Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from November 2008

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from November 2008

Pay Dirt: Mass. recycler undeterred in fight vs. major trash hauler.(Atlantic Packing Corp. and Allied Waste Industries)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report In that classic David v. Goliath brand of legal confrontation, a small Woburn recycling business went up against a solid-waste management company of gargantuan proportions and won big in...

Alternative billing can offer certainty in down economy; flat-fee model risky, lawyers warn.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Julia Reischel Law firms that are experimenting with alternative billing options say that the key to surviving the roller-coaster stock market is to abolish the billable hour. "The economy may be why we're getting an uptick in...

Commentary: On Election Day, recalling the good, the chad and the ugly.
November 3, 2008... Byline: David Yas Here it is on the eve of Election Day, and all I can think about is that the first television commentator who makes some offhand comment about voter irregularity or a close vote in Florida should get 5,000 hanging chads...

Massachusetts IOLTA hit by decline in rates, home sales.(Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz As interest rates and real estate transactions continue their downward slide, so goes the amount of money available to legal services programs through the collection of Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts, or...

No contest for Plymouth Superior Court Clerk seat.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report As U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain battle it out in hopes of winning the presidency tomorrow, a state senator is resting easy this pre-Election Day. Last spring, Sen. Robert S....

What effect will Mass. Trial Court's budget cuts have on judicial appointments?(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report In light of the state's economic crisis, one question lawyers have been asking is what impact, if any, the Trial Court's recently announced budget cuts will have on judicial appointments....

Grand jury questions Worcester attorney's hockey team about his wife's murder in 2002.(Anthony J. Scola)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report A now-defunct hockey team made up mostly of Worcester lawyers was formed so that members of the bar could lace up and glide around on the rink while socializing with friends. But...

Libel case involving members of British au pair Louise Woodward's defense team finally ends.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Ten years have passed since the murder/manslaughter trial of British au pair Louise Woodward ended in Middlesex Superior Court before Judge Hiller B. Zobel, but it was only last week that a...

Verdicts & Settlements November 3, 2008: Worker crushed to death by falling granite slabs.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $1.23 million settlement On Oct. 3, 2005, a 38-year-old husband and father, who had recently emigrated to the United States from Brazil, was crushed to death by 2,500 pounds of granite...

Verdicts & Settlements November 3, 2008: Woman accuses police of excessive force during arrest.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Defense verdict The plaintiff alleged that two Nantucket police officers, a 25-year police sergeant and a summer special officer, used excessive force and falsely arrested her when they...

Verdicts & Settlements November 3, 2008: Rear-end crash worsens girl's spinal condition.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $425,000 settlement The plaintiff, age 6 at the time of the collision and born with myelomenigocele (reported to be the most serious type of spina bifida), was a passenger in a minivan...

Verdicts & Settlements November 3, 2008: Property taken by town buildable, undervalued.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report $1.1 million verdict The plaintiffs originally were paid $207,000 for their property, which was taken for the Attleboro industrial/business park project. The plaintiffs' contention was...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report SJC Court No. BD-2008-062 IN RE: LAURA B. ALDERMAN Last known address: 6 Meadow Glen Drive Granby, MA 01033 S.J.C. Judgment of Disbarment entered by Justice Ireland on...

Commentary: Are you engaged in 'civil' practice?
November 3, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll In recent years, many state and local bar associations have adopted voluntary professionalism goals and standards that attempt to discourage "unprofessional conduct" and encourage "civility" for lawyers engaged in...

Commentary: Do the Right Thing: Advice to advisor -- easy on the biz cards.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... 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. At a networking event last week, a...

Commentary: ABA profile of malpractice claims a study in who gets sued for what.(American Bar Association)
November 3, 2008... Byline: William C. Saturley and Joseph S. Callanan Insurance companies are built on statistics. Underwriting decisions form their intellectual property; actuarial tables are their stock in trade. So the professional liability carriers will...

Commentary: Vote.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Editorial When it comes to electing our public officials, it is a particularly fragile time, and lawyers stand in a unique spot to preserve the integrity of, and faith in, the process. First,...

