanup Bill With Trusts' Earnings

    The U.S. Department of Energy wasn't able to convince the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that nuclear utilities' high earnings on nuclear decommissioning funds should erase their $149 million damages claim against the department for delayed nuclear waste cleanup, according to an opinion made public this week.

  • February 22, 2024

    Biotech VC Firm ORI Capital Closes $260M Fund

    Biotech venture capital firm ORI Capital announced Thursday that it has closed a $260 million fund to invest in early-stage biotech companies globally.

  • February 22, 2024

    Judge Irked By Arbitration Ask Years Into Au Pair Wage Case

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday twice lobbed the phrase "judge shopping" at lawyers for an au pair placement agency that, four years into a proposed collective wage action by former child care workers, now want the case sent to arbitration in Switzerland.

  • February 22, 2024

    DraftKings Says Ex-Exec's $310K Attys Fees Bid Is Excessive

    DraftKings has told a California federal court that the "whopping" $310,000 in attorney fees requested by a former executive after the company shuffled the case back and forth between state and federal court is an unreasonable fee no "reasonable client" would pay.

  • February 22, 2024

    Hearst Lands Win Over Boston Videographer's Vax Claims

    A news videographer's concerns about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine fell short of qualifying as a sincerely held religious belief, according to a Boston federal judge whose ruling Thursday dismissed the fired employee's worries as mere personal judgments "rigged out with religious verbiage."  

  • February 21, 2024

    Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Beats NY Sex Assault Suit, For Now

    A New York federal judge tossed a former teen model's sexual assault lawsuit accusing Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler of groping and kissing her in public without her consent, finding Wednesday that the lawsuit is untimely and doesn't allege a "serious risk of physical injury" to state a claim.

  • February 21, 2024

    39 AGs Call For Federal Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform

    The list of critics of pharmacy benefit managers continues to grow as nearly 40 attorneys general have thrown their weight behind a trio of federal bills they say would force more transparency into an "opaque" industry that has "been a cause of rising drug prices."

  • February 21, 2024

    Mass. Landlords, Brokers Sued For Alleged Voucher Refusals

    A national housing advocacy group on Wednesday sued 20 Boston-area landlords and real estate brokers in state court, alleging they illegally refused to rent apartments to potential tenants with housing vouchers.

  • February 21, 2024

    Justices Squabble Over Emergency Review Of EPA Smog Plan

    The U.S. Supreme Court's liberal wing denounced during oral argument Wednesday their colleagues' decision to consider the merits of four related emergency requests to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from implementing a plan to reduce cross-state pollution without first getting lower court input.

  • February 21, 2024

    Boston Faces Suit Over Women's Soccer Stadium Project

    The city of Boston was slammed with a complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court by a nonprofit organization seeking to halt the city's pending privatization of the George Robert White Memorial Stadium in order to transform it into a women's professional soccer stadium.

  • February 21, 2024

    Mass. High Court Pick Challenged Over Past With Governor

    Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey's pick for the state's highest court faced questions Wednesday about potential conflicts of interest arising from her past romantic relationship with the governor from members of the panel that votes to confirm judicial nominations in the state, a rare pushback by the Governor's Council.

  • February 21, 2024

    CoStar, Hotel Giants Accused Of Data-Driven Price-Fixing

    Hilton, Hyatt and other big name hotel operators are the target of a proposed class action alleging they colluded with hospitality industry analytics firm CoStar Group Inc. to fix prices in luxury hotel markets in Seattle and other major U.S. cities, according to a suit filed in Washington federal court.

  • February 21, 2024

    Morgue Manager's Wife Cops To Role In Body Part Sales

    The wife of a Harvard University morgue manager will cop to interstate transport of stolen goods for her role in the alleged scheme to steal and sell human remains to a nationwide network, prosecutors said Wednesday.

  • February 21, 2024

    Mass., Property Developer Strike Deal Over Wetlands Pollution

    The state of Massachusetts and a nationwide residential property developer have settled claims the company caused sediment runoff in wetlands in a town about 16 miles south of Boston, in violation of the Clean Water Act.

