Owners and contractors beware: Massachusetts Appeals Court strictly interprets the Prompt Pay Act
9/12/22
By: David A. Slocum
A recent decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Tocci Building Corp. v. IRIV Partners, LLC, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 133 (2022) has established precedent that the formal rejection requirements of the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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) …
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 …
5/25/22
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …