Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2009

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2009

Massachusetts Appeals Court, Judgments Affirmed: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff 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 of law, the full text of each...

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Most Important Opinions: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Staff Employment Title VII - Personal liability Where a plaintiff brought suit seeking to hold defendant individuals liable under Title VII, an order dismissing those claims must be affirmed on the...

Bankruptcy bill in Massachusetts likely to result in 'tsunami' of filings.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel Local practitioners predict that a bill currently wending its way through Congress will be passed, granting bankruptcy judges the power to modify home-mortgage terms and prompting a deluge of new bankruptcy filings...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules Chapter 7 petition stands in spite of undisclosed asset.
March 2, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank and Thomas E. Egan A recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling resolves a split among lower court judges about how debtors can use the automatic dismissal provision of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and...

Massachusetts Wage Act opponents press ahead.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Barely a year since the Legislature approved a clarification of the Massachusetts Wage Act mandating treble damages for wage and hour violations by employers, attorneys who represent them remain troubled by the...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. SUPREME COURT Jurisdiction Secretary of the Interior - Indian land The Secretary of the Interior does not have the authority to take into trust a 31-acre Rhode Island parcel acquired by the...

1st U.S Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff 1ST U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.masslawyersweekly.com. Rehearing en banc denied On Feb. 23, the 1st U.S....

Mass. Appellate Panel Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL Bankruptcy Discharge injunction - Lawsuit against debtor's spouse Where a debtor filed a complaint alleging that the defendant violated the discharge injunction by bringing a...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.masslawyersweekly.com. Retirement Accidental disability - Heart attack Where a...

Mass. Appeals Court Unpublished Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff APPEALS COURT - UNPUBLISHED 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...

Commentary: legal process outsourcing: new threat or new opportunity?
March 2, 2009... Byline: Stephen Seckler While the legal profession is in a deep recession at the moment, the good news is that it is only a matter of time before the demand for legal services regains its footing. But as the practice of law comes back to...

Commentary: one firm's recession is another's depression.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Most lawyers and law firms (along with everyone else) would like to forget 2008. Yet there's no indication that 2009 will be better, and it may well be worse. When The Wall Street Journal can run a front page story (as...

Commentary: tripartite relationship is often much more than a two-way street.(insurer's obligation to provide a defense)(Massachusetts)
March 2, 2009... Byline: William C. Saturley and Joseph S. Callanan Risk-Free Business is an occasional feature intended as a guide for lawyers on the topic of professional liability insurance. A former client writes you a letter complaining of a bad...

Commentary: lift the camera ban and put Bonds on TV.
March 2, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Imagine game seven of a Sox-Yankees playoff series is about to start and you can't watch it. On the eve of the biggest sports trial since O.J., that's exactly how I feel. This week, home-run king Barry Bonds...

Teachable moment at hand for practitioners, says Harvard Law School professor in Boston.(David B. Wilkins)(Interview)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Amid all the introspection about the legal profession and the place of large law firms in the public realm and the private marketplace, a popular Harvard Law School professor is cutting to the proverbial chase....

Mass. Appellate Panel Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL Bankruptcy Tax returns Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge denied the IRS's motion to dismiss a chapter 13 petition, the motion should have been allowed based on the debtor's...

Massachusetts Appeals Court Judgments Affirmed: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Staff 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 of law, the full text of each decision may...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court to rule on class-action waiver.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A case that could potentially make it harder for consumers to bring class actions against companies for alleged unfair trade practices under Chapter 93A was slated to go before the Supreme Judicial Court last week....

Commentary: (It) won't be mentioned in this column today.(recession)
March 9, 2009... Byline: David Yas I'm not going to mention it. Not today. For at least 1,000 words of print on this page, there will be no reference at all to it. That thing. We started talking about it last year. Now we can't stop talking about...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Abnormal EKG preceded fatal heart attack.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1 million settlement A 48-year-old man was seen by the defendant, his primary care physician, on March 11, 2003, slightly more than one year before his death. At that time, the defendant had...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Construction worker falls off rooftop.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.1 million verdict The plaintiff was employed as a laborer in the construction industry. He was on the roof when he fell approximately 30 feet to the ground. The employer failed to...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Stolen SUV smashes into father and son.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.6 million settlement On March 25, 2005, a father was driving with his son when they were struck by one of two SUVs that had been stolen just minutes earlier from the defendant car...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Drunk driver hits, kills inebriated pedestrian.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $950,000 settlement On June 6, 2003, a 49-year-old man was struck by a motor vehicle while he was walking to his car after leaving a local restaurant. He suffered multiple fractures and head...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Police officer claiming injury alleges defamation.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict The plaintiff was a Mashpee police officer who allegedly injured herself when she opened her cruiser car door one morning in February 2001. She claimed that she tore her...

Commentary: when defining value, the question is: value for whom?
March 9, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Last year at this time I wrote about the Association of Corporate Counsel's self-proclaimed "revolution" embodied in its Value Challenge, a concerted effort to better integrate law-firm billings with corporate clients'...