  • February 21, 2024

    1st Circ. Won't Revive $19M Casino Deal Suit Against Wynn

    The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a real estate executive's suit claiming Wynn Resorts reneged on a handshake deal to pay him $19 million for helping it obtain a casino license, pointing to an opinion from Massachusetts' top appellate court saying the agreement is unenforceable on public policy grounds.

  • February 21, 2024

    Feds Seek 5 Years Over Red Sox Network Exec's Billing Fraud

    Federal prosecutors are arguing for a prison sentence of more than five years for a former executive with the network that broadcasts Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins games after he was convicted of stealing more than $575,000 from the company through a sham billing scheme.

  • February 20, 2024

    Crypto-Friendly Atty Challenges Warren For Senate Seat

    An attorney known for his pro-crypto views and criticism of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Tuesday a campaign to unseat incumbent and crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Massachusetts senatorial race.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats

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    Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.

  • How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies

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    Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.

  • Series

    Mass. Banking Brief: The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

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    Among the most significant developments in the financial services space in the third quarter of the year, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed down a stunning endorsement of the state's fiduciary duty rule, and banking regulators continued their multiyear crackdown on unregistered entities, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • AGs' Distaste For Food Bill May Signal Other State Issues

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    States' recent opposition to a proposed federal law that would block them from regulating out-of-state agricultural production could affect issues beyond this narrow debate, such as the balance of state and federal regulatory power, reproductive rights post-Dobbs, and energy production and water use, say Christopher Allen and Stephen Cobb at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial

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    Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.

  • Cos. Must Show Discretion In Public Statements When Sued

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    A recent securities class action ruling in Massachusetts federal court against software company Pegasystems shows that a boilerplate public denial of a lawsuit's merits can form the basis for a claim that the statement was false or misleading, underscoring the need to use discretion when responding to pending claims, say Brian Kearney and Stephen Kastenberg at Ballard Spahr.

  • Autonomous Vehicles Must Navigate Patchwork Of State Regs

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    With only modest action by the federal government on the autonomous vehicle regulatory front in 2023, states and localities remain the predominant source of new regulations affecting AVs — but the result is a mix of rules that both help and hinder AV development and adoption, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times

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    As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Alleged $636M Deal Error Highlights Ethics Considerations

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    Adelman v. Proskauer, a malpractice suit that allegedly arose from a cut-and-paste error resulting in potential damages of $636 million, presents an intriguing juxtaposition of facts and legal issues — and practical ethical considerations for transactions attorneys, says Richard Leisner at Trenam Law.

  • Federal Policies Keeping Autonomous Vehicles In Slow Lane

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    In the first installment of this two-part article, attorneys at Faegre Drinker examine recent federal regulations and programs related to autonomous vehicles — and how the federal government's failure to implement a more comprehensive AV regulatory scheme may be slowing the progress of the industry.

  • Mass. Ruling Shows Value Of Additional Insured Specifics

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    A Massachusetts court’s recent D.F. Pray v. Wesco Insurance decision demonstrates that blanket additional insured endorsements can create issues with personal jurisdiction, so those named as additional insureds should require their lower-tier contractors to use specific endorsements, say Thomas Dunn and Sheya Rivard at Pierce Atwood.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.

  • Alleged $636M Deal Error Shows Value Of Old-School Methods

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    Though Proskauer Rose has now settled claims involving a copy-paste error in deal documents that could have resulted in $636 million in damages, the debacle reminds attorneys that classic revision methods using paper copies can help avoid drafting errors and actually save time in the long run, says Richard Leisner at Trenam.

  • Avoiding The Ethical Pitfalls Of Crowdfunded Legal Fees

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    The crowdfunding of legal fees has become increasingly common, providing a new way for people to afford legal services, but attorneys who accept crowdsourced funds must remember several key ethical obligations to mitigate their risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review

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    Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.

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