Massachusetts

  • March 28, 2024

    Meta Says Speech Immunity Dooms Instagram Addiction Case

    Meta on Thursday asked a Massachusetts judge to toss a lawsuit alleging it has intentionally misled users about Instagram features purportedly designed to addict children and teens, saying it is shielded both by federal law and the First Amendment.

  • March 28, 2024

    MLS, Trade Group Say DOJ Deal Fix Itself Anti-Competitive

    The U.S. Department of Justice drew fire Wednesday for pushing what a real estate trade group argued would itself be an anti-competitive rule, as the DOJ and other outside groups vie to influence a proposed $3 million settlement over house broker commissions in Massachusetts federal court.

  • March 28, 2024

    Implant Maker's Bribe Case Ripe For Trimming, Judge Says

    A money laundering charge levied against implant manufacturer SpineFrontier Inc. and its executives may be dropped from the broader bribery and kickback prosecution as a Boston federal judge Thursday struggled to square up how the company could have allegedly concealed the unlawful transfers to surgeons while also disclosing them publicly.

  • March 28, 2024

    Mass. Justices Say 2019 Sunday-Wage Ruling Is Retroactive

    Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday affirmed a finding that a furniture retailer violated the state's wage laws by paying salespeople overtime and a Sunday premium out of their own earned commissions, keeping intact a nearly $10 million damages award.

  • March 28, 2024

    The Home Depot Buying PE-Backed SRS For $18.25B

    The Home Depot said Thursday it has agreed to acquire SRS Distribution Inc., a private equity-backed distributor of roofing and building supplies, for $18.25 billion, inclusive of debt. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says Faulty Jury Directions Warrant New IP Trial

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday granted Inline Plastics Corp. another chance to convince a Massachusetts federal jury that its tamper-resistant plastic containers were too successful for the underlying patents to be invalidated as obvious.

  • March 27, 2024

    Boston Strikes Novel Deal To Contract For Offshore Wind

    Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Wednesday announced a novel deal between the city and energy company Avangrid Inc. to purchase up to 15 megawatts of wind-generated electricity from the company, contingent on Avangrid winning a multistate bidding process for new offshore development.

  • March 27, 2024

    New England Patriots Defeat Stadium Wi-Fi Patent Case

    A patent-holding entity behind nearly a dozen infringement suits focused on Wi-Fi solutions for sports stadiums suffered its latest defeat Wednesday as a Boston federal judge dismissed its case against the New England Patriots and found the purported invention unpatentable.

  • March 27, 2024

    COVID Prompted Equity Plan Edit, Raytheon Tells Chancery

    Raytheon Technologies Corp. amended employee compensation plans in early 2020 to mitigate "head-spinning unprecedented volatility" from the COVID-19 pandemic, and a shareholder's allegations that directors acted in bad faith by failing to seek stockholder approval should be dismissed, the aerospace company told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    Everbridge Investor Seeks To Block $1.8B Thoma Bravo Deal

    A shareholder in Massachusetts-based emergency management platform Everbridge Inc. is asking a state court to intervene in a pending $1.8 billion acquisition by private equity firm Thoma Bravo LP, alleging in a Wednesday lawsuit that investors are being misled about the true value of shares and the motives of those promoting the deal.

  • March 27, 2024

    Cannabis Retailer Sues To Revive Union Decertification Bid

    A western Massachusetts cannabis retailer has asked a state court to reinstate an employee's petition to decertify a budding local of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which was dismissed by a state labor board following a settlement of separate prohibited practices complaints.

  • March 27, 2024

    NCAA President Calls For Nationwide Ban On Prop Bets

    NCAA President Charlie Baker on Wednesday called for all states to ban prop bets on college sports, pointing to reports of harassment of college and pro athletes over such bets, and saying he aims to "protect student-athletes and to protect the integrity of the game."

  • March 26, 2024

    AI Weapons Detector Faces Investor Suit After Gov't Probes

    Evolv Technologies, which makes metal detectors that purportedly use artificial intelligence to detect weapons, is facing a proposed shareholder class action in Massachusetts federal court alleging that false claims about its products' abilities to screen for types of tactical knives and guns led to federal investigations and share declines.

  • March 26, 2024

    Terraform Backer Tells Jury His Firm Lost Big On $36M Stake

    A Boston venture capitalist told the Manhattan federal jury hearing fraud claims against Terraform Labs and its creator Do Kwon on Tuesday that his former company confidently invested $35.9 million in the crypto startup based on representations that regulators say were false.

  • March 26, 2024

    Boston To Pay $4.7M To Settle Suit Over Fatal Police Shooting

    The city of Boston said Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $4.7 million to settle a suit brought by the mother of a Black man fatally shot by police in 2016, ending a yearslong case that saw the city repeatedly draw the ire of the presiding judge due to discovery missteps.

  • March 26, 2024

    Biden Admin Greenlights 2nd Orsted NY Offshore Wind Farm

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday approved the construction of Orsted-Eversource's Sunrise Wind project off the New York coast, the seventh offshore wind project given the go-ahead by the Biden administration.

