Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2008

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2008

Fear not, New England Patriots' critics, Mr. CNN is on the case.(Eric Deters)
March 3, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank When I first contact Eric Deters about the $100 million lawsuit he's filed against Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, I'm asked to call back in five minutes. "I'm getting makeup on to do a CNN...

Church's new Boston lawyer is Lovely.(F. Beirne Lovely Jr.)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Not quite a baptism by fire, the transition by Boston attorney F. Beirne Lovely Jr. from the hurly-burly of big-firm practice in downtown Boston to the hush of the Brighton campus from which the Archdiocese of...

Victory in the fight for the right ... to cite.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The footnote heard round the world? The Appeals Court's no-cite rule has vexed lawyers for years. Why, attorneys cried, were they not allowed to cite to unpublished Appeals Court opinions in...

Middlesex Superior Court: Point of no return?(relocation of superior court)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The pace of moving activity is quickening this week at the Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse in Cambridge as the Middlesex Superior Court and its approximately 200 judges and other court staff prepare...

U.S. District Court judge, Nancy Gertner honored.(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff After a long career as a defense lawyer and, in more recent years, as a U.S. District Court judge, Nancy Gertner has learned she is the recipient of one of the highest honors that attorneys can...

Better not damn it all.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Many a lawyer has taken the Lord's name in vein while perusing a decision unfavorable to a client or observing an adversary ask a witness one objectionable question after another. What the...

Mass. Probate & Family Court says just breathe.(use of alcohol sensors)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Probate & Family Court judges are finding a new use for the breath test that has nothing to do with the intoxication level of a drunk driver. For the past few months, a handful of judges...

Guest article on bail contained excellent suggestions.(Letter to the editor)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: I wanted to respond to the guest article "A question of bail" (Dec. 24, 2007). I oversee court operations for the Lynn Police Department and feel that many of Daniel B....

Additional problem for lawyer charged in wiretap case.(Letter to the editor)(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: As long as we are on the subject of abuse of power ("Preventing oversight for police misconduct," Jan. 28), there is an additional problem that West Roxbury attorney Simon Glik...

News from the Mass. courts: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Court issues order on GAL reports The Probate & Family Court Administrative Office has announced that Standing Order 2-08, Impoundment of Guardian Ad Litem Reports, will be effective March 10,...

Mass. Appeals Court rules med-mal statute of repose doesn't apply to fraud claim.(medical malpractice)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A doctor and a nurse who allegedly falsified medical records to hide evidence of malpractice during the delivery of a child could be sued even though the seven-year statute of repose for medical negligence claims...

Frustrated probate lawyers request task force on court's filing system in Mass.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Julia Reischel Fed up with lost files, ill-informed clerks and a lack of uniformity from county to county, lawyers have requested that a task force be formed to examine what they call "the sad state" of how records are handled in...

Recent case history may be factor in Drumgold trial in Mass.(Shawn Drumgold)
March 3, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank In the wake of several well-documented wrongful convictions in Massachusetts, juror cynicism will be one of the biggest hurdles facing two Boston homicide detectives in the first phase of their unprecedented March 3...

Rush to judgment.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Noah Schaffer Retiring judges have always flocked to ADR. But do they make the best neutrals? * * * "Judges' heaven." That's how an envious-sounding Superior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse described retiring...

Mass. Appeals Court will allow 1:28 citations.(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan The Appeals Court has announced that any unpublished opinion issued pursuant to Rule 1:28 after Feb. 25 may be cited for its persuasive value but not as binding precedent. The long-standing policy that...

Mass. Judicial Vacancies Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff DISTRICT COURT Deadline: March 7, 2008 * Cambridge District Court, judge * Palmer District Court, judge SUPERIOR COURT Deadline: March 7, 2008 * Judge Visit...

Commentary: To disclose or not to disclose: that is the question for policyholders.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Catherine O'Donnell On Jan. 4, the Appeals Court added to the evolving body of caselaw on an insured's disclosure obligations when applying for insurance coverage. See, Hingham Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Mercurio, 71 Mass. App. Ct....

District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Default judgment - Sanction Where a default judgment has been entered against a defendant, the judgment was a proper sanction for the defendant's repeated and intentional...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed Commonwealth v. Roche (Lawyers Weekly No. 81-166-08) (3 pages) (cocaine distribution; police officer's testimony that he knew the defendant) (No. 07-P-481)...

District Court/BMC Trial Division Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Search and seizure Plain view - Custodial interrogation Where a defendant has moved to suppress evidence observed by the police and statements he made in response to police questioning,...