Commentary: Lawyers must learn to manage stress before it manages them.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Roderick MacLeish Jr. Most lawyers have more than enough information about the "challenges" facing their profession. There are unprecedented levels of substance abuse and alcoholism. According to a Johns Hopkins University...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal False statements - Deceptive interrogation techniques Where a defendant citizen of Bosnia was found guilty of making false statements in his applications for refugee status and...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Patent and trademark Judgment of non-infringement - Centrifugal device Where a plaintiff corporation claims that a defendant company has infringed the plaintiff's patent for a centrifugal...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Civil practice Transfer request Where a plaintiff has filed suit in the present court seeking to recover from the defendant sums the plaintiff allegedly expended in helping to defend the...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Employment Discrimination - Employer with fewer than six employees Where a judge dismissed a sex discrimination claim brought pursuant to the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act (G.L.c. 93,...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Real property Book of proprietors - Easement Where a Land Court judge ruled that the plaintiffs' property in Orleans is subject to an easement in favor of the defendants for access to the...

Mass. Appeals Court Unpublished Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Jury and jurors Individual voir dire - Defendant's presence at sidebar Where a defendant has been convicted of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years of age or older, a new trial...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Search and seizure Vehicle stop - Questioning of passenger Where a defendant has moved to suppress statements she allegedly made to the Gardner police after they stopped the car she was...

District Court/BMC Appellate Division Case Summaries:.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Insurance PIP - Health coverage Where an auto insurer has refused to pay $1,770 in bills for chiropractic services provided to a policyholder, the insurer must be ordered to pay $570 of the...

Mass. Land Courts Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Zoning Refusals to endorse ANR plans Where a plaintiff has appealed the defendant planning board's refusal to endorse his two Approval Not Required plans, I find that the board (1) acted...

Mass. Appellate Tax Board Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Taxation Concord residential property Where the appellant owner of a parcel of Concord residential property alleges that it was overvalued by the local board of assessors for fiscal year...

Mass. Commission Against Discrimination Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Civil rights Handicap discrimination - Accommodation - Ramp - Condominium Where a respondent condominium trust refused to repair, or pay for the repair of, a ramp for the benefit of a...

Other Mass. Agencies Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Conflict of interest Statute of limitations Where it has been alleged that the former Assistant Secretary of the Office of Public Safety violated the Massachusetts conflict of interest law,...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court ruling hits small businesses.
November 3, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank Following years of lower court rulings to the contrary, employment lawyers say a recently decided Supreme Judicial Court case makes clear that companies with fewer than six workers can be subject to sex...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weely Staff Immigration Reinstatement of appeal Where a plaintiff citizen of China seeks reinstatement of her appeal of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision denying her request for asylum, we hold that her...

Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Sanctions Where a pro se debtor filed a meritless motion to revoke an order denying him a discharge, the bankruptcy judge committed no abuse of discretion by sanctioning the debtor. The Debtor...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Lost policies Where a plaintiff alleges that the defendant insurance company has breached its duty to defend the plaintiff in a number of actions resulting from hazardous waste disposal and...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Double jeopardy - Motion to suppress Where (1) a District Court judge heard evidence simultaneously for purposes of a suppression hearing and a trial on a controlled substance charge, (2) before...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Evidence - Victim's prior violent acts Where a defendant (1) was convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon for the near-fatal stabbing of his girlfriend's former boyfriend...

Mass. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff 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 readers that the decisions may be...

Mass. Land Court Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Contempt Where plaintiffs are seeking to have the defendants ruled in contempt of a prior Land Court judgment, I find that no contempt ruling should issue because the defendants' composting...

Appellate Tax Board Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Taxation Real estate Where the appellant owner of a single-family home in Southborough has requested a real estate tax abatement, that request must be denied, as (1) the assessed value of the appellant's...

Lawyers are forever predicting mayhem after controversial rulings. But how often are they right?
November 10, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank The International Dictionary of Idioms defines the phrase open the floodgates as any action that may permit people to do something that was not previously allowed. But in Massachusetts, the definition might as well...

U.S. District Court: Charters v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance - ERISA - Annuities Where a defendant insurance company has been charged with violating the Employment Retirement Income Security Act in connection with variable annuity contracts,...

Norfolk Superior Court: Heinrichs, et al. v. Ricciardi, et al.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract - Home improvement - Designated individual - Attachment Where plaintiff homeowners incurred $125,371 in damages as a result of defective and incomplete work by a now-bankrupt...

U.S. District Court: In Re: Application of Babcock Borsig AG, Assistance Before a Foreign Tribunal.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice - Discovery - Foreign arbitration Where a German corporation has moved to compel a Massachusetts corporation to produce documents and give testimony pursuant to 28 U.S.C....