Commentary: clarity, organization: watchwords for client correspondence.(Massachusetts)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sabrina DeFabritiis Write On provides guidance for attorneys on writing legal memoranda and briefs. As attorneys, we strive to achieve the utmost level of clarity and organization in the legal briefs and memoranda that we file...

Commentary: hesitating to chide associate helps no one.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Gretchen Neels In Do the Right Thing, Boston-based consultant Gretchen Neels offers advice on professional etiquette and other behavioral issues that might arise in a law practice. Q. Difficult conversations are my Achilles'...

Commentary: ways to make legal fees more affordable for the public.
March 9, 2009... Byline: 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. How can legal fees...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Staff New associations Sean R. Higgins has joined the Boston office of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough as an associate. Bruce I. Miller has joined Pierce Atwood in Boston as a partner in the business...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. SUPREME COURT Editor's note: You may link to the full text of the opinions below by going to www.lawyersusaonline.com and searching for the name of the case. Criminal Gun Control Act The Federal Gun...

1st U.S Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff 1ST U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.masslawyersweekly.com. Immigration Removal - Waiver of inadmissibility Where...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. DISTRICT COURT Civil practice SDP regime - Constitutionality Where the United States initiated a proceeding to obtain a determination that a defendant is a sexually dangerous person subject to civil...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT Bankruptcy Fraudulent transfer Where the Chapter 7 trustee has moved for summary judgment on a claim alleging that a transfer of property to a defendant was invalid under the...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.masslawyersweekly.com. Criminal Dismissal of indictment Where certain circumstances...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff APPEALS COURT Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.masslawyersweekly.com. Negligence Medical malpractice tribunal - Immediate appeal Where a...

Mass. Appeals Court Unpublished Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff APPEALS COURT - UNPUBLISHED 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...

Mass. Superior Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPERIOR COURT Corporate Ratification by board - 'Houle' test Where the board of directors of Boston Sand & Gravel Co., after a shareholder derivative suit had been filed over a subsidiary corporation to...

Mass. Land Court Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff LAND COURT Zoning Standing - Trespass Where a plaintiff has appealed from a Brockton zoning board decision granting a special permit to operate a restaurant in a C-2 district, the appeal must be dismissed...

Mass. Board of Bar Overseers Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff DISTRICT COURT/BMC APPELLATE DIVISION Civil practice Relief from judgment - Misidentified defendant Where a default judgment was entered when the defendant did not answer the complaint, relief from...

Mass. District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff DISTRICT COURT/BMC TRIAL DIVISION Landlord and tenant Rent owed - Right to quiet enjoyment Where a dispute has arisen between a plaintiff landlord and defendant tenants, I find (1) that the defendants owe...

Mass. Bar Association Ethics Committee Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff MBA ETHICS COMMITTEE Attorneys Guardianship - Review of prior services Where an attorney has been appointed as guardian ad litem for an incompetent ward, that appointment must be refused to the extent...

Mass. District Court/BMC Trial Division Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff DISTRICT COURT/BMC TRIAL DIVISION Landlord and tenant Rent owed - Right to quiet enjoyment Where a dispute has arisen between a plaintiff landlord and defendant tenants, I find (1) that the defendants owe...

Mass. Department of Industrial Accidents Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS Workers' compensation Failure to discuss exhibits Where an employee has been awarded permanent and total incapacity benefits, we conclude that the case must be...

Mass. Division of Labor Relations Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff DIVISION OF LABOR RELATIONS Labor Timely filing of charge Where evidence indicates that the Massachusetts Nurses Association timely filed those portions of a prohibited practice charge alleging that the...

Federal fraud decision stirs controversy: liability expanded in securities cases.
March 9, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Securities lawyers are closely monitoring the outcome of a motion for reconsideration in a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals fraud case that has many claiming the court has gone too far. In SEC v. Tambone...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court OKs 'CWOF' indictment dismissals.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Lamoureux The Supreme Judicial Court has found that, under certain circumstances, a Superior Court judge may dismiss a valid indictment after accepting a guilty plea by "continuing the case without a finding" and imposing...

Massachusetts Appeals Court says sexual harassment claims protected.
March 16, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank A Marriott hotel restaurant manager suspected of sexual harassment could not sue his accuser for defamation where the statements at issue were protected by an absolute litigation privilege - even though a formal...

It's (not) a lock: Massachusetts judges split over Supreme Court gun ruling.
March 16, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank State Police Lt. Richard Bolduc has Justice Antonin Scalia and four of the judge's colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court to thank for the likely resurrection of his law enforcement career. On June 25, 2007, Cape...

Leniency program revisions lauded: amnesty plan clarified for antitrust violations.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Attorneys who represent companies seeking leniency for possible antitrust violations are hailing recent moves by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to clarify aspects of its longtime...