Mass. Land Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Option - Rule against perpetuities Where a plaintiff, having acquired a parcel of real property, has sued to quiet title, arguing that the defendant city of Boston's option...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Forcible rape of child Where a defendant, who was convicted of murder and forcible rape of a child, has challenged a denial of his second motion for a new trial, we...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Bureau of Prisons - Rulemaking Where the Bureau of Prisons has, through rulemaking, denied placement in a community corrections center to all prisoners during the first 90...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Request for withdrawal of renewed motion Where the government has filed a request for withdrawal of a renewed motion, I find that the request should be granted to the extent...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Preemption - Maine law The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act preempts a Maine law that regulates the commercial delivery of tobacco and other products...

Commentary: Concise interviewing techniques for 'transitioning' attorneys.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Randolph L. Stevens An effective "Three C" story (for circumstance, conduct and conclusion) presents a scenario in which the interviewer can identify with the challenges you faced in considering your circumstances and conduct. ...

Commentary: Speak the truth and nothing but the truth during job interviews.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Stephen E. Seckler The practice of law has undergone enormous change in the past two decades, but one thing remains constant: Integrity still counts for a lot in the legal profession. A lawyer who bends the truth in advocating on...

Commentary: Courtroom Drama.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz "The Power of Prejudice: The Dreyfus Affair" On display through April 6808 Gallery 808 Commonwealth Ave., Boston Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. It may be no small...

Commentary: Are you afraid of ghosts?
March 3, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll Few, if any, of us today expect politicians to write their own speeches or CEOs to write their own shareholder letters. Ghostwriting is a fact of modern communication. But where does that leave lawyers, who are trained...

Commentary: Lunch Box: Massimino's Cucina Italiana, Boston.(Restaurant review)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Julia Reischel Massimino's Cucina Italiana 207 Endicott St. Boston(617) 523-5959 Lunch served Monday through Friday,11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Now that the rusting green hulk that was Boston's Central Artery no longer looms ominously...

Commentary: Write On: Make your citations help, not hinder, your advocacy.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Julie Baker and Lisa Healy Write On is an occasional feature providing guidance for attorneys on writing legal memoranda and briefs. The Bluebook. It was everyone's favorite part of law school, right? Dense, complex, with...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Woman alleges sexual assault by door-to-door salesman.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $550,000 settlement The plaintiff, a 41-year-old who functioned at a mentally retarded range of intellectual ability, claimed she was sexually assaulted by the defendant, a door-to-door...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Delayed diagnosis blamed for prostate cancer death.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $500,000 settlement In June 1998, the decedent, in his 60s, had a PSA level of 6.4, with the normal range being 0-4. No work-up was performed, and no follow-up PSA testing was done until...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Chair's 'failure' said to cause recurring neck injuries.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $500,000 settlement The plaintiff alleged that on Feb. 6, 2001, he sat on an office chair and put the back in the locked position when the back suddenly gave way, causing him to reflexively...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Ironworker fractures arm, nose in fall from ladder.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $275,000 settlement The 34-year-old plaintiff, an ironworker for more than 11 years, was working for a subcontractor on a project when he was injured. He was climbing a wet job-site ladder...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Patient, 43, dies of colon cancer despite testing.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $900,000 settlement The plaintiffs' decedent received primary care treatment from the defendant physician's assistant beginning in December 1993. The defendant saw patients independently, with...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Man sustains brain damage on ventilator.(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $4 million settlement The plaintiff, a 36-year-old laborer, suffered an inhalation burn injury when, while he was on a ventilator, the defendant failed to recognize and respond to a...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Residents dispute interest on awards for property.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.76 million settlement The plaintiff, a company in the business of finding and recovering unclaimed assets for clients, brought action seeking additional interest from the state following...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2008: Parties settle over claims of off-label marketing.(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $24 million settlement The defendants agreed to pay approximately $24 million to a nationwide class of individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS and entities that provide health benefits for claims...

Commentary: Of football and frivolity.(unfair advantage case of New England Patriots )
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Talk of frivolous lawsuits is often a lot of nonsense. We've all heard the tired drumbeat: Critics, including tort-reform hysterics, using isolated examples of long-shot lawsuits as "proof"...

Commentary: The best little subsidized whorehouse in Fall River?(housing subsidy)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Did you hear the one about the woman in subsidized housing who apparently tried to turn her home into a mini-brothel? She got arrested and lost her subsidy. Then she brought a civil-rights...

Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyers organize campaign to undo judge's resignation.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff A group of Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyers has organized a letter-writing campaign to undo the resignation of embattled U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Somma. Somma announced his...

