Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from May 2007

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from May 2007

Mass. Lawyers in the News: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Alexander G. Henlin has joined the Boston office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi as an associate. Brian C. Barry has joined Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston as an...

Commentary: Tax planning within the law not enough for some.(Essay)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Alexander A. Bove Jr. and Melissa Langa No one likes to pay taxes. We are always looking for extra deductions, tax-deferred or even tax-free income, or any other acceptable method to legally reduce our tax liability. The...

Commentary: What the recruiting process can tell you about a firm.(Essay)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Stephen E. Seckler Due diligence is a critical component of an effective job search. It is ego gratifying to receive a job offer. But before accepting, there are important questions that most people ask. For example, does the...

Commentary: Stay clear on standards for, nature of the rewarding employees.(Essay)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll A coaching client recently called me with a good problem. The office administrator of his firm was someone who, as the lawyer said, "takes more initiative than anyone I've ever had around here." The lawyer wanted to...

How to ...develop a legal website.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff How To... offers advice on a variety of subjects related to the management of a law practice. With attorney websites ubiquitous in cyberspace, Lawyers Weekly presents a strategy for developing a...

Commentary: Effective writing by lawyer essential for making a case.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Julie Baker and Lisa Healy Write On is a new, occasional feature on The Practice page intended to provide guidance on writing memoranda and briefs that will lead to the results their authors -- attorneys -- are hoping for from...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: Cleaning-crew member fractures ankle on job.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense verdict On Nov. 21, 2003, the plaintiff, an employee of a Service Master cleaning crew, was descending a stairway in the defendants' home when she fell down the stairway, sustaining a...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: Newborn sustains nerve damage in arm during delivery.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $4 million settlement The plaintiff mother had her prenatal care at the Baystate Medical Center. Her past obstetrical history indicated that she had delivered a child in which shoulder...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: Patient suffers infection following hip surgery.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $600,000 settlement The 59-year-old plaintiff underwent a primary left total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis in October 2004. The hip soon dislocated, and the treating orthopedist then...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: Grocery clerk punctures eye with bailing wire.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $180,000 settlement On Jan. 3, 2001, the plaintiff -- a 44-year-old grocery clerk who was a long-term employee of a self-insured major supermarket chain -- suffered an injury when a piece of...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: Girl golfer barred from tournament for boys.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys' fees, costs The plaintiff was a talented female golfer who attended Cathedral High School in Springfield. The school did not have a girls' golf team, and so the plaintiff played on...

Mass. Commission Against Discrimination Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination - Age - Perceived handicap Where a complainant was fired from her job as a waitress, the firing was not discriminatory in light of evidence that the...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Discipline - Public reprimand Where a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court ordered that an attorney be publicly reprimanded, that order should be affirmed despite bar...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Fees - Costs Where a plaintiff, having prevailed in a suit against the defendant Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department, now seeks an award of $39,924 in fees plus costs...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Discovery violations Where a mortgage lender named as defendant in an adversary proceeding initiated by a Chapter 13 debtor has failed to respond to discovery requests,...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Appeal - Summary judgment Where a defendant company claims that a U.S. District Court judge, by ruling on a summary judgment motion, effectively denied the defendant's right...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Commercial Mailing - FCRA Where a plaintiff has filed suit against a defendant corporation, I find that the complaint must be dismissed with prejudice because the plaintiff has not...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Remand motion Where (1) a plaintiff, who is suffering from mesothelioma, and his wife filed suit in state court against 29 defendants, alleging that the plaintiff's illness...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil rights High-speed chase A police officer's decision to ram a fleeing suspect's car to end a high-speed police chase did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Scott v. Harris...

Mass. Judge Mel L. Greenberg's retirement leaves vacancy seat.(Massachusetts)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The Appeals Court seat left vacant by Judge Mel L. Greenberg's retirement is hardly the only vacancy for which the Judicial Nominating Commission is recruiting candidates to recommend to Gov. Deval...

Battle of the sexes within the Worcester County Bar Association.(Brief article)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff When the Worcester County Bar Association recently announced the nominees for its executive board, there was some grumbling within the bar about the preponderance of men. It seems that all 11...

Story omitted 'essential problem' with police prosecutors.(Letter to the editor)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: Your article on the manner in which police prosecutors are used as advocates in the Attleboro District Court omits an essential problem — that police prosecutors are not...

Attleboro cop takes issue with piece on District Court.(Letter to the editor)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: I am writing in response to "A Day in Court: 'Officer of the court' takes on larger meaning in Attleboro" (April 16). The article states: "...he does a competent job...

