Massachusetts

  • October 07, 2026

    1st Circ. Presses NEA On 'Gender Ideology' Grant Criteria

    A First Circuit panel had sharp questions for the federal government Wednesday about its decision to disfavor National Endowment for the Arts grant applicants who "promote gender ideology," with one judge saying the arts program is supposed to be insulated from politics.

  • October 07, 2026

    States Say DHS Is Tying Grants To Immigration Agenda, Again

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia told a Rhode Island federal court Wednesday that the Trump administration is still unlawfully tying certain grant funding to their assistance with immigration enforcement efforts, in violation of the court's permanent injunction rulings.

  • October 07, 2026

    1st Circ. Skeptical Of Legal Basis For IRS-ICE Data Sharing

    The First Circuit repeatedly suggested during a hearing Wednesday that the Trump administration's use of a privacy exception in the tax code for criminal investigations to justify demanding tax records of noncitizens could allow it to target nearly anyone's private returns.

  • October 07, 2026

    Scheduling 'Cascade' Hangs Over Amazon's FTC, Calif. Trials

    Amazon.com sparred with the Federal Trade Commission in a Washington federal court filing over whether to stick to a late March trial kickoff, or whether the multiple trials against the company in 2027 must be pushed back because a California state judge has called a January start unrealistic.

  • October 06, 2026

    DOJ Says 12-Juror Rule Would Cause Unwarranted 'Upheaval'

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to uphold precedent allowing states to use juries of fewer than 12 people in serious criminal cases, saying overruling it could unsettle thousands of convictions and force many states to change their criminal procedure laws.

  • October 06, 2026

    1st Circ. Questions Need To Rule On Expired Harvard Visa Ban

    The First Circuit grappled Tuesday with what to do with an injunction blocking the Trump administration's long-suspended ban on foreign students from attending Harvard University, more than 10 months after the president's proclamation expired.

  • October 06, 2026

    DOD Seeks 1st Circ. Relief Over Fee Award In Grant Cap Case

    The U.S. Department of Defense is appealing a Massachusetts federal court's decision awarding attorney fees to an academic organization that helped successfully argue that the department's cap on reimbursing indirect costs from universities' grant-funded research was unlawful.

  • October 06, 2026

    1st Circ. Sees Gaps In Order Halting RFK's Vaccine Advisers

    A First Circuit panel on Tuesday puzzled over aspects of a lower court's order staying Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s appointments to a vaccine policy committee, with one judge saying he can't tell what authority the order was based on.

  • October 06, 2026

    Higher-Ed Groups Say DHS Upended Student Internship Rules

    Higher-education organizations have accused the Trump administration of abruptly and unlawfully imposing new restrictions on experiential learning opportunities for international students, and couching its regulatory shift as "reminders" that threatened schools and officials with sanctions and prosecutions for noncompliance.

  • October 06, 2026

    Mass. Justices Say Image Sent To Victim Not 'Dissemination'

    Sending a secretly recorded nude image only to the subject of that photo does not amount to "dissemination" under a 2008 anti-voyeurism law, Massachusetts' highest court said Tuesday.

  • October 06, 2026

    3 Firms Steer Uber's $2.3B Buy Of Catering Platform EzCater

    Ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. on Tuesday unveiled plans to acquire catering platform ezCater in a $2.3 billion all-cash deal that was built by three law firms.

  • October 06, 2026

    Mass. Bar Official Says Ex-Atty's Suit Should Be Tossed

    After a New York federal judge threw out the federal claims against her from a permanently disbarred attorney's due process suit, a Massachusetts bar official told the court it should dismiss what she calls a "meritless" case instead of sending it to Boston.

  • October 05, 2026

    Trump's Green Card Policy Shift Must Be Blocked, Groups Say

    A slew of families, workers, unions and immigrant rights groups asked a Massachusetts federal judge to block the Trump administration's new policies requiring green card applicants to leave the country, claiming Monday it's an unlawful departure from longstanding practice that unnecessarily disrupts applicants' lives.

  • October 05, 2026

    Boston Health Worker Says Firing Followed Fraud Concerns

    A former program director in Boston's health department says he was fired after refusing to enroll new clients until his concerns about fraud in a home visiting program were addressed, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • October 05, 2026

    Pega's Hidden AI Tool Listens To US Bank Calls, Suit Says

    Software company Pegasystems Inc.'s artificial intelligence-powered "assistant" secretly listens to U.S. Bank's customer service calls, according to a proposed class action brought under various states' wiretapping laws.

  • October 05, 2026

    Ford Didn't Need To Keep Ex-Engineer's Records, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge on Monday denied a bid for curative measures from a group of drivers suing Ford Motor Co. over allegedly faulty transmissions, saying their proposed class action failed to show that the automaker had a duty to preserve records from a former chief engineer who left the company years before the suit was filed.

