Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from January 2006

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from January 2006

A Coaches Gift Charitable Foundation is catching on with good sports.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Steven C. Sharaf knows all about donating time. After the busy Needham attorney leaves his office for the day, he coaches his two sons' sports teams. Now, Sharaf and fellow Needham...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions : January 2, 2006.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SJC No. BD-2005-084 IN RE: MELVIN F. ALBERT Last known address: 71 W. Central Street Natick, MA 01760-4444 S.J.C. Order of Indefinite Suspension entered by Justice Greaney on November...

Mass. Continuting Legal Education offers scholarships to lawyers.(Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff It's been well-documented that many lawyers who work for the government or in other public-service arenas scrape along with meager salaries. Bar advocates won a welcome victory when their fees...

Labor Relations Commission Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(Matter of: Bristol County Sheriff's Department and Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union )(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Labor Correction officers' union - Notice - Opportunity to bargain Where a correction officers' union charges that the Bristol County Sheriff's Department violated G.L.c. 150E by (1)...

Supreme Judicial Court: Proof needed for common fingerprint test.(Commonwealth v. Patterson)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson A criminal defendant could not be convicted for murder on the basis of several partial fingerprints even where police used the most common method of latent fingerprint identification, the Supreme Judicial Court...

Public employees who claimed bias can collect prejudgment interest.(Trustees of Health and Hospitals of the City of Boston Inc. v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Tony Wright Five African-American employees of the commonwealth who were discriminated against could collect prejudgment interest even though, historically, sovereign immunity protected the commonwealth from such interest...

Discharged lawyer gets fees in quantum meruit.(Irving E. Kane )
January 2, 2006... Byline: Tony Wright An attorney discharged by a client with whom he had a contingent-fee agreement could collect fees in quantum meruit for the value of his services from a settlement ultimately obtained in the case even where the attorney...

Insurance Division announces hearing.(regulations on insurance policy)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation DIVISION OF INSURANCE NOTICE OF HEARING Pursuant to the provisions of chapter 30A, and in...

Amicus briefs sought by Supreme Judicial Court.(James Mason v. Betsy Shanley Coleman, The Commerce Insurance Company & others v. Commissioner of Insurance)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT FOR THE COMMONWEALTH ANNOUNCEMENT THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURTIS SOLICITING AMICUS BRIEFS OR MEMORANDA FROM INTERESTED PARTIES IN THE FOLLOWING MATTER PENDING BEFORE...

Author calls for spiritual revitalization of the legal profession.(Spiritual Revitalization of the Legal Profession: A Search for Sacred Rivers)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Are lawyers spiritually depraved? Have members of the profession slowly, but surely, been spiraling their way down through the various circles of hell, losing sight of what matters to them...

Obituary: Carol Ann C'Miel.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Carol Ann C'Miel, a general liability, fraud and workers' compensation attorney, died Dec. 11 following a battle with lung cancer. She was 57. C'Miel graduated from the University of...

Obituary: Geri Laventis dies in car accident Dec. 17.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Geri Laventis, who frequently served as a bar advocate, died Dec. 17 in a car accident in Northampton. She was 58. She had her own law practice in Holyoke for many years. Holyoke District...

Massachusetts Legal Briefs: January 2, 2006.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Yenta? Jeff Coburn doesn't like to call himself a matchmaker. But the fact is he's watching the second pair of Boston firms that he has fixed up tie the knot. In May, Coburn, a strategic...

Verdicts & Settlements January 2, 2006: Four killed when plane crashes in the Bahamas.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict The plaintiffs claimed that a 1981 Bonanza aircraft was defectively designed and manufactured with respect to the latching mechanism on the cabin door, permitting it to...

Verdicts & Settlements January 2, 2006: Passenger injured when bus strikes garage roof.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $600,000 settlement The plaintiff was a passenger in a hotel van that, upon entering the parking garage, struck the concrete roof of the garage. As a result, the plaintiff was thrown...