Commentary: in planning for future space needs, firms need to look back.
March 16, 2009... Byline: David E. Fitzgerald An unprecedented number of Boston's leading law firms are facing important real estate decisions over the next few years. An estimated 60 percent of the top 25 law firms in the city are or will be active in the...

Commentary: look at partnership with open eyes.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll The financial turmoil that law firms, along with the rest of the economy, are experiencing today may lead to a reassessment of the conventional wisdom that every lawyer should want to become a partner. The essence...

Commentary: in weak economy, strengthen client relationships.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jay T. Wager This year, the business development emphasis for lawyers is to strengthen existing client relationships. This should be a top priority regardless of economic conditions: As new work opportunities slacken, the...

Commentary: statute of limitations in securities cases.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Michael A. Collora Investors often wake up late to their stock losses resulting from a bad investment in a company or in a brokerage account, and unfortunately their securities claims, even if meritorious, may go by the wayside,...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers recommends disbarment for Finneran.
March 16, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank The Board of Bar Overseers has recommended that former House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran be disbarred. In October, a three-member hearing committee said the ex-lawmaker, now a WRKO-AM radio host and Beacon Hill...

Bankruptcy practices prospering, but lawyers cautioned about joining that bar.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher and Noah Schaffer The soaring rate of bankruptcy filings is keeping lawyers busy, but veterans warn novices to do their homework before jumping into that practice niche. Nationwide, the federal courts...

Confidentiality agreement is struck down by 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A temp agency could not fire an employee for violating a confidentiality provision that barred him from disclosing to any "other parties" the terms of his employment, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled....

Massachusetts bench, bar reflect on passing of 'very special guy'.(U.S. District Court Judge Reginald C. Lindsay)(Testimonial)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz In the 10 days since U.S. District Court Judge Reginald C. Lindsay's passing, the tributes have flowed abundantly from his fellow judges, former law partners and friends. All spoke highly of his abilities as a...

Commentary: 'Stuart' and 'Ann' come to town: tales from the 'L.A. Law' vault.
March 23, 2009... Byline: David Yas It was appointment television. For every lawyer and law student, and for anyone with a passing interest in the law, you needed to block off Thursday evening for "L.A. Law." The members of McKenzie Brackman were...

Commentary: well-prepared witness key to successful cross-examination.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Julie Campanini Inexperienced witnesses dread cross-examination. They fear they will lose the case during their cross; they will be made to look less than credible; and the jury won't like them. Whether the cross-examination is...

Commentary: 'but I deserve a bonus ... don't I?'
March 23, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll As executives of the country's leading financial institutions can attest, few words arouse greater passions these days than "bonus." CEO pay at large companies used to be 10 to 15 times that of the lowest worker;...

Commentary: as with medical checkup, annual review of firm's insurance policies is necessary.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Stephanie A. Hood Chances are you visit your doctor every year for a checkup to head off any possible problems and risks to your health. This is an important part of your overall health and is a very transferrable process to your...

Discovery-abuse rift is lesson for attorneys.
March 23, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank A recent clash between the chief of the U.S. District Court and a federal organized-crime prosecutor underscores the importance of holding the government's feet to the fire when it comes to disclosure of exculpatory...

Cambridge court clears the air: Medford site, free of asbestos, wins praise from bar, staffers.(Massachusetts)
March 30, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz 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. As the crow flies, or as a motorist drives, the...

Land Court judge says buyer not bound by land-use restrictions.(Massachusetts)
March 30, 2009... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A property owner was not bound by land-use restrictions barring residential construction on two parcels that the Massachusetts Port Authority had divested more than 30 years earlier, a Land Court judge has ruled....

Commentary: class actions: mixed signals from the SJC.(Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court)
March 30, 2009... Byline: Robert M. Buchanan Jr. The March 16 pro-plaintiff decision by the Supreme Judicial Court in Aspinall v. Philip Morris, Inc. is no surprise; the SJC has already ruled for these same plaintiffs once before, and the U.S. Supreme Court...

Commentary: costs plus billable hours have to equal revenue.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll The recession is sending many law firms back to the basics, and nothing is more fundamental to the business than the two basic models to make money. In the first model, look at your revenue and figure out what your cost...

Commentary: combine words, action in advising about networking.(Massachusetts)
March 30, 2009... Byline: Gretchen Neels In Do the Right Thing, Boston-based consultant Gretchen Neels offers advice on professional etiquette and other behavioral issues that might arise in a law practice. Q. I need help getting the associates in our...

Use of technology by jurors has some judges a-Twitter.
March 30, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank By his own admission, Superior Court Judge Raymond J. Brassard is no technology buff. But while he has never "Twittered" or "Facebooked" anyone, he recognizes that many of the jurors who appear in his courtroom...

Client's messages deemed privileged by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Thomas E. Egan Messages that a client left on his lawyer's answering machine, threatening to harm others, including a judge, were privileged despite the fact that the attorney disclosed the communications in order to protect those...