Search of lawyer's house in Tiverton, files draws ire of criminal defense bar.
May 7, 2007... Byline: David E. Frank Angered over a recent search of a lawyer's home during a Fall River homicide investigation, criminal defense attorneys are claiming the action by police violated the protections of the attorney-client privilege. ...

'Final disposition' defined by Mass.Superior Court judge in contract dispute.(Massachusetts)
May 7, 2007... Byline: David Frank A Superior Court judge, asked to interpret a contract provision in a dispute between sophisticated companies, has ruled that "final disposition" is a term of art that refers only to the procedural point when a case is...

Would implementing a mental health court in Mass. be wise?(Massachusetts)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Noah Schaffer Brookline attorney Michael D. Cutler calls it the "criminalization of mental illness" -- when defendants with mental health issues find themselves in court for relatively minor infractions. "They get brought in...

U.S. District Court rules indirect purchaser can sue under Chapter 93A.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman Chemical companies accused of a price-fixing scheme could be sued under Chapter 93A by a class of consumers who never purchased the companies' products directly, but only through finished goods produced by other...

Study finds big firms' loss of women is gain for other sectors in Mass.(Massachusetts)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Women attorneys caught in the professional-personal vise that squeezes their time for work and family are continuing to leave the state's large law firms in significant numbers, but they are finding employment in...

Notices from the Mass. Courts: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SJC issues order regarding call of petitions, suits COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Supreme Judicial Court Suffolk, ss. ORDER It is ORDERED that the Standing Order of the...

Commentary: When legal advice is an issue in patent infringement cases.(Essay)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Arnold R. Rosenfeld Before launching a new product, many individuals and companies seek advice from patent counsel as to whether the product infringes on an existing patent. In cases in which willful patent infringement is...

Mass. Appellate Tax Board Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Taxation Sales taxes - Auto manufacturer Where (1) an auto manufacturer sold vehicles to Massachusetts dealers, who, in turn, sold them to consumers, (2) pursuant to the Lemon Law, the...

District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Landlord and tenant Appeal bond - Summary process Where a trial judge released a $30,000 appeal bond to the defendant tenant in a summary process action, that order must be reversed given...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed Alkon v. Crosby (Lawyers Weekly No. 81-354-07) (5 pages) (appeals from (1) a Superior Court decision ordering the defendant to reimburse the plaintiff for...

Mass. Dept. of Industrial Accidents: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Causation - Knee condition Where an administrative judge denied and dismissed an employee's claim for medical benefits to pay for surgery on a bilateral knee...

Mass. Labor Relations Commission Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Labor Representation - Police sergeants and lieutenants Where police sergeants in the town of Acton possess significant supervisory authority, we conclude that they should be placed in a...

Mass. Land Courts Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Mortgages Validity - Payments Where plaintiffs seek judgment on the pleadings with respect to their complaint claiming the invalidity of a note and mortgage on a parcel of Lynn property,...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SJC No. BD-2006-042 IN RE: JAMES T. GREW Last known address: 18 West High Street Somersworth, NH 03878 Order of Term Suspension entered by Spina, J., on March 14, 2007 MEMORANDUM OF...

Commentary: No "mandatory" time like the present.(Essay)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Gov. Deval L. Patrick's recently launched review of Massachusetts' mandatory sentencing laws may be the most encouraging sign in more than a decade that state lawmakers are finally willing to...

Commentary: Lawyers funny? How? Like a clown, to amuse you?(Essay)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Lawyers aren't funny. Not inherently, anyway. So the annual "Lawyers Stand Up for the WBF" charity benefit put on by the Women's Bar Foundation seems a bit nonsensical. But the...

The big lye for some residents of Spencer.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff "Water, water, everywhere,Nor any drop to drink." From "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) As word spread that nearly 100 residents of Spencer had been...

Mass. Appeals Court Judge Mel L. Greenberg has gone full circle.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff As of last Friday, it could be said that Appeals Court Judge Mel L. Greenberg had gone full circle. Greenberg reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on May 4 and had a new job waiting for...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: Woman struck in driveway.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.15 million settlement The 92-year-old claimant was struck in a driveway while attempting to get into her own car. The claimant broke her leg in three places and was airlifted to Boston...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court rules kids' out-of-court statements can't be admitted versus dad.
May 14, 2007... Byline: David E. Frank The out-of-court statements of two young girls involved in a custody dispute between their father and the Department of Social Services were improperly introduced during a care-and-protection hearing, the Supreme...