Verdicts & Settlements January 2, 2006: Passing car strikes jogger in construction area.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $385,000 settlement The plaintiff was a pedestrian jogging eastbound on Memorial Drive in Cambridge on April 25, 2002. As she approached the southwest corner of Memorial Drive and Western...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: January 2, 2006.(Serge Georges joins Major, Lindsey & Africa)(Andrew F. Upton joins Holland & Knight)(Anthony J. Fitzpatrick joins Adler, Pollock & Sheehan)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Christopher W. Sanzone and John T. McCarthy, previously with Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, have formed Sanzone & McCarthy, an employment and labor law firm in Wellesley. ...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(United States v. Saccoccia)(United States v. Robinson )
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Fees - Criminal defendant - Contempt Where a district court judge issued a civil contempt order requiring criminal defense attorneys to turn over to the government fees paid by...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Guardianship - Emotional distress Where a plaintiff alleges that the defendants, her stepfather and stepbrother, breached an agreement to seek the plaintiff's appointment as her...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(Re: Lazarus, Christine H.)(Re: D'Amore, Nicholas S.)(Re: Zoppo, Joseph P.)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy 'Earmarking' doctrine - Mortgage refinancing - Preferential transfer Where (1) a mortgage, which enabled a debtor to pay off a prior mortgage, was recorded within 90 days of...

Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(Commonwealth v. Patterson )
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Evidence Latent fingerprints Where a defendant's motion to exclude fingerprint evidence was denied, that ruling must be reversed on the ground that the commonwealth did not establish a...

Appeals Court Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed The Appeals Court has affirmed, pursuant to Rule 1:28, judgments in the following cases. Although the decisions do not appear to address any substantive issues...

Superior Court Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Court order - Sale of property Where the defendants have moved for modification of certain previous court orders, I find that the motion should be granted so as to permit...

District Court/BMC Trial Division Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(Commonwealth v. Peters)(Commonwealth v. Walker )
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Search and seizure Affidavit - Probable cause Where a defendant has filed a suppression motion, I find that it should be granted, as no probable cause existed justifying the subject...

Department of Industrial Accidents Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(Re: Cheetham, William)(Re: McMiller, Stewart)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Impartial examiner - Deposition Where an employee was awarded closed periods of weekly incapacity benefits, the case must be recommitted because the insurer's due...

Land Court Case Summaries: January 2, 2006.(Bellarosa v. Cerier)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Beachfront - Easement Where a dispute has arisen as to whether the plaintiffs are exceeding their easement rights with respect to the defendants' beachfront property by...

Reforms to Massachusetts Land Court a mixed bag.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson Lawyers say the Land Court's 2004 efforts to improve efficiency and consistency have been a mixed bag: While the new individual-calendar system has allowed for swift motions, attorneys feel pressured by the...

Will employment bias claims survive death?
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The Supreme Judicial Court recently heard arguments in a case that could determine whether an employment discrimination claim brought under Chapter 151B survives the plaintiff's death. In the...

Supreme Judicial Court rules contractor may assign indemnification claim.(Spellman v. Shawmut Woodworking and Supply Inc.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: David E. Frank A contractor's indemnification claim against a subcontractor could be assigned to a plaintiff even where the subcontractor was also the plaintiff's employer, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled The general...

Letter of the law.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Demanding, spiteful and even embarrassing: all words that could characterize the letters recently published in the Boston Herald from Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy, who successfully sued...

The 'bucks' stop here: small firm triumphs over mega-company Starbucks.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Last week in China, Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. triumphed over a Shanghai rival in a trademark dispute over the famous Starbucks name. Here on the east coast of the United States, however, it...

Verdicts & Settlements January 9, 2006: UMass worker with MS fired after 16 years of service.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $309,608 settlement A case of discrimination and retaliation was brought against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth for the complainant's termination by an alleged reduction in force...

Verdicts & Settlements January 9, 2006: Domestic abuse victim: calls for help went unanswered.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $250,000 settlement The plaintiffs alleged that the military police authorities and their commanding officers at the Hanscom Air Force Base breached law enforcement procedures for responding...

Verdicts & Settlements January 9, 2006: Real estate agents threaten to quit to force business sale.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $240,000 verdict An Essex County jury sitting in Lawrence found that 10 former real estate agents of the plaintiff company engaged in a civil conspiracy from December 2000 through January 2001...

Verdicts & Settlements January 9, 2006: Minor hospitalized for treatment of lead poisoning.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $400,000 settlement The minor plaintiff, born in October 1987, lived in rental property owned by the defendants and was first found to be lead poisoned in July 1990 with lead levels as high as...

