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Massachusetts
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April 24, 2024
Whole Foods May Have Retaliated In BLM Case, 1st Circ. Says
Whole Foods hasn't yet proven that its firing of a worker who wore a Black Lives Matter mask to work wasn't retaliatory, the First Circuit said in an opinion unsealed Wednesday, ruling that there is a "genuine dispute" as to whether she was terminated for protected conduct.
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April 24, 2024
1st Circ. Upholds Feds' Vineyard Wind Project Approval
The First Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling rejecting Massachusetts residents' challenge to the federal government's approval of a wind energy project off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, saying federal regulators adequately analyzed the projects' effects on right whales.
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April 24, 2024
Mass. Golf Course Manager Gets 13 Months For Tax Fraud
A Massachusetts golf course manager was sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to tax charges, following prosecutors' accusations that he manipulated contracts with a home developer to deflate their value.
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April 24, 2024
Pegasystems Cuts $35M Deal To End Investor Suit
Pegasystems Inc. has agreed to pay $35 million to settle a shareholder suit in Massachusetts federal court alleging the software company failed to properly disclose a rival's trade secret litigation that led to a $2 billion verdict.
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April 24, 2024
Student Gets 9 Mos. For Stalking China Democracy Activist
A Boston federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese national to nine months in prison for threatening a fellow student at the Berklee College of Music who had posted a pro-democracy flier on campus, citing a desire to deter other foreigners from engaging in criminal conduct to suppress speech.
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April 24, 2024
Boston Pension Doubles Down On Bid To Lead NYCB Suit
Boston's municipal pension plan and its attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP stood firm on their bid to lead a proposed securities class action against New York Community Bancorp, saying their chief rival for lead status bought their shares too late and is too sketchy to be a potential plaintiff.
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April 24, 2024
Healthcare Co. Reaches Deal To Exit Pension Plan Suit
A healthcare company struck a deal with a class of retirement plan participants to end their suit accusing it of stacking its $500 million pension plan with costly funds and failing to keep fees low, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.
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April 23, 2024
US Gun Cos. Tell Justices Mexico Is Circumventing Law With Suit
A group of American firearm makers is asking the Supreme Court to throw out a suit from the government of Mexico alleging they have aided and abetted cartels, saying the First Circuit broke with the high court's precedent by allowing the case to proceed.
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April 23, 2024
Jury Suggests $25M Damages For Co.'s Malicious IP Misuse
A Colorado federal jury has said a display technology company must pay $5.1 million for misusing a business partner's trade secrets during the development of a wireless headset, and recommended the company be punished with another $19.7 million in damages for its malicious conduct.
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April 23, 2024
Blue States Leap To Defend EPA Vehicle Emissions Rule
California and 21 other blue states, along with a smattering of cities and the District of Columbia, have told the D.C. Circuit that they want to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defend its rule requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans from legal attack by red states.
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April 23, 2024
Ex-Takeda Worker, Boyfriend To Plead Guilty In Invoice Scam
A former Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. employee and her boyfriend plan to plead guilty to a $2.3 million phony invoice scheme, their lawyers told a Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday.
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April 23, 2024
Ex-Public Defender Wants 4th Circ. To End Wait In Bias Suit
A former public defender suing the federal judiciary for allegedly failing to take her sexual harassment claims seriously asked the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday to force a federal judge's hand after more than four months without a ruling following a bench trial, saying a decision on her long-pending bid for a preliminary injunction is overdue.
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April 23, 2024
Ex-Cozen O'Connor Atty Moves In-House To DraftKings
Cozen O'Connor's former co-chair of its state attorneys general practice has moved in-house to join major sports betting company and firm client DraftKings Inc. as its new chief responsible gaming officer.
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April 23, 2024
PE Giant Faces Sanctions Bid For Mexico Corruption Claim
Advent International Corp. and its counsel at Ropes & Gray and Quinn Emanuel allegedly fabricated claims that a Mexican corporation's lawyers corruptly influenced prosecutors and judges in the country to freeze the private equity firm's assets and issue arrest warrants for executives, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.
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April 23, 2024
Paul Hastings Adds Private Equity Team At New Boston Office
Paul Hastings LLP has expanded into Boston, the firm announced Tuesday, establishing its new Beantown foothold with the help of a seasoned private equity buyout team headed up by a former Sidley Austin LLP partner, the firm's latest move to strengthen its growing global private equity platform.
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April 22, 2024
Eli Lilly Tells Fed. Circ. $177M Patent Loss Was Rightly Axed
Eli Lilly & Co. has urged the Federal Circuit to uphold a Massachusetts federal judge's decision that wiped out a $176.5 million verdict against it for infringing Teva migraine drug patents, saying the lower court correctly found the patent claims to be invalid.