  • October 05, 2026

    Landowner Argues Mass. City Picked BXP Alone For Rezoning

    A landowner has alleged in state court that the city of Waltham, Massachusetts, granted BXP Inc. a valuable mixed-use rezoning while denying the neighboring plaintiff's request for the same housing-focused land designation without any explanation.

  • October 05, 2026

    Mass. Justices Weigh Duties Of DAs, Judges After ICE Arrests

    Justices on Massachusetts' highest court Monday appeared willing to endorse a requirement that prosecutors and judges make formal efforts to get federal immigration officials to bring defendants in their custody to court for pending criminal cases before issuing a default warrant or dismissing a case.

  • October 05, 2026

    1st Circ. Doubts Harvard Grant Fight Belongs In Claims Court

    The First Circuit Monday appeared skeptical that a lower court erred in backing Harvard University in a suit over the Trump administration's bid to freeze more than $2 billion in grant funding, suggesting that the case had been decided in the proper venue.

  • October 05, 2026

    Deported Mass. Student May Be Beyond 1st Circ.'s Reach

    The First Circuit on Monday hinted that it may not have the ability to revive a Massachusetts college student's immigration case because she chose to remain abroad after being deported, meaning she is no longer in federal custody.

  • October 05, 2026

    Mass. Governor Urges Voters To Reject Marijuana Repeal

    Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Sunday that she opposes a ballot measure to roll back the legalization of retail marijuana in the Bay State.

  • October 05, 2026

    High Court Won't Take Up Maine Lobster Boat Tracking Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a constitutional challenge to Maine's tracking of vessels that hold federal lobster permits, a policy several lobster fishermen claimed violated their privacy rights.

  • October 02, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: FAA Grants, DC Rent, REIT Merger Reax

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a look at the top FAA grants for real estate projects last month, a potential apartment rent freeze in Washington, D.C., and activist objections to the IRT-Centerspace merger.

  • October 02, 2026

    Live Nation Fights States' Latest Bid For Insight Into DOJ Deal

    Live Nation has fired back against the latest request in New York federal court by some state attorneys general seeking material related to Live Nation's midtrial antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing the states are seeking burdensome discovery, including communications between third parties and outside counsel.

  • October 02, 2026

    Dunkin' Sued Over Allulose In 'Zero Sugar' Energy Drinks

    The owner of Dunkin' faces a proposed class action claiming its "zero-sugar" energy drink is deceptively marketed and actually contains "a rare sugar," according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • The Growing Antitrust Risks Of AI Pricing For Health Insurers

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    Attorneys at Patterson Belknap provide an overview of the increased risk of antitrust enforcement for health insurance companies using algorithmic price models, including in the form of multidistrict private litigation, new state and federal bills, and potential federal enforcement.

  • Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

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    The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely to continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • How Pfizer Won Fed. Circ. Patent Dispute By 1 Carbon Atom

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    The Federal Circuit's recent refusal to revive a patent in Enanta Pharmaceuticals v. Pfizer over an alleged typo creating a one-atom difference in a COVID-19 treatment application hands defendants a template for potentially converting a triable fact question into an early dispositive ruling, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Laptop Farms Highlight Identity Fraud Risks Of Remote Work

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    Two U.S. nationals' recent sentencing in Massachusetts federal court for a scheme that enabled foreign operatives to obtain remote jobs at U.S. companies using stolen identities is a reminder that employers must recalibrate their remote hiring, onboarding and monitoring practices to mitigate evolving cybersecurity and geopolitical risks, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Immigration Ruling Maps Alternative To Universal Injunctions

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    A Rhode Island federal court's decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS vacating policies that froze key immigration adjudications for nationals of 39 countries, and paused asylum applications altogether, suggests how practitioners might press for the Administrative Procedure Act's bad faith exception to record review and seek vacatur as a viable alternative to universal injunctions, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Series

    Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

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    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Key Tips For Patenting Antibody-Drug Conjugate Inventions

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    Recent decisions highlight the significant challenges that can arise when patenting antibody-drug conjugates, which require strategic considerations for satisfying heightened written description and enablement requirements, says Xiaoban Xin at FisherBroyles.

  • $885M IBS Drug Verdict Tests Pay-For-Delay Limits

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    The outcome in the Amitiza Antitrust Litigation is significant because it is the first jury trial win for private antitrust plaintiffs in a suit challenging a patent settlement reverse payment since the U.S. Supreme Court adopted the rule-of-reason legal framework in 2013, offering a blueprint for pay-for-delay claims, say attorneys at Katten.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

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    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

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    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

  • Opinion

    State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

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    Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

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