Old habits die hard -- even for lawyers.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Tony Wright Old habits die hard. Be it smoking, eating fast food or shopping, breaking bad habits that have been in place for years can be challenging at best and impossible at worst. Researchers at MIT recently released...

1st Circuit changes, adopts local rules.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff OFFICE OF THE CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO LOCAL RULE 32(b)AND LOCAL RULE 32.1 REQUEST FOR COMMENTS AND NOTICE OF AMENDMENT ...

U.S. District Court issues electronic case filing orders.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS NOTICE REGARDING NEW LOCAL RULE 5.4 and MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2006 Local Rule 5.4 This new...

Mulligan announces Land Court Standing Order No. 1-06.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE TRIAL COURT To: Karyn Faith Scheier, Chief Justice, Land Court Department From: Robert A. Mulligan, Chief Justice for...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: January 9, 2006.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SJC-BD-2005-075 IN RE: JOHN D. FRANCHITTO Last known address: 164-1 Summer Street PMB 316 Kingston, MA 02364 Judgment of Public Reprimand and Memorandum of Decision entered by Cowin,...

Commentary: Bristol County DA Walsh goes too far.(district attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. )
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. has, quite simply, gone too far. Walsh, never shy to criticize judges with whom he disagrees, has accused Appeals Court Judge Gordon L....

Commentary: Navigating the high-stakes litigation of standing to sue in land use cases.(Column)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Vincent J. Pisegna and Hugh Dun Rappaport In two recent cases, Standerwick v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Andover, 64 Mass. App. Ct. 337 (2005), and Butler v. City of Waltham, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 435 (2005), the Appeals Court clarified...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: January 9, 2006.(Richard D. Bickelman joins Posternak, Blankstein & Lund )(Emily R. Schulman joins WilmerHale )(R. Daniel Peterson joins Devine Millimet)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Richard D. Bickelman has joined Posternak, Blankstein & Lund in Boston as a partner in the corporate and litigation departments. Previously, he was with Deutsch Williams....

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: January 9, 2006.(Maher v. GSI Lumonics Inc.)(Rivera Diaz v. American Airlines Inc.)(United States v. Rodriguez-Gonzalez )
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Dismissal - Res judicata Where a plaintiff's age discrimination claims were ordered dismissed on res judicata grounds, that order should be affirmed on the basis of the...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff ERISA Severance pay Where a plaintiff has filed a breach of contract action concerning a severance plan payment agreement, the plan is governed by ERISA and thus the complaint must be...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(Re: Plymouth Rubber Co. Inc.)(Re: Rodriguez, Aileen)(Re: Northeastco Door and Mill Work Co. Inc.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Administrative priority - Severance benefits Where creditors have opposed a Chapter 11 debtor's motion for authority to make payments pursuant to an employee retention plan, the...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(Kelley v. Vermont Mutual Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Jurisdiction Diversity - Amendment of complaint Where (1) a Massachusetts plaintiff filed suit in state court against a Vermont defendant, (2) the defendant removed the case to U.S....

Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(Ewing v. Commonwealth)(Spellman v. Shawmut Woodworking and Supply Inc.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Mootness - Appointment of counsel Where a petitioner argues that a single justice erred in declining to appoint counsel to assist the petitioner with his appeal from an order...

Appeals Court Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(Gustafson v. Cisco Systems Inc.)(Commonwealth v. Cottrell )
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed The Appeals Court has affirmed, pursuant to Rule 1:28, judgments in the following cases. Although the decisions do not appear to address any substantive issues...

Superior Court Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(John Doe #21872 v. Sex Offender Registry Board v. Boston Police Department)(Allen v. Singer)(Graham v. Copperbeech Partnership Limited Inc.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Sex Offender Registry Board - Hearing Where the Sex Offender Registry Board classified a petitioner as a level 3 sex offender, a remand must be ordered in light of the fact...

Land Court Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(Re: Jackson, Mary Eliot)(Hingham Land LLC v. Town of Rockland v. Rockland Golf Course LLC)(Cumberland Farms Inc. v. Colman)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Registration - Adverse possession Where a registration petition has been filed with respect to certain lots and an easement in Aquinnah, the petition should be granted...