Publisher seeks review of judgment in damages awarded to author of false memoir.(Jane Daniel and Misha Levy Defonseca)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Ten days after the world learned that a much-vaunted Holocaust memoir by local author Misha Levy Defonseca is, as she puts it, "not the actual reality," lawyers are clambering over a case that, in...

Bond bill provision would allow Massachusetts to sell. lease or transfer "surplus" land.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff As the staff of Middlesex Superior Court starts its move this Friday to temporary quarters in Woburn, indications are that the space might not be so temporary after all. A provision in a bond...

Attack on Judge Moses shameful, unjustified.(Richard T. Moses)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: I would like to make a few observations on the recent virulent attack on Superior Court Judge Richard T. Moses regarding his decisions in two cases involving sexually dangerous...

Superior Court judge says lender's 'subprime' foreclosures require attorney general's OK.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A California-based lender can be enjoined from foreclosing on "subprime" loans without the Massachusetts attorney general's consent despite the lack of fraud in the inception of the loans, a Superior Court judge has...

Falmouth Trial Court ... is no day at the beach.
March 10, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank This is another in an ongoing series in which Lawyers Weekly -- after spending a day in one of the commonwealth's courthouses -- reports on what was observed. J.W. Carney Jr. probably knows better than most what...

New med-mal cause of action weighed by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.(medical-malpractice)
March 10, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank The Supreme Judicial Court is considering arguments in a case that medical-malpractice defense lawyers say would unfairly expand the causes of action available to plaintiffs involved in wrongful-death litigation. ...

Massachusetts lawyers dispute validity of rarely used insurance theory.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Noah Schaffer The lawyer for a family who recently received an insurance settlement for a house fire deliberately set by the husband credits the seldom-used "innocent spouse provision" for the successful resolution of the case. ...

Commentary: BLS begins '08 with new leadership, new members.(Business Litigation Session of the Superior Court)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Beth I.Z. Boland and Brandon L. Bigelow After seven years in existence, the Business Litigation Session of the Superior Court enters a transition year in 2008 with the retirement of its presiding justice, Judge Allan van Gestel. ...

Not all defaults are created equal.(rules in bail )
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The following response to Boston attorney Daniel B. Winslow's Dec. 24 op-ed, "A question of bail: Suggestions for fixing a systematic failure," was written by members of Suffolk Defenders, a...

Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Taxation Marsh and upland property - Westport Where an appellant is seeking a property tax abatement for fiscal year 2006 with respect to a Westport marsh and upland property, we hold...

District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal malpractice - Damages Where a defendant attorney moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict after a jury found for the plaintiff client, the motion was correctly...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed Commonwealth v. Felt (Lawyers Weekly No. 81-177-08) (5 pages) (appeal of a decision revoking the defendant's probation; allegations that the court erred (1)...

Mass. Land Courts Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Easement - Dirt driveway Where a dispute has arisen over rights in a dirt driveway that crosses the defendants' Plainville land, I find that the plaintiffs have acquired...

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Petition for review Where, following entry of a Hearing Officer's decision in favor of a complainant, the respondent filed a Notice of Appeal but no Petition for Review, the...

Other Mass. Agencies Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Retirement Superannuation benefit Where the city of Springfield provided the petitioner a $150,000 payment, as well as yearly increases as outlined in an Employment Contract, Settlement...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal First-degree murder - 'Prior bad act' evidence Where a defendant has appealed his conviction for first-degree murder (on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Sale of shares Where (1) a plaintiff brought suit seeking an order requiring a sale of stock shares and (2) the defendants have moved to compel arbitration, the motion must be...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Second mortgage - Unsecured status Where a Chapter 13 debtor, claiming that a second mortgage on her home is valueless because the appraised value of the home ($375,000) is...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals En banc rehearing - Airline passenger Where a three-judge panel of this court entered judgment for a defendant airline in a civil rights suit brought by a plaintiff who was...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Damages Enhancement - Wilfulness Where a plaintiff has moved for enhanced damages under 35 U.S.C. Sect. 284, I find that the motion must be denied because the plaintiff has not...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Testimony - Managers Testimony about alleged age discrimination by company managers who supervised other employees, but not the plaintiff, may be admissible in an age...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2008: Employee claims off-duty injury at bowling alley.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict The plaintiff, a part-time employee of the defendant Circle Bowl in Lynnfield, claimed he was injured while bowling at the bowling alley while he was off duty. Accordingly,...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2008: Mastectomy patient claims botched implant procedure.(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $150,000 settlement The 69-year-old plaintiff presented to the defendant doctor for a two-stage reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy. Following the first surgery, the plaintiff...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2008: Patient dies of respiratory ailment following surgery.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $4.12 million verdict The plaintiffs' decedent, 31, was admitted to the hospital on May 13, 1999, for pelvic pain, which was determined to be a simple cyst on her right ovary that had...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2008: Family blames contractor for mold-infested house.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $650,000 settlement In June 2000, the plaintiffs hired the defendant home-insulation contractor to install insulation behind aluminum siding of their house. The plaintiffs alleged that the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2008: Worker sustains injuries after accident at job site.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $325,000 settlement The 37-year-old plaintiff, a sprinkler fitter, alleged that, while in the course of his employment for a subcontractor to a general contractor, he stepped into an...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2008: Parties allege wholesale price of drugs inflated.(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $12.94 million verdict Parties alleged that AstraZeneca grossly inflated the average wholesale price of Zoladex, in violation of Chapter 93A. In total, the case involved an eight-week...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: March 17, 2008.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Supreme Judicial Court No. BD-2007-076 IN RE: JOHN G. HARTNETT Last known address: 3319 Telegraph Road # 203 Ventura, CA 93003 S.J.C. Order of Term Suspension entered by Justice Greaney on...

