7/29/22
By: R. Victoria Fuller and Sean Andrés Rapela On July 27, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court of (“SJC”) held that food delivery app drivers do not fall within the narrow category of employees who are exempt from arbitration under § 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) because they are “engaged in foreign or…
7/19/22
By: Ryan Giggi Liability insurance policies do not cover G.L. c. 93A attorney’s fees in Massachusetts after a recent decision from the state’s highest court. Vermont Mutual Insurance Company v. Paul Poirier et al, (July 6, 2022) rests on conceptual differences between damages and attorney’s fees awarded under G.L. c. 93A, § 9(4). Massachusetts’s Supreme…
7/14/22
By: Nancy Reimer & Sean Andrés Rapela On July 1, 2022, in Bassichis v. Flores, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) held the litigation privilege protected an attorney from liability where he allegedly withheld information from the judge in a divorce proceeding. During the uncontested divorce proceeding, the husband was pro se. The wife’s attorney sought…
Massachusetts Appeals Court extends protections of the Statute of Repose
7/7/22
By: David A. Slocum In an important recent decision, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has extended the protections of the Massachusetts Statute of Repose to a painter of parking lot markings. In Adam C. Smith v. Andrew Divoll, the plaintiff (Smith) lost a leg while operating his motorcycle as a result of a motor vehicle crash…
Be Careful What You Post: Personal Jurisdiction in Internet Defamation Lawsuits
6/15/22
By: Michael Kenney and Tara Sheldon In today’s world, we have innumerable options to communicate and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have become, for many, a large part of our lives. While our modern digital life has increased social connectedness and removed barriers to communication, it has also led to increasing defamation claims…
5/25/22
By: Matthew A. Wachstein In the recent case of VAS Holdings & Investments LLC v. Comm’r of Revenue, No. SJC-13139, 2022 Mass. LEXIS 204 (May 16, 2022), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) reversed the Appellate Tax Board’s holding that a nondomiciliary corporation could be taxed for its capital gains from the sale of…
Massachusetts High Court Issues Two Important Wage and Hour Decisions
4/22/22
By: Jennifer Markowski, R. Victoria Fuller and Chris Redd The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) recently issued a pair of decisions clarifying potential damages under Massachusetts’ wage and hour laws. Reuter v. City of Methuen addressed the appropriate measure of damages when an employer fails to timely pay wages. The Massachusetts Wage Act, M.G.L. c.…
9/9/21
By: R. Victoria Fuller & Diandra Franks In Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc. v. Margarita Melendez, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) recently held that its 2020 COVID-19 statute of limitations tolling order tolled the statute of limitations for all civil actions, not just those actions for which the limitations period would have expired during the tolling period. In Shaws, the plaintiff was allegedly injured on September 3,…
Massachusetts SJC Expands Rights of Property Owners in Eminent Domain Cases
5/26/21
By: Marc Finkel In a landmark ruling involving the rights of property owners under the Massachusetts “quick take” eminent domain statute (M.G.L. c. 79), the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) recently determined that the “quick take” statute allows for a property owner to challenge the validity of the taking while also accepting a pro tanto (partial)…
5/17/21
By: Kevin Kenneally and William Gildea The United States District Court, District of Massachusetts (Hillman, J.), recently held that Plaintiffs must affirmatively plead and prove that there is a safer alternative product design in order to maintain defect claims against the product manufacturer. Ducat v. Ethicon, Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72793 (D. Mass., April…
A Massachusetts Attorney Is Suspended for Overbilling Clients
4/7/21
By: Nancy Reimer and Eleni Demestihas In the Matter of [Attorney] (SJC 12850) the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found the attorney not only charged excessive fees to multiple clients but did so intentionally over a matter of months. In 2015, as an equity partner, the attorney did not bill her time contemporaneously. Instead, she tasked…
Massachusetts SJC Restricts Standard of Causation in Cases Involving Multiple Tortfeasors
3/10/21
By: Marc Finkel In a landmark decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) recently discontinued use of the substantial contributing factor standard of factual causation in matters where multiple sufficient causes of liability may exist amongst multiple defendants. In Doull v. Foster, SJC-12921 (February 26, 2021), the SJC determined that the traditional “but-for” standard of factual…