District Court/BMC Trial Division Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(O'Leary v. Town Taxi of Cape Cod Inc.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Unemployment compensation Taxi drivers Where the Board of Review of the Division of Unemployment Assistance has ruled that taxi drivers for a defendant company are independent contractors...

Appellate Tax Board Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.(Fox v. Commissioner of Revenue)(Forty-Four - 46 Winter Street, LLC v. Board of Assessors of the City of Boston)(Rigopoulos v. Board of Assessors of Town of Leominster)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Taxation Corporate official - 'Person responsible' Where a corporation and its subsidiary failed to pay its taxes, an accountant who served as chief executive officer should be held...

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination: January 9, 2006.(Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination v. Primary Care Associates)(McCormick v. Modern Continental Construction Co.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination - Age and gender - Retaliation Where a complainant has charged the respondent employer with retaliation and discrimination on the basis of gender and age, the...

Department of Industrial Accidents: January 9, 2006.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Penalty Where an administrative judge ordered an insurance company to provide an employee a $10,000 penalty pursuant to G.L.c. 152, Sect. 8(1) for failing to pay in...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(labor injunction case)(habeas corpus case)(Patent and trademark infringement case )
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Fees - Removed case Where (1) I ruled that a Massachusetts summary process proceeding could not properly be removed to federal court because there was no claim for rent or other...

MA. Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.
January 16, 2006... Byline: David E. Frank While stopping short of calling it a trend-setting year, trial lawyers say they are encouraged that the state's top verdicts in 2005 far exceeded those of 2004. In fact, the five largest verdicts of '05 ranging...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: January 16, 2006.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SJC No. BD-1995-0069 IN RE: MICHAEL D. O'NEIL Reinstatement Hearing SJC No. BD-1995-0069 IN RE: MICHAEL D. O'NEIL Reinstatement Hearing The Board of Bar Overseers will hold a...

Top Verdicts & Settlements for 2005 in Massachusetts.(Freedom Wireless, Inc. v. Boston Communications Group, Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff #1 - $128 Million Patent & trademark Freedom Wireless, Inc. v. Boston Communications Group, Inc., et al. U.S. District Court, No. C-00-1129-SBA Date of verdict: May 20, 2005 ...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.(First Act Inc. v. Brook Mays Music Company, Inc., case of trademark infringement and violation of Lanham Act)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff #3 - $20.7 Million LanhaM Act/TradEmark First Act Inc. v. Brook Mays Music Company, Inc. U.S. District Court, No. 03-02120-EFH Date of verdict: Dec. 2, 2005 Plaintiff's...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.(Hanlon v. Sandman's motor vehicle negligence case)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff #4 - $19.5 Million Motor vehicle negligence Hanlon v. Sandman Worcester Superior Court, No. 00-1507A Date of verdict: March 7, 2005 Plaintiff's attorneys: Michael C. Wilcox...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules judge shouldn't have reduced drug sentences.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson A U.S. District Court judge should not have reduced the sentences of two men who had crack-related convictions by imposing a sentencing ratio that was less than what the guidelines recommended, the 1st U.S....

Clerk of courts for Worcester County to step down in hopes of revitalizing bar.(Francis A. Ford)
January 16, 2006... Byline: David L. Yas He's stepping down in the hopes that others will step up. Francis A. Ford, the clerk of courts for Worcester County and a popular figure in the legal community, revealed last week that he will surrender his post in...

District Court, Appellate Division rules judge can't dismiss suit on suspicion of witness fraud.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Tony Wright An injured motorist could bring a claim against another driver even though a District Court judge dismissed the complaint on suspicion that it was fraudulent, the Appellate Division of the District Court has ruled. ...

Interview with Jay D. Wexler: Researcher of witty courtroom judges.(Interview)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the court's most conservative and outspoken judges, has been called many things in his day. Until now, though, "funny" wasn't one of them. But...