Panel of Mass. District Court's Appellate Division rules executive may avoid guaranty in lease.(Massachusetts)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A company president was not subject to a personal guaranty in a commercial lease that he quickly signed without reading while he rushed to catch a flight, a panel of the District Court's Appellate Division has...

Limited representation plan gets limited response so far in Mass.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Announced with fanfare a year ago, a pilot program promising limited legal representation to indigent litigants in two of the state's busiest Probate courts is off to a slow start, according to judges and court...

Exec vice president Mass. Bankers Assn. says banks pressuring attorneys to keep their fees low.(Massachusetts Bankers Association)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Noah Schaffer Arlington attorney Richard Keshian can still remember a conversation he had some 30 years ago with a bank representative about real estate closing costs. "The lender's representative said, 'What if we let you...

Notices from the Mass. Courts: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Comment on Rule 9C amendment sought Notice to the Bar: The Superior Court received many comments from the bar on the Proposed Amendment to Superior Court Rule 9C on Settlement of Discovery...

John L. Saltonstall Jr., former Boston city councilor, dies at 91.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff John L. Saltonstall Jr., a former Boston city councilor, died April 25 of pneumonia at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River. He was 91. Saltonstall attended the Groton School, graduating...

Commentary: It's time to judge the judges.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Suzanne M. Blonder and Emily Werth No sensible observer can deny that the Commission on Judicial Conduct is badly broken. Although the commission disposed of 110 complaints of judicial misconduct in 2005, only two judges were...

Commentary: Community Preservation Act: sweeping changes in the works.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Guive Mirfendereski The Community Preservation Act (G.L.c. 44B) authorizes municipalities to collect a surcharge of up to 3 percent on the annual real estate tax levy and spend it on projects specified in the act -- community...

District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Guaranty - Fraud in factum Where a trial court judge ruled that a defendant could not be held personally liable on a guaranty contained in a commercial lease the defendant...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments affirmed Commonwealth v. Ortiz (Lawyers Weekly No. 81-384-07) (5 pages) (assault and battery causing substantial bodily injury to a child under the age of 14; claims...

Mass. Land Courts Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Zoning Comprehensive permit - Subdivision Where a plaintiff sought (1) a comprehensive permit for a 20.6-acre parcel of land in Westwood and (2) approval of definitive nine-lot...

Other Mass. Agencies Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Comprehensive permit - Constructive grant Where a developer sought a comprehensive permit for construction of a 30-unit condominium with eight affordable units, the failure...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff SJC No. BD-1999-054 IN RE: JOHN M. MORAN Last known address: 147 Grampian Way Dorchester, MA 02125 Judgment of Disbarment and Memorandum of Decision entered by Cordy, J., on April 5, 2007...

Commentary: Boston Herald, trapped in its own media frenzy.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The Boston Herald knew it would get a "media frenzy." It just didn't expect to get one over its own libelous news coverage. Last week, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld a $2.01 million...

Commentary: The road to Worcester courts: goodbye, cows; hello Moses.
May 14, 2007... Byline: David Yas Another installment in my quest to visit 100 Massachusetts courthouses before the year is out In the opening line to the ancient Aerosmith song "No Surprize," Steven Tyler wails "Nine-teen-seventy-one ," leaving that...

Massachusetts governor signs bills: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff 29. An act relative to the conveyance of a certain parcel of land in the Town of Grafton. App. April 10, eff. July 9, 3 pages. 30. An act authorizing the Town of South Hadley to grant an...

Red-letter day for Real Estate Bar Assn. of Mass.(Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The twice-yearly meeting of the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts, usually a cordial affair, was the occasion for a high-profile protest last Monday in Worcester where several title...

Dispute between former executive director of Mass. Bar Assn., MBA ends.(Massachusetts Bar Association)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff A long-running contract dispute between Abigail Shaine, former executive director of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the MBA appears to have been ended with a regret-filled letter from...

