Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from April 2009

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from April 2009

Commentary: the three C's: counterarguments, concessions, credibility.(legal writing)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Shailini J. George One of the hardest things for us to do as lawyers is to identify weakness in our own arguments. Let's face it: We all like to win. Some lawyers might consider making a concession or a counterargument in a...

Disability claim over a risk of relapse cannot be rejected, rules U.S. District Court judge.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A disability insurer violated ERISA by denying long-term benefits to an anesthesiologist without considering the risk of a drug-addiction relapse should she return to work, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled in a...

Circumstantial evidence sufficient to reach jury, rules 1st Circuit.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Even though no explicitly discriminatory statements were made to a working mother passed over for a job promotion, a recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling reiterates that circumstantial evidence is often...

Need for discovery reform in Massachusetts debated in wake of report.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel A recently issued report that blames civil discovery practices for creating a justice system in this country that "takes too long and costs too much" has local attorneys divided over whether discovery procedures in...

Commentary: laying off some of the best and brightest.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David Yas "I don't want to sound conceited," Hope told me over the phone. "But if people like me are getting laid off, it should make people feel better about being laid off." She's right, actually. Hope is a rising star....

Commentary: expediting patent prosecution process in the emerging technology sector.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Chinh H. Pham and Joanna Toke Companies, especially emerging technologies, know the importance of a strong patent portfolio. Not only does it protect and strengthen a company's technology, it can also help the company secure funding...

Commentary: brevity is not the soul of good client billing.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll I recently participated in a Listserv exchange concerning what has become a common issue: A law firm's largest client suddenly demanded a 10 percent rate cut. Without it, the client would stop sending new work to the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules stereotyping can be basis for bias suit.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Even though no explicitly discriminatory statements were made to a working mother passed over for a job promotion, a recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling reiterates that circumstantial evidence is often...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court to hear case on duration of alimony.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz An appeal that strikes at the heart of the emotionally and financially fraught issue of alimony is expected to be heard by the Supreme Judicial Court next month, and, given the parties and the stakes involved,...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court's 'patfrisk' ruling bodes well for defense bar.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Erik Berkman A recent Supreme Judicial Court decision restricting the ability of police to pat down suspected drug dealers in high-crime areas could serve as a boon for defense attorneys, according to members of the bar. On...

Case closed? For Milton lawyer, winning $256M class action award is only half the battle.
April 13, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank When a judge ruled last year that an Agawam-based credit repair company was liable for violating a 1996 federal law, Stephen G. Hennessy couldn't help but feel as if he had just won the lottery. As the lawyer for...

Transportation bill hurts consumers, warn Massachusetts attorneys.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel Transportation-reform legislation taking shape on Beacon Hill has been the subject of furious lobbying by plaintiffs' lawyers who say the proposed measure could drastically limit liability in cases against the MBTA,...

Ex-MBA official can't sue in Massachusetts Superior Court.(Massachusetts Bar Association)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel The Massachusetts Bar Association's dispute with its former executive director took a new turn earlier this month when Superior Court Judge Raymond J. Brassard decided that Marilyn J. Wellington's employment contract...

Commentary: for firm's sake, partners may have to part with cash.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Has your firm asked you to pony up money? Have you faced a capital call recently? Are your partner distributions being reduced? Media reports indicate that several top law firms are asking their partners to increase...

Commentary: less billable time means more marketing time.(Massachusetts)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Matthew Prinn The current state of the economy has resulted in less demand for legal services. As service providers, attorneys will inevitably find themselves with fewer billable hours. Below are best practices with which to make...

Commentary: are lawyer layoffs start of major restructuring of profession?
April 13, 2009... Byline: Harvey A. Silverglate The April 6 "From the Publisher" column, "Laying off some of the best and brightest," set out with sensitivity - but also a dose of reality - what is happening to some young, bright and hard-working lawyers....

Massachusetts Land Court hit by crises in housing and staffing.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz As if the extraordinarily high volume of mortgage and tax foreclosures in Massachusetts were not enough to swamp the state's Land Court, a hiring freeze is hampering its ability to cope with its ever-mounting...

CPCS, SJC fare well under Mass. House budget, but trial court hit hard.(Committee for Public Counsel Services, Supreme Judicial Court)
April 20, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank While the Supreme Judicial Court and the Committee for Public Counsel Services received level funding for fiscal 2010 under a House budget passed today, the Trial Court did not fare nearly as well. Massachusetts...