U.S. District Court: MHA Financial Corp., et al. v. Varenko Investments Limited, et al.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice - Privilege - Statements made in course of litigation - Personal jurisdiction Where plaintiffs have asserted a claim for abuse of process for the defendants' role in filing a...

U.S. District Court: Federal Insurance Co. v. Boston Water and Sewer Commission, et al.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance - Flood damage - Trespass - Electromagnetic fields Where a plaintiff insurance company, having paid for flood damage to a hospital, brought a subrogation action alleging that...

U.S. District Court: Bly v. Nolan.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas corpus - 'Strickland' test Where a U.S. magistrate judge has recommended denying of an individual's petition for habeas corpus, I find that the magistrate judge's recommendation should...

U.S. District Court: Dykens v. Allen.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Certificate of appealability Where a defendant, whose habeas corpus petition was denied, has subsequently moved for the issuance of a certificate of appealabilty, I find that his...

U.S. District Court: Dickey v. Kennedy.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff RICO - Limitations Where a plaintiff filed a RICO complaint on Sept. 14, 2007, alleging extortion on the part of a defendant while employed by the Boston Inspectional Services Department, the...

U.S. District Court: United States v. Gianelli, et al.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Search and seizure - Wiretap Where a number of criminal defendants have filed suppression motions, I hold that the motions must be denied because no persuasive reasons have been advanced for...

U.S. District Court: Bio-Imaging Technologies, Inc. v. Marchant, et al.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment - Restrictive covenants - New Jersey law Where a plaintiff has moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent the defendant from commencing employment with a codefendant in violation...

U.S. District Court: Andujar v. IPC International Corp.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment - Handicap discrimination - Punctuality Where a plaintiff with cerebral palsy claims that his employment termination amounted to handicap discrimination, that claim must fail in...

U.S. District Court: Freeman v. MetLife Group, Inc.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Retirement - ERISA - Preemption Where the plaintiff, after being discharged from his management-level position with the defendant, brought suit to recover the severance compensation to which...

Bankruptcy Appellate Panel: In Re: Kristan, Frank J.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy - Sanctions Where a pro se debtor filed a meritless motion to revoke an order denying him a discharge, the bankruptcy judge committed no abuse of discretion by sanctioning the...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court: In Re: Holland, Annette M.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy - Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act - QWR Where a debtor claims that defendant EMC Mortgage Corp. violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act by not responding to her...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Eastern Floor Services, Inc. v. RBC Industries, Inc.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Damages - Liquidated damages clause Where a judge concluded that a provision in a settlement agreement - requiring the defendant to pay an additional $75,000 in the event of a late installment...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Quinones.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Distribution of cocaine - Delivering cocaine to a prisoner Where a defendant was convicted, after a jury-waived trial, of one count of distribution of cocaine and one count of...

Middlesex Superior Court: NRT New England, Inc., et al. v. Moncure.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property - Deposit - Reconsideration Where this court awarded a defendant summary judgment, declaring that the defendant was entitled to a disputed deposit held in escrow following a...

Mass. District Court: Jensen v. Phillips Screw Company, et al.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys - Sanction Where a U.S. District Court judge ruled that a law firm had unreasonably and vexatiously multiplied the proceedings in a class action and should have sanctions imposed...

Mass. Superior Court: Commonwealth v. Gaynor.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Evidence - Victim's prior violent acts Where a defendant (1) was convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon for the near-fatal stabbing of his girlfriend's...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Murphy.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Motion to withdraw guilty plea Where a judge denied a defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea and for a new trial, we hold that the denial should be affirmed because no...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Crowley v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board, et al.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Retirement - Creditable service time Where a Superior Court judge entered a judgment refusing to allow a plaintiff to purchase, in connection with her retirement application, creditable...

1st Circuit Court of Appeals: United States v. Polk.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Mandatory minimum sentence - Child pornography Where a defendant, found guilty of attempting to produce child pornography, argues on appeal that the 15-year mandatory minimum term of...