Commentary: Should law firms have mandatory retirement ages?
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Should law firms have mandatory retirement ages? Many do, and the threshold can be as low as 65. The impetus for such policies is often an effort to keep clients with a firm by...

Commentary: Pitching your practice should be elevating experience.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Lisa Meyer "What do you do?" In most cases, the question is simply a polite way of getting a conversation going and not a request for your resume. It is also your opportunity, with your reply, to make a strong first impression...

Money or justice: must we choose?
March 17, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll I firmly believe, and have often written, that a lawyer must make an adequate living at his practice before making a meaningful pro bono effort. Two recent articles in California's legal press set parameters on what...

Local firm has the prescription for a 'pharma' practice: Q&A with Mass. lawyer John R. Van Amsterdam.(Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks)(Interview)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Hire Calling is a feature about hiring decisions and related employment matters. The demand for attorneys who specialize in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry is growing in...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stalwart Judge Levin H. Campbell prepares for retirement.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff A stalwart on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is preparing to retire after 35 years. Judge Levin H. Campbell has told his colleagues that he will leave when he finishes writing his opinions...

Longtime Mass. advocate for disabilities takes leave to join adminstration of Gov. Deval L. Patrick.(Stanley J. Eichner)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff A longtime advocate for people with disabilities has taken his leave of the Disability Law Center -- where he has been executive director for a staff of 25 (14 of them lawyers) in offices in Boston...

Mass. DAs and CPCS express 'grave concern' over time standards.(district attorneys and Committee for Public Counsel Services)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The following letter was sent to Superior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse; a copy was submitted to Lawyers Weekly for publication. Dear Chief Justice Rouse: On behalf of the public...

Criticism of time standards 'ill-timed and surprising'.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff A copy of the following letter addressed to William J. Leahy, chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael D. O'Keefe, president of...

Large Mass. firms urge members to devote non-billable hours to those in need of free legal services.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz True to the tradition of donating their high-priced time to pro bono causes, large law firms in Massachusetts continue to encourage their members to devote non-billable hours to those in need of free legal...

Old hand at pro bono in Boston keeps tabs on new trend at firms.(Esther F. Lardent)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff More than 30 years ago, Esther F. Lardent, then a recent graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, found her way to Boston and a job as the first director of the Boston Bar Association's...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court rules company not liable for subsidiary's pollution.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A corporation could not be held indirectly liable for contamination caused by a subsidiary decades before the corporation acquired the subsidiary, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. The plaintiff, who bought...

Mass. Superior Court judge suppresses inmate's recorded phone calls.
March 17, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank Criminal defense lawyers say that a Superior Court judge's recent suppression of an inmate's recorded jailhouse telephone calls could end a common prosecutorial practice that often yields highly incriminating...

Time standards debate rages on at Boston courthouse - five years after "Monan Report".
March 17, 2008... Byline: Noah Schaffer Last month, scores of judges, clerks and court employees gathered at the John Adams Courthouse in Boston to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the "Monan Report." The report -- issued by a group formally known as...

Commentary: Mandatory CLE: an idea that has come of age.(Continuing Legal Education)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Judge Edward M. Ginsburg This column offers readers an opportunity to ask questions of a former judge with 25 years of experience on the bench. To contact the judge with a question, e-mail SeniorLawyers@aol.com. Q. Should...