Allegations of criminal misconduct against Hampshire Juvenile Court clerk raised in hearing.(Massachusetts)
April 20, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank A special prosecutor told a judge in Northampton today that a grand jury is investigating scathing new allegations that Hampshire Juvenile Court Clerk Christopher D. Reavey has been "administering self-imposed...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Sentencing - Unlawful entry after deportation Where (1) a defendant Dominican national pled guilty to entering the United States unlawfully after previously being deported, (2) he...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Real property Conveyancing - Practice of law Where the plaintiff Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts, Inc. brought suit alleging that the defendant multistate real estate...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Social services Disability benefit reduction Where a plaintiff has challenged a decision of the defendant Commissioner of Social Security reducing the amount of the plaintiff's monthly...

U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Bankruptcy Unsecured claim - Puerto Rico Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge found that a claim by creditors, based on a Puerto Rico consent judgment, was unsecured, that ruling was proper...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Bankruptcy 'Projected disposable income' - Lien Where the Chapter 13 Trustee has objected to confirmation of the debtor's Chapter 13 plan, the objection must be sustained on the ground that...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Evidence Expert - SDP - Discharge Where a judge ordered the discharge of a person deemed sexually dangerous, the judge's order was proper in light of the testimony of two qualified...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Assault and battery - Prior convictions Where a defendant has been convicted of assault and battery, the trial judge committed no abuse of discretion by permitting the prosecutor to...

Mass. Appeals Court Unpublished Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Following are the summaries of decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to Rule 1:28. In reporting these unpublished decisions, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reminds readers that the...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Negligence Co-administrators as plaintiffs Where the plaintiffs are co-administrators of their deceased father's estate, they are precluded from appearing as pro se litigants in the present...

Mass. Land Courts Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Cluster special permit - Wetlands Where the Sandwich planning board issued a cluster special permit, the permit recipients have shown that their development plan complies with the wetlands...

District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Negligence Parking lot - Open and obvious hazard Where (1) a plaintiff, finding a convenience store parking lot to be full, parked her car in an adjoining lot serving an apartment building,...

Mass. Division of Labor Relations Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Labor Bargaining unit - Security guards Where a union wishes to sever Lowell public school security guards from an existing bargaining unit, that request should be denied, as the security...

Mass. Dept. of Industrial Accidents Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Workers' compensation Medical opinion - Causation Where an employee has appealed from a decision denying and dismissing her claim for G.L.c. 152, s.34 weekly incapacity benefits from June 3,...

Other Mass. Agencies Case Summaries: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Elections Unions - 'Victory Boston' Where 1199 Service Employees International Union/United Health Care Workers East wishes to join with other unions to create an informal organization...

Lawyers wonder how Worcester workers' comp firm's still in business after disbarment, jail.(Massachusetts)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel It was a triumphant moment for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. In October 2000, after nearly a decade of trying, his office finally succeeded in shutting down the Worcester workers' comp firm of Ellis & Ellis,...

Non-lawyers win round in battle over conveyancing in Massachusetts.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz and Thomas E. Egan The Real Estate Bar Association, in a strong defense of attorneys who do transactional law, appeared taken aback last week by a federal court ruling that REBA cannot prevent an out-of-state...

With budget cuts looming, Massachusetts courts worry about security.
April 20, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Trial Court officials fear they will be unable to adequately protect judges, lawyers and litigants against bomb threats, potential shootings and other acts of violence - incidents of which have erupted in courthouses...

Commentary: an online chat with the king of all social media.
April 20, 2009... Byline: David Yas It's either the most wonderful or most dreadful question we get asked these days: "Are you on Facebook?" Yes, even for lawyers, Facebook is very relevant. Most lawyers have come to know the ubiquitous...

Verdicts & Settlements April 20, 2009: Patient, doctors trade blame over cancer diagnosis.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $500,000 settlement On April 25, 2002, the plaintiff presented to her primary care physician's office and was seen by a covering doctor. She was noted to have a mass in her right breast....

Verdicts & Settlements April 20, 2009: MBTA bus collides with pedestrian in crosswalk.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $3.99 million verdict On Sept. 13, 2005, the plaintiff, 58, was in a crosswalk in Boston's South End when she was struck by the left front corner of an MBTA bus. At the point of impact,...

Verdicts & Settlements April 20, 2009: Truck crosses highway median, hits oncoming car.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $300,000 settlement The plaintiff was traveling westbound on a highway. The defendants' truck, traveling east, crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with the driver's side of the...

Verdicts & Settlements April 20, 2009: Despite fetal distress, baby delivered vaginally.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $2.9 million settlement The plaintiff alleged that the defendants, a certified nurse midwife, attending physician and attending nurse, failed to recognize that a 19-year-old pregnant woman...

