4/30/21
By: Kirsten Patzer
In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States(the “Court”) reversed the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., holding Google’s use of Oracle’s Java Application …
4/30/21
By: Kirsten Patzer
In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States(the “Court”) reversed the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., holding Google’s use of Oracle’s Java Application …
Departing Lawyers’ “Theft of Files” May Lead to a Violation of M.G.L.c. 93A
4/29/21
By: Nancy Reimer, Jennifer Markowski and Lori Eller
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently held in Governo Law Firm LLC v. Bergeron, 487 Mass. 188 (2021), that the inapplicability of G. L. c. 93A, § 11, to disputes …
Client Update – MS Exchange Server Mass-Hack
4/28/21
By: John Ghose
In March 2021, government and private sector sources estimated that 30,000 U.S. organizations, and 100,000 organizations worldwide, were hacked by a Chinese state-sponsored group known as Hafnium. The mass-hack exploited previously unknown “zero-day” vulnerabilities of Microsoft Exchange …
4/28/21
By: Steven Grunberg
Do you ever feel like your dedication to your job is questioned? For one employee of a garbage and recycling disposal company there is little doubt surrounding the answer to this question. In March 2018, Lorenzo Bucknor …
Clemson University Settlements Highlight Trends in Title IX Sports Claims
4/27/21
By: Candice Jackson and Wayne Melnick
As colleges and universities face budget shortfalls that may be especially sharp due to challenges posed by COVID-19, two pre-litigation settlements reached by Clemson University last week highlight the risks to educational institutions of …
FMG Education Law Blog Series: Special Education Issues Facing Schools in the COVID-19 Era
4/22/21
By: Tia Combs and Candice Jackson
Part 2: “A Year Online”
A New and Deadly Virus
In January 2020, few Americans were aware the outbreak of a novel coronavirus that was about to dramatically alter how nearly every person …
4/20/21
By: Kirsten Patzer
Even before Robinhood made headlines with the GameStop debacle earlier this year, the Massachusetts Securities Division and Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Galvin, had Robinhood in their sight. On December 16, 2020 the Massachusetts regulators brought their …
A Quick Summary of the Ethics Rules on Discrimination for California Lawyers
4/20/21
By: Greg Fayard
For decades, the California State Bar had an anti-discrimination ethics rule applicable to lawyers. That rule prevented lawyers from unlawfully discriminating in hiring, promoting, firing, or accepting or not accepting cases based on certain protected characteristics—the big …
4/19/21
By: Candice Jackson and Robert A. Cutbirth
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On the first day of this important month, the California Supreme Court issued Brown v. USA Taekwondo. Arising from allegations of sexual assault by members of the United States’ women’s taekwondo …
Illinois Puts The Squeeze On Employers
4/19/21
By: Eileen Darroll
Illinois has passed three new laws that expand employee’s rights. These laws will impact the way employers hire and retain employees in substantial ways.
SB 1480 amends the Illinois Human Rights Act making it a violation to …
SCOTUS Grants Injunctive Relief In Free Exercise Case Challenging California’s COVID-19 Restrictions
4/14/21
Building on its pandemic-era Free Exercise Clause decisions, SCOTUS rejected the Ninth Circuit’s analysis of California’s COVID restrictions on religious activities for the fifth time on Friday (4/9/21). In a 5-4 vote in Tandon, et al. v. …
Did New Mexico Really “End” Qualified Immunity?
4/13/21
By: Wes Jackson
State and federal legislators are making a concerted push to end or curtail the defense of “qualified immunity,” which provides government employees a defense to civil rights claims in some circumstances. At the federal level, House Democrats …