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Massachusetts
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January 27, 2025
Harvard Lecturer Says Monthly Payroll Flouts Wage Law
Harvard University is violating Massachusetts wage law by paying its faculty once a month rather than weekly or biweekly, an instructor alleged in a proposed class action filed in state court.
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January 24, 2025
Real Estate Recap: Hughes Fire, EOs, Practices Of The Year
Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including more law firm displacement due to the newly ignited Hughes Fire in Los Angeles County, real estate sector speculation following a storm of executive orders, and two of Law360's picks for real estate and construction practice groups of the year.
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January 24, 2025
Boston Firm Says IT Vendor Holding Computers 'Hostage'
Boston-based law firm Melick & Porter LLP says a company it hired to manage its information technology is now holding its computer network and data "hostage" by refusing to cooperate with the transition to a new vendor unless Melick pays it $380,000.
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January 24, 2025
Philip Morris Settles Tobacco Liability Trial After Openings
Philip Morris and a supermarket chain have reached a settlement with the family of a Massachusetts woman who died of lung cancer in 2022 after decades of smoking the company's Marlboro cigarettes, ending the case a day after trial began.
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January 24, 2025
Thomson Reuters Settles With Ex-Worker Who Criticized BLM
Thomson Reuters has settled a lawsuit claiming it wrongly fired a white data scientist in its Boston office for criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement on a company messaging system, according to a filing in federal court.
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January 24, 2025
Former Mass. Transit Facilities Engineer Admits $8.5M Fraud
A former facilities engineer for the private company that runs Massachusetts' commuter rail lines has pled guilty to defrauding his former employer of approximately $8.5 million through a pair of schemes and failing to report the funds on his income tax returns.
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January 24, 2025
Immigrant Groups Seek Block Of Trump's Citizenship 'Assault'
Massachusetts immigrant advocacy organizations and an expectant mother urged a Boston federal judge to block President Donald Trump's "unparalleled assault on the sanctity and integrity of U.S. citizenship," after a Washington judge paused the administration's birthright citizenship executive order for two weeks.
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January 23, 2025
Hiring Freeze, Ending Telework Would Devastate USPTO
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office would be uniquely harmed if forced to follow the Trump administration's return to office mandate, given its nearly 30-year history of telework that has led to 96% of its employees being permanently remote.
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January 23, 2025
Dems Cite 'Unprecedented Concerns' With Trump Memecoins
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jake Auchincloss have urged federal regulators to address "unprecedented concerns" associated with the recent launch of so-called memecoins associated with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, citing threats of consumer ripoffs, corruption and foreign influence.
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January 23, 2025
Marlboro Smoker Was Target Of Deception, Jury Hears
Philip Morris targeted a Massachusetts preteen as a "replacement" customer for others who were dying of lung disease, a Springfield jury heard Thursday, though the company's lawyer said the woman had free will and knew enough to stop smoking.
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January 23, 2025
Ex-Tribal Chair Seeks High Court Review Of Extortion Verdict
A former tribal chair in Massachusetts told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that the First Circuit was wrong and stands alone in ruling that federal extortion laws apply to Native American officials as it reinstated his convictions tied to the development of a casino project.
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January 23, 2025
Home Health Agency Operator Gets 12 Years For $100M Fraud
The former operator of a Massachusetts home healthcare agency convicted of fraud last summer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $100 million in restitution to the state's Medicaid program.
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January 23, 2025
Meta Wants Mass. Justices To Intervene In AG's Suit
Meta Platforms has urged Massachusetts' highest court to take up its challenge to a pending lawsuit brought by the state attorney general's office, which accused the social media company of intentionally designing Instagram to be addictive to children and teenagers.
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January 23, 2025
11 States Say DOJ Can't Make Them Enforce Deportations
Eleven state attorneys general fired back Thursday at a U.S. Department of Justice memorandum instructing federal prosecutors to take action against states that interfere with the Trump administration's plans to deport unlawfully present immigrants, calling the move unconstitutional.
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January 23, 2025
Corporate Transparency Law Remains Flanked By Threats
The Corporate Transparency Act is facing threats across the branches of government despite the U.S. Supreme Court pausing a nationwide injunction on it Thursday, with another universal injunction in place, other court battles underway and some Republican lawmakers targeting the law.
