Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from May 2009

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from May 2009

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court widens access to 'unbundling' of cases.
May 4, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz In a move foreseen as a "win-win" for lawyers and clients who may be hurting financially in the current economic downturn, the Supreme Judicial Court has extended the availability of limited assistant...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Joel Rosenthal: The 'straight talker'.
May 4, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel On a recent Thursday morning in federal court in Worcester, Judge Joel B. Rosenthal is ripping into Thomas C. Tretter. "I think you're wasting my time," Rosenthal snaps in response to the lawyer's request that...

Mass. Appeals Court rules fired lawyer can sue Boston firm.
May 4, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank The Appeals Court ruled last week that a fired associate can move forward with a wrongful-termination suit against his former employer, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, in an impounded case that involves allegations of...

Medical-malpractice filings fall in Massachusetts.
May 4, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel The number of medical-malpractice complaints filed in Massachusetts has been declining over the past decade, suggesting that plaintiffs' attorneys are exercising greater caution in the cases they accept, according to...

Commentary: domestic violence: out of the frying pan ...(Massachusetts)
May 4, 2009... Byline: David Yas Joseph Ureneck really wants me to write that wives physically abuse their husbands just as often as husbands physically abuse their wives. He wants me to write that the vast majority of women are lying when they claim...

Commentary: arrogance of lawyers, others troubling societal development.
May 4, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Have you noticed that people are more impatient today than before? Or is this just my perception? I know we're in the midst of a recession. Some economists are admitting it's a deep recession. And, as I've written...

Commentary: write on: heading the reader in the write direction.
May 4, 2009... Byline: Samantha A. Moppett Pick up a trial or appellate brief, and the Argument section contains argumentative headings. The court rules do not require them, so why are they always there? These headings are routinely included because...

Mass. Superior Court rules lawyer violated referral fee pact: Wage Act applies.
May 11, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank A Superior Court judge has ruled, in an issue of first impression, that a referral fee between attorneys constitutes a commission under the Massachusetts Wage Act even though the lawyers were no longer working...

Leaving large firms, lawyers adapt as sole practitioners.(Massachusetts)
May 11, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz In today's anemic real estate market, a lawyer at a big firm who represents owners of significant commercial properties and has to charge similarly sized fees could find himself in an uncomfortable position. ...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide high-stakes mortgage loan dispute.
May 11, 2009... Byline: Eric T. Berkman The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week heard arguments in a case that could potentially enable an undetermined number of borrowers to rescind their home-refinancing loan contracts over a technical omission...

Employment lawyers in Mass. seek clarity on issue of retroactive treble damages.
May 11, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank A lawyer who recently won a Wage Act lawsuit against a Boston restaurant says she is disappointed the judge in the case did not address a hotly debated issue in the employment bar: whether last year's mandatory...

Commentary: impact of the economic downturn on juror reasoning.
May 11, 2009... Byline: Jocelyn Cinquino It is difficult to ignore how litigation budgets have been affected by changes in the economy, but the financial downturn has also extended its reach into fact finders' evaluations of our cases and their decisions...

Commentary: when the going gets tough for law firms....(Massachusetts)
May 11, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll "Stop the world - I want to get off." The title of the popular 1960s Broadway show seems to say it all, voicing a wish to put a braking effect on our world before it spins out of control. That, for sure, is how...

Commentary: firms need to be LinkedIn to advanced technology.
May 11, 2009... Byline: Elonide C. Semmes Seller's Market offers practitioners information about marketing their skills and services as attorneys. Back when the Web was still in its infancy, I gave a presentation to a major New England law firm,...

Commentary: are your client's personal assets at risk even if he is not named as a defendant?(Massachusetts)
May 11, 2009... Byline: Robert D. Cohan When your client's corporation, LLC or trust is sued but has no assets, can you safely ignore the lawsuit if the client has not been named personally as a defendant? After all, what harm can arise from a default...

In 'hell' for 18 years, Boston man now vindicated.
May 18, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Ulysses Charles' legs felt like jelly when he walked out of Judge Nancy Staffier Holtz's courtroom four weeks ago. The 59-year-old union welder's steps were unsteady, his stomach queasy, his mouth incapable of...

Can jurors in Mass. deliberate during trial?
May 18, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz A Superior Court judge's decision to permit jurors to discuss evidence during a trial involving a fatal accident outside Gillette Stadium is either a mistake on the judge's part or useful to an understanding of...

Commentary: swine flu: law firms hogging all the attention.
May 18, 2009... Byline: David Yas Yeah, I'm still worried about this swine flu thing. It's everywhere. It's talked about at home and at the office. In newspapers and on the radio. At breakfast meetings and at after-work receptions, where people...

Fool's Gold? The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America.(Book review)
May 18, 2009... Byline: William F. Swiggart Fool's Gold? The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America By Scott A. Shane Oxford University Press, 2009 276 pages; $34.95 In "Fool's Gold," Scott A. Shane, an Ohio-based business school professor and angel...

Commentary: worry not about losing clients; just work to keep them.
May 18, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Law firms today are so preoccupied with their own survival that not enough of them are asking their clients: "How am I doing?" As a result, many lawyers, unfortunately, never figure out that a client is unhappy. If...

Unloading a law practice can be a load of work.
May 18, 2009... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh Like many attorneys these days, you may be thinking of selling your law practice. Whether the reason is the sagging economy or the retirement of baby boomers, the number of law practices for sale is rising. "The...

Mass. Superior Court: rule 9A amendments and summary judgment motion practice.
May 18, 2009... Byline: Andrew R. Weiner Recent amendments to Superior Court Rule 9A significantly change the procedure for filing and opposing summary judgment motions, and also increase the role of e-mail and word-processing technology with respect to...