Notices from the Courts: January 16, 2006.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Probate Court posts policy on uncontested cases Middlesex Probate and Family Court Policy Regarding the Hearing of Uncontested Cases I. For hearings in satellite sessions. Commencing...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.(McLaughlin v. Peccei, et al, medical malpractice case)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff #5 - $12.8 Million Medical malpractice McLaughlin v. Peccei, et al. Suffolk Superior Court, No. 98-02231E Date of verdict: May 9, 2005 Plaintiff's attorneys: Andrew C. Meyer...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.(traffic accidents case)(negligence and torts case)(medical malpractice case)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff #6 - $4.138 MILLION Eminent domain James H. Casella, et. al. v. Groton Dunstable Regional School District Middlesex Superior Court, No. 02-3561 Date of verdict: June 24, 2005 ...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.(traffic accident case)(personal injury case)(negligence case)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff #1 - $6.7 million Rubin v. Murray, et al. Norfolk Superior Court, No. 2000-433 Date of verdict: Aug. 17, 2005 Plaintiff's counsel: Richard A. Goren and Craig S. Harwood,...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Note: case names not available, unless otherwise noted #1 - $704 million AIDS drug company to pay $700 million The Swiss manufacturer of the AIDS treatment drug Serostim agreed to pay...

Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2005.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Bill Ibelle With a few exceptions, 2005 was not a year for super-sized verdicts across the country at least not relatively speaking. Taken as a whole, the top 10 verdicts in 2004 were nearly twice the size of this year's batch...

U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young : A legacy of outreach.(resignes)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff As U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young yields the position of chief judge to Mark Wolf this month, it is worth noting one of his initiatives that many may not know: his outreach to news...

Boston attorney Charles P. Normandin dies December 21st at age 67.(Obituary)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Charles P. Normandin, a former partner at Ropes & Gray in Boston, died Dec. 21 following a brief illness. He was 67. Normandin graduated from Harvard College in 1960. He received his J.D. from...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(Plymouth Rubber Co. Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Administrative priority - Severance benefits Where creditors have opposed a Chapter 11 debtor's motion for authority to make payments pursuant to an employee retention plan, the...

Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: January 16, 2005.(sexual abuse case)(murder case)(prostitution case)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Discovery - Sexual abuse charges - Videotaped interviews Where two plaintiff minors, having filed a civil suit over alleged sexual abuse they suffered at school, requested...

MA Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(Massachusetts)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed The Appeals Court has affirmed, pursuant to Rule 1:28, judgments in the following cases. Massachusetts Trustees for Armed Services Work, Inc. v....

Massachusetts Legal Briefs: January 16, 2006.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Staying mum on the alum Gary R. Greenberg, managing shareholder of the Boston office of Greenberg Traurig, clearly is more comfortable discussing the firm's new shareholders than he is one of...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Waterproofing engineer fails to remedy leaks in condos.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $986,858 arbitration award Where an engineer warranted a standard of care higher than that implied at law and failed to satisfy that heightened standard, the engineer was subject to breach of...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Woman's lung cancer goes undetected for six months.(a case of medical malpractice)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $400,000 settlement The plaintiff, a 62-year-old woman with a very significant history of cancer, presented to her primary care doctor in 2003 complaining of back and shoulder pain. The doctor...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: January 16, 2006.(Jennifer R. Seltenrich appointed to Michaels and Ward; Barbara A. Robb appointed to Shilepsky, O'Connell, Casey, Hartley, Michon, Yelen; Michael H. Bunis appointed to Fish and Richardson)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Jennifer R. Seltenrich has joined Michaels and Ward in Boston as an associate. She focuses her practice on securities litigation and regulation. Promotions John R....

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(Volvo Trucks North America, Inc Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, United States v. Georgia, et al., Evans v. Chavis and Brown v. Sanders )(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Antitrust Price discrimination A manufacturer of a product is not guilty of price discrimination between its dealers that resell the product unless those dealers compete for the same...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(workers compensation and work related injuries case)(false statement case)(whistleblowers case)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Fall on vessel - LHWCA Where (1) a plaintiff was injured in a fall while working as a line handler securing a large tanker to a dock, (2) he sued the defendant vessel owner...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: High-risk teen gives birth, baby dies after fetal distress.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $350,000 settlement On March 23, 2001, the 15-year-old plaintiff was 41.5 weeks into gestation when she presented to the hospital for labor and delivery. She was cared for by a family practice...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas corpus 'Mixed' petition Where a state inmate has filed a habeas corpus petition, I find (1) that it is a "mixed" petition containing both exhausted and unexhausted claims and (2)...