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January 23, 2025
UnitedHealthcare Settles Proton Beam Coverage Suit
UnitedHealthcare has agreed to resolve a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully denied coverage of a proton beam cancer treatment after wrongly labeling it as experimental, the insurance company and plan participants told a Massachusetts federal court.
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January 23, 2025
15 States Reach $7.4B Settlement With Sackler Family
A bipartisan coalition of states on Thursday announced a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma Inc., representing the largest settlement to date with the family accused of contributing significantly to the opioid epidemic.
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January 22, 2025
American, JetBlue Ink $1.9M Atty Fee Deal After Antitrust Loss
A Massachusetts federal judge signed off Tuesday on a settlement requiring American Airlines and JetBlue to cover $1.9 million worth of legal fees that a group of state attorneys general spent successfully challenging the two airlines' Northeast Alliance joint venture as anticompetitive.
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January 22, 2025
J&J Seeks To Defeat $30M Punitive Bid After Conn. Talc Trial
Johnson & Johnson has blasted a bid requesting that it pay $30 million in punitive damages on top of a $15 million jury award to a real estate developer who allegedly contracted mesothelioma from the company's talc, telling a Connecticut state court that, "at most," it should pay $5 million.
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January 22, 2025
Trump Pick For Boston US Atty Won't Be 'Afraid To Speak Up'
The selection of Leah Foley as Massachusetts U.S. attorney drew praise from both sides of the aisle, as veterans of the Boston-based office praised her toughness and predicted she would be able to withstand outside political influence.
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January 22, 2025
BNY, Mortgage Co. Sued Over Post-Bankruptcy Collections
Bank of New York Mellon and a mortgage servicing company face proposed class action claims that they unfairly sought to collect on second mortgages held by homeowners who declared bankruptcy amid the 2008 housing crisis.
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January 22, 2025
Judge Won't Toss Bulk Of Chrysler Minivan MDL Claims
A Michigan federal judge has declined to significantly pare back multidistrict litigation over a risk of spontaneous explosion in certain Chrysler plug-in hybrid minivans, denying Chrysler's bid to toss fraud and other claims.
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January 22, 2025
Nutter Partner Nominated To Mass. Land Court
A Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP partner has been nominated as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Land Court, Gov. Maura Healey announced Wednesday.
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January 22, 2025
Feds Trim Spine-Implant Kickback Case Ahead Of Trial
A Massachusetts federal judge has granted a motion by prosecutors to drop bribery charges against a maker of spinal implant devices and whittle down the case against two of its former executives.
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January 22, 2025
Exonerees In Mass. Drug Lab Scandal Can't Undo Forfeiture
The First Circuit has tossed what was left of a lawsuit seeking the return of forfeited funds and property to thousands of Massachusetts residents whose drug convictions were vacated due to the misconduct of two crime lab chemists.
Expert Analysis
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Opinion
It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Takeaways From Virginia's $2B Trade Secrets Verdict Reversal
The Virginia Court of Appeals' recent reversal of the $2 billion damages award in Pegasystems v. Appian underscores the claimant's burden to show damages causation and highlights how an evidentiary ruling could lead to reversible error, say John Lanham and Kamran Jamil at Morrison Foerster.
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How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act
In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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Class Action Law Makes An LLC A 'Jurisdictional Platypus'
The applicability of Section 1332(d)(10) of the Class Action Fairness Act is still widely misunderstood — and given the ambiguous nature of limited liability companies, the law will likely continue to confound courts and litigants — so parties should be prepared for a range of outcomes, says Andrew Gunem at Strauss Borrelli.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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PE Firms Should Prepare For Increased False Claims Scrutiny
The impact private equity firms may have over medical decisions and care is increasingly attracting potential liability under the False Claims Act and attention from states and the federal government, so investors should follow best practices including conducting due diligence both before and after acquisitions, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Menendez Corruption Ruling Highlights Attorney Proffer Risks
The recent admission of slides used in a preindictment presentation as evidence during U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial highlights the potential pitfalls of using visual aids in attorney proffers, and the increasing importance of making disclaimers regarding information presented at the outset of proffers, say Carrie Cohen and Savanna Leak at MoFo.