Verdicts & Settlements April 20, 2009: Surgical sponge is left in teenager's abdomen.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $535,000 settlement The plaintiff was 18 when she underwent a laparatomy at the defendant hospital. Two nurses and one scrub technician allegedly conducted three separate counts of...

Verdicts & Settlements April 20, 2009: Motorcycle, SUV crash; partial paralysis results.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $1.25 million settlement The plaintiff, 22, was involved in a motorcycle collision with the defendant's SUV. The defendant, who allegedly was in the process of making an illegal U-turn...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report ADMONITION NO. 09-02 The respondent represented a client in a personal injury claim on a continent fee basis. The respondent failed to execute a written contingent fee agreement with...

Commentary: experience as owners could be boon for small-firm practitioners.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll The drumbeat of stories about lawyer and staff terminations at large corporate law firms has some sole and small-firm practitioners scratching their heads. These folks are accustomed to tough competitive conditions and...

Commentary: in legal-mal cases, three-way relationship a tense one.
April 20, 2009... Byline: William C. Saturley and Joseph S. Callanan You've been sued for malpractice. You have lawyer's professional liability, or LPL, insurance. Your insurer retained counsel to defend you. In this second column on the "tripartite...

For sale: lots of law practices; selling them takes know-how.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh Like many attorneys these days, you may be thinking of selling your law practice. Whether the reason is the sagging economy or the retirement of baby boomers, the number of law practices for sale is rising. Small...

Commentary: weighing in on the subject of 'controlled buys'.(Massachusetts)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Francis D. Doucette In the final weeks of 2008, the Appeals Court decided two cases that featured unusual uses of "controlled buys." Basically a pre-arranged purchase of contraband, a controlled buy is an acknowledged ruse and...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: April 20, 2009.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report New associations Christopher A. Hunt has joined Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye in Boston as of counsel in the litigation group. Promotions Nathan A. Goldberg and Louis A. Monti...

Homeowner can sue over snow-plow job, rules Mass. Appeals Court.
April 27, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank A homeowner who slipped while taking out the trash could sue the landscaper and condominium officials responsible for plowing the premises after a winter storm, the Appeals Court has ruled. The defendants argued...

More unpublished opinions expected from Mass. Appeals Court.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel A record number of cases filed at the Appeals Court in February and March - a pattern that could continue throughout the year - will likely lead to more Rule 1:28 unpublished decisions, according to judges and...

Online networking: some lawyers sing praises of Twitter and Facebook, while others warn of perils.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Noah Schaffer When Richard D. Vetstein learned the outcome of an insurance case he had mediated for a client, he headed straight for the Web to spread the good news. Vetstein, a lawyer with the Worcester firm of Mirick...

Interest from Massachusetts' IOLTA on upswing in March.(Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts)
April 27, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz After months of enduring sharp declines in interest revenue from banks participating in the state's Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts program, or IOLTA, the legal services agencies that benefit from the program...

Commentary: reconciling zoning laws with land ownership laws.(Massachusetts)
April 27, 2009... Byline: William V. Hovey It's not unusual for a client to ask his attorney: "You tell me I own over half of the private way in front of my vacant lot, which half amounts to 1,000 square feet, and that my lot contains 39,000 square feet. So...

Commentary: how to stay off list of endangered professional species.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Travel agents, stockbrokers, librarians, print journalists... these are just a few of the once-respected and efficient professions that are increasingly endangered by recessions and by customers with access to the...

Commentary: in renewing office lease, be on lookout for hidden costs.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Christopher O'Sullivan The lease on your current space is coming up for renewal, and you are preparing to start the process or face having to move the firm to a new location. Either way, it will likely be your second largest expense...

Commentary: networking much more than 'carding'.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Gretchen Neels In Do the Right Thing, consultant Gretchen Neels offers advice on professional etiquette and other behavioral issues that might arise in a law practice. Q. Given the choice, I would much rather visit the dentist...

Commentary: employment-at-will - and its exceptions - in tough times.
April 27, 2009... Byline: William J. Royal Jr. Nationwide, more than a half-million non-farm employees lost their jobs during the month of January. Of the 3.6 million total jobs lost during the 13 months from December 2007 through January 2009, 1.8 million...

Commentary: JAMS for fantasy sports geeks?
April 27, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank We fantasy baseball dorks are easy targets. We crunch numbers. We spend hours at home and in the office, over the weekend and while on vacation, adjusting lineups of grown men who wouldn't do a Larry David "stop...

Half a lifetime later, Boston lawyer refuses to give up on client.(Beryl W. Cohen )(Interview)
April 27, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz After more than 35 years spent staving off the closure of a sprawling Waltham residence for mentally retarded people, Boston attorney Beryl W. Cohen lost a big one earlier this month when the U.S. Supreme Court...