Judge offers views on jury empanelment.(Letter to the editor)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: Joan Lukey's thoughtful article about jury empanelment urges that judges permit attorneys to pose questions at side bar to potential jurors who responded to voir dire of the...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: Landscaper takes advantage of elderly homeowner.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $40,000 in attorneys' fees In 2003, the 92-year-old plaintiff widow owned a home in West Falmouth, having lived there alone since her husband died in 1989. For many years, the plaintiff and...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: Social Security benefits-offset at issue in worker's claim.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $625,000 settlement On Oct. 15, 2001, the plaintiff employee sustained electrical burns while working. As a result of the extent of the injuries, the employee filed for and was receiving...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: Accident results in quadriplegia.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.5 million settlement The 30-year-old plaintiff, an accomplished mountain bicyclist, was riding his bicycle down a steep, rocky slope in the Lynn woods. The man alleged that a bicycle...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: Ex-husband circulates former spouse's medical records.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $200,000 verdict The plaintiff asserted claims against her ex-husband and the defendant hospital for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress. In December 2001, packages...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff May 2, 2007 Further appellate review granted: Daniel Boone vs. Commerce Insurance Company. Reported below: 68 Mass. App. Ct. 354 (2007). Commonwealth vs. Stanley Webb. Reported...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Education University - Overdose Where a defendant university and codefendant administrators have requested dismissal of a complaint filed by the plaintiff parents of a student who fatally...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Reasonable suspicion - Legal error Where legal error in a U.S. District Court's analysis affected its factual findings underlying the issue of reasonable suspicion in a criminal...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Kathryn Cochrane Murphy has joined Krokidas & Bluestein in Boston as a partner. Jo Ann Shotwell Kaplan has joined the New England Legal Foundation as general counsel. ...

Commentary: Networking inside the office is important as well.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Nancy Byerly Jones Few question the link between smart networking and gaining new clients. I suspect most attorneys would include networking as a non-negotiable "must do" for successful firms. How many of us, however, have...

Boston law firm establishes charitable foundation in honor of father of founding partner.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The establishment of a charitable foundation by a large law firm is hardly unusual, but the decision by Boston's Dwyer & Collora to do so in honor of the father of founding partner Thomas E. Dwyer...

Commentary: Story of fire in the Grove echoes years later at Station.(Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and its Aftermath)(Book review)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Patrick T. Jones "Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and its Aftermath "By John C. EspositoDa Capo Press, 2005254 pages; $15.95 An overcrowded nightclub full of flammable decorations has inadequate exits. A barboy's...

Interview with Patrick C. Lee: General Counsel to office of Plymouth County Sheriff McDonald.(Interview)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff PATRICK C. LEE: General Counsel to the office of Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald Jr. In-House Call features interviews with attorneys at Massachusetts-based businesses and...

Commentary: Technology trends to make life easier.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Not long ago I wrote in this column about the risk of "technology malpractice" -- violating the duty of care by failing to use technology effectively in your practice, so that you are perceived as willfully less...

Expert Opinion: Practice of plaintiffs' attorneys receiving outside funding on contingency cases.(Interview)(Column)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff In Expert Opinion, Lawyers Weekly interviews specialists in the management of law firms. This week, reporter Noah Schaffer speaks with Boston attorney Peter L. Alexander, New England manager for...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: Mother dies following C-section; torn blood vessels cited.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $8 million settlement The 33-year-old decedent was admitted in labor to the defendant hospital on June 28, 2003, where the defendant obstetrician, anesthesiologist and nurse allegedly caused...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: Cyclist's radial fracture of left forearm not properly healed.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $400,000 settlement The plaintiff suffered a radial fracture of her left forearm when she was struck by an automobile while riding her bike. The plaintiff was taken by ambulance to Beth...

Massachusetts governor signs bills: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff 34.An act providing the terms of certain bonds to be issued by the commonwealth. App. and eff. April 24, 2 pages. 35.An act establishing a sick leave bank for Janice Brown, an employee of the...

Boston attorney running for second time for seat on Boston City Council.(John R. Connolly)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Unsuccessful in his first bid for an at-large seat on the Boston City Council two years ago, Boston attorney John R. Connolly is throwing his hat in the ring for a second time and filing his...

Boston City Councilor as counselor.(Michael Ross)(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Still on the subject of the Boston City Council... One of its incumbents recently passed the bar after several years of sandwiching his law-school studies between his public-service duties....

Back in the saddle for Newton attorney.(Barbara D. Dallis)(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Newton attorney Barbara D. Dallis is not one to tread traditional pathways -- career or otherwise. That independence may explain why she left big-firm practice with Boston's Mintz, Levin,...

Important tradition of Law Day continues.(Letter to the editor)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: Representatives of the Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts Judges Conference, Administrative Office of the Trial Court and Massachusetts Bar Association collaborated this year...

Federal legislation may be only remedy for security-deposit law.(Letter to the editor)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff To the editor: Regarding the April 30 editorial involving the security-deposit statute ("Revising the security-deposit statute"), the statute, of course, was designed to deal with problems...

Battered Women's Syndrome gaining acceptance with courts.
May 21, 2007... Byline: David E. Frank The night before Dr. Ann Gryboksi allegedly killed her husband, Patrick Lancaster, on Cape Cod last month, she apparently was beaten so severely by him that she ended up with a black eye and a swollen lip. The...