  • March 26, 2024

    Locke Lord Gains Real Estate Attorney From Boston Boutique

    Locke Lord LLP announced the addition of a partner from the Boston-based real estate and commercial litigation boutique Nathanson & Goldberg PC, touting his combined litigation and transactional experience.

  • March 26, 2024

    Ailing Health Co. Steward Owes Attys $600K, Firm Says

    A small Boston law firm that represented Steward Health Care System in a variety of cases says the beleaguered healthcare provider has strung it along with promises to pay fees that now total more than $600,000.

  • March 26, 2024

    Ex-Veterans Home Leaders Resolve Landmark COVID-19 Case

    The former leaders of a Massachusetts veterans facility charged in the first pandemic-related criminal neglect case against a nursing home operator resolved the charges Tuesday with separate statements of admission, acknowledging they could be found guilty if they stood trial.

  • March 25, 2024

    Ex-Fugitive In Offshore Gambling Ring Asks For Time Served

    A 74-year-old former office manager and agent for an illegal offshore gambling operation who spent 13 years as a fugitive before being taken into custody in August asked a Massachusetts federal judge on Monday not to extend his prison term so he can return to his family in Antigua.

  • March 25, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, litigants battled as Truth Social went public, Carl Icahn and Tripadvisor hit a roadblock, and more shareholders wailed about "invasive" bylaws. Oil drilling and pharmaceutical mergers sparked new lawsuits, and a sewing machine trademark owner sued to end a contract.

  • March 25, 2024

    Boston Settles Police Shooting Suit After Drawing Judge's Ire

    The city of Boston has settled a six-year-old lawsuit filed by the mother of a Black man who was shot and killed by a police officer, after the city's discovery missteps and violation of court orders nearly lost it the case, according to a Monday filing.

  • March 25, 2024

    'Bridgegate' Atty Among Pair Of New Arnold & Porter Partners

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP has expanded its partner ranks with a former prosecutor in the "Bridgegate" case and a onetime environmental law practice leader at another firm moving to its New Jersey, New York and Boston offices, the firm announced Monday.

  • March 25, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Nullification Of Puerto Rico Labor Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a First Circuit finding that Puerto Rico's fiscal management board was within its authority to void a 2022 labor law expanding some benefits for private employees because it had not been given an opportunity to review the legislation.

  • March 22, 2024

    Boston Soccer Stadium Project Gets Green Light From Judge

    A plan by the city of Boston to turn a stadium inside historic Franklin Park over to a professional women's soccer team can continue moving forward, after a judge on Friday denied a requested injunction to halt it.

Expert Analysis

  • Rebuttal

    Law Needs A Balance Between Humanism And Formalism

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    A recent Law360 guest article rightly questions the pretextual pseudo-originalism that permits ideology to masquerade as judicial philosophy, but the cure would kill the patient because directness, simplicity and humanness are achievable without renouncing form or sacrificing stare decisis, says Vanessa Kubota at the Arizona Court of Appeals.

  • Short Message Data Challenges In E-Discovery

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    As short message platforms increasingly dominate work environments, lawyers face multiple programs, different communication styles and emoji in e-discovery, so they must consider new strategies to adapt their processes, says Cristin Traylor at Relativity.

  • Opinion

    Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code

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    As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.

  • Joint Representation Ethics Lessons From Ga. Electors Case

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    The Fulton County district attorney's recent motion to disqualify an attorney from representing her elector clients, claiming a nonconsentable conflict of interest, raises key questions about representing multiple clients related to the same conduct and highlights potential pitfalls, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI

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    In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For Lawyers To Stand Up For Climate Justice

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    The anniversary this week of the Deepwater Horizon disaster offers an opportunity for attorneys to embrace the practice of just transition lawyering — leveraging our skills to support communities on the front lines of climate change and environmental catastrophe as they pursue rebuilding and transformation, says Amy Laura Cahn at Taproot Earth.

  • Don't Forget Alumni Engagement When Merging Law Firms

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    Neglecting law firm alumni programs after a merger can sever the deep connections attorneys have with their former firms, but by combining good data management and creating new opportunities to reconnect, firms can make every member in their expanded network of colleagues feel valued, say Clare Roath and Erin Warner at Troutman Pepper.

  • Without Stronger Due Diligence, Attys Risk AML Regulation

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    Amid increasing pressure to mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risks in gatekeeper professions, the legal industry will need to clarify and strengthen existing client due diligence measures — or risk the federal regulation attorneys have long sought to avoid, says Jeremy Glicksman at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

  • Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide

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    Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.

  • Building On Successful Judicial Assignment Reform In Texas

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    Prompt action by the Judicial Conference could curtail judge shopping and improve the efficiency and procedural fairness of the federal courts by implementing random districtwide assignment of cases, which has recently proven successful in Texas patent litigation, says Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper.

  • Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?

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    What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.

  • Opinion

    Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts

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    The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.

  • Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy

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    As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Distressed Cannabis Cos. Have A Few Options, With Caveats

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    As the cannabis industry falls on tough times and a potential recession looms, attorneys should understand the limited restructuring options available to distressed cannabis businesses, absent key bankruptcy protections — and the pitfalls these options may present, say Griffen Thorne and Ethan Minkin at Harris Bricken.

  • Opinion

    Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats

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    An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.

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