1st Circuit Court of Appeals: United States v. Levesque.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Forfeiture - Drug conspiracy - 'Proceeds' - Excessiveness Where the defendant, a "mule" in a marijuana distribution conspiracy, challenges a $3,068,000 money judgment forfeiture imposed on...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Arruda.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Motor vehicles - Vehicular homicide - Refusal to supply medical personnel with blood sample Where a District Court judge concluded that the fact that a defendant, charged with vehicular...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Porter P.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Search and seizure - Shelter - Expectation of privacy Where a Juvenile Court judge suppressed a firearm obtained by the police during a warrantless search of the defendant's room at the...

Mass. Court of Appeals: City of Boston v. Downing, et al.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Unemployment compensation - Misconduct - Drugs Where the Division of Unemployment Assistance affirmed a review examiner's decision to grant a discharged police office unemployment benefits,...

U.S. District Court: Fletcher v. Marshall.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas corpus - Motion to dismiss Where an individual has filed a habeas corpus petition, I find that it should be dismissed. "When [Dennis] Fletcher first filed his petition for habeas...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Totilo.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Admission orf hearsay Where a defendant has appealed his convictions for breaking and entering a building with intent to commit a felony and larceny of property over $250, we hold...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Martin v. Rollins.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Parent and child - Contempt - Health insurance Where a mother sought an order holding her daughter's father in contempt for failing to maintain health coverage for the daughter, an order...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Garvin.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Child enticement - Knowledge or belief as to age Where a jury found the defendant guilty of enticement of a child under 16 years of age and two counts of indecent assault and battery...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Daniels.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Search and seizure - Drug transaction Where a judge suppressed drugs seized from the defendant by two police officers, the suppression order must be reversed on the ground that the police had...

Mass. ourt of Appeals: Loebel v. Loebel.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic relations - Child custody Where a divorced father was granted sole legal and physical custody of his children, a remand must be ordered, as the judge's findings in support of his...

Worcester District Court: Boutillette, et al. v. Fulcher.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Negligence - Car accident - Snow Where plaintiffs have instituted this negligence action after the defendant's automobile struck the plaintiffs' building during a snowstorm, judgment must...

U.S. District Court: Latorraca, et al. v. Centennial Technologies Inc, et al.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice - Attachment Where class-action plaintiffs have attached an account of the Taniki Financial Corporation in partial satisfaction of a previously-awarded judgment in their favor...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court: In Re: Wolverine Proctor & Schwartz, LLC.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Judges - Recusal Where a creditor has moved for judicial recusal in connection with a fee application, the motion must be denied, as the creditor has not shown the existence of a "connection"...

U.S. District Court In Re: Boston Scientific Corporation ERISA Litigation.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice - Motion for class certification - Standing Where plaintiffs have moved for class certification with respect to a suit in which they assert that the defendants committed a breach...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court: Commonwealth v. Love.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Where (1) a District Court judge heard evidence siCriminal - Double jeopardy - Motion to suppress multaneously for purposes of a suppression hearing and a trial on a controlled substance...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court: Commonwealth v. Healy.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal - Negligent operation of motor vehicle Where (1) a defendant filed a pretrial motion to suppress the results of a field sobriety test, (2) a judge held a hearing on the motion in the...

Mass. Court of Appeals: Slosberg v. Slosberg.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic relations - Divorce - Alimony Where a Probate & Family Court judge increased a divorced man's alimony payments, a modification must be ordered because the judge erred by taking into...

Norfolk Land Court: Staszko, et al. v. Moor, et al.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property - Special permit - Standing Where plaintiff abutters seek to annul the Cohasset planning board's decision to grant a special permit for the defendant's construction of a...

Middlesex Land Court: Madigan v. Sifakis.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property - Specific performance Where a plaintiff seeks to compel the defendant to convey certain lots of land to him, I hold that he cannot be granted relief because no binding land sale...

Worcester Land Court: Town of Winchendon v. Dillon Investments, LLC.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property - Specific performance Where a dispute has arisen regarding certain Winchendon land, I find that the plaintiff town is entitled to conveyance of the land pursuant to G.L.c. 185,...

U.S. District Court: In Re TJX Companies Retail Security Breach Litigation.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys - Fees - Class action Where a settlement agreement has been reached in a class action arising out of a retail security breach involving credit and debit card data, class counsel...

Task force in Mass. calls for limits on amount, duration of alimony.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz A task force seeking standards for reasonableness in the amount and duration of alimony has recommended in a draft report that the dollar amount of alimony not be more than 33 percent of the difference between...