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April 22, 2024
Opioid Marketer Completes $1.5M Damages Settlement With Del.
Delaware's chancellor signed off Monday on a $1.5 million payment to the state by a company that helped Purdue Pharmaceuticals market its opioid products, the latest step in a $358 million, 50-state damages settlement reached with Publicis Health LLC.
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April 22, 2024
Broker In Penny Stock Scheme Says SEC Is Forum Shopping
A former California securities broker serving a prison term for a $150 million pump and dump scheme said Monday that a companion civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission does not belong in Massachusetts.
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April 22, 2024
Dentist Must Face Harassment Suit, Mass. Panel Says
A Massachusetts appellate panel on Monday revived claims that a dentist sexually harassed a female patient during a visit by allegedly making inappropriate comments and then purposely breaking her tooth after she rebuffed his advances.
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April 22, 2024
Thermo Fisher Says Rival Is Raiding Its Workforce
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is seeking to block Repligen Corp. from hiring one of its top executives, according to a suit in Massachusetts state court accusing the rival of a "systematic raiding" of its workforce.
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April 22, 2024
Mass. Justices Say For-Profit Biz Can't Duck Billboard Tax
A for-profit advertisement company cannot get a tax exemption for its management of billboards owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, the state's high court said Monday.
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April 19, 2024
A Cannabis Constitutional Fight, And The Calif. Atty Behind It
Federal appellate courts are mulling multiple challenges to state and local cannabis licensure programs, all brought by one California-based attorney and each alleging that the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution must apply to federally illegal marijuana.
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April 19, 2024
PE Exec Can Recoup $1M 'Varsity Blues' Forfeiture
A private equity executive whose conviction in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case was almost entirely wiped out by the First Circuit is entitled to a refund of $1 million he paid to the scheme's ringleader, a federal judge ruled Friday.
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April 19, 2024
Ex-Defender Says High Court Ruling Backs Bias Claims
A former assistant federal defender urged a North Carolina district court to consider a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in her sexual harassment lawsuit, arguing the high court's decision backs her claims for employment discrimination against the federal judiciary.
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April 19, 2024
Feds Want Prison For Ga. Chiropractor In NBA Health Fraud
Federal prosecutors have asked a New York federal judge to impose a 10- to 16-month prison sentence for a chiropractor who admitted to conspiring with former Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis to commit healthcare and wire fraud by submitting fake invoices to the NBA health plan.
Expert Analysis
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How Cannabis Cos. Are Adapting In Shifting Bankruptcy Arena
Recent bankruptcy cases show that federal courts have begun to demonstrate more openness to downstream businesses in the cannabis industry, and that even though receivership can be a viable option for those denied access to the bankruptcy system, it is not without its own risks and complexities, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories
The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.
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A Look At Mass. Sports Betting Data Privacy Regulations
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission recently approved data privacy regulations under the state's sports wagering act to promote responsible gaming, showing a trend of regulators directing companies on how to protect personal information used by artificial intelligence systems, say Liisa Thomas and Kathryn Smith at Sheppard Mullin.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: Tracking MDL Geography
In recent years, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has predominantly selected states east of the Mississippi River as venues for new MDLs — but with half of the proceedings it has created in recent months venued in Arizona and California, the panel is not neglecting the western part of the country, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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An Overview Of Circuit Courts' Interlocutory Motion Standards
The Federal Arbitration Act allows litigants to file an immediate appeal from an order declining to enforce an arbitration agreement, but the circuit courts differ on the specific requirements for the underlying order as well as which motion must be filed, as demonstrated in several 2023 decisions, says Kristen Mueller at Mueller Law.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
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Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary
The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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What Cos. Should Know About FTC's Proposed Junk Fee Rule
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a notice of proposed rulemaking targeting junk fees and how businesses may advertise prices to consumers — and since it would give the agency powers to seek monetary penalties against businesses that do not comply, companies should look to get ahead now, say Phyllis Marcus and Nicole Johnson at Hunton Andrews.
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FTC Orange Book Move Signals New Pharma Patent Scrutiny
The Federal Trade Commission's recent dispute against improper listing of drug patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book indicates heightened surveillance of the pharmaceutical industry, particularly where competition-related consequences of patent or regulatory processes are concerned, say attorneys at Fenwick.
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AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier
Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
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Harvard's Broker Fight Shows Active Risk Management Is Key
Harvard University’s recently filed suit against its insurance broker for alleged malpractice in handling the Students for Fair Admissions claim illustrates that risk management requires the concerted effort of policyholders, brokers and insurers to protect against disastrous losses, say William McMichael and David Klein at Pillsbury.
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Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World
As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.