New England Biz Law Update

If Boston lawyer William F. Burke is going to score any points in his recently filed breach-of-contract case, he’ll have to convince a Massachusetts jury to ignore the fact that the company he’s suing bears the name of the most ...

Tagged with: July 31 2012 issue

Depending on how a legal-malpractice lawsuit is won, practitioners say, it is possible to restore a law firm’s good name. Goulston & Storrs fought back late last month against accusations that the Boston firm and three of its partners had ...

Tagged with: July 31 2012 issue

Wal-Mart equal pay claims approach 2,000 Nearly 2,000 women have filed individual employment discrimination claims against Wal-Mart in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last June rejecting their equal pay and failure-to-promote class action, plaintiffs’ lawyers say. Former and ...

Tagged with: July 31 2012 issue

Real property need not be a debtor’s principal residence in order to qualify for the $21,625 exemption under 11 U.S.C. §522(d)(1). In Re: Lawrence, Thomas S., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-042-12) (5 pages) (Hoffman, J.) (USBC) David M. Nickless, ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A debtor may employ 11 U.S.C. §522(d)(12) to exempt an individual retirement account whose proceeds have been inherited. In Re: Seeling, Holly Anne (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-047-12) (8 pages) (Boroff, J.) (USBC) (Chapter 7 Case No. 11-30957) (May 24, 2012).

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A debtor’s predecessor counsel is entitled to an award of the fees and costs incurred in defending its fee application against the debtor’s meritless allegations of malpractice. In Re: Lupo, Robert N. (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-046-12) (7 pages) (Feeney, J.) ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge did not err in denying a bank’s motion for reconsideration of a fee award to a debtor, as the debtor could have raised the basis for the motion at an earlier stage of the proceedings, ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A judge did not abuse commit an abuse of discretion by admitting evidence of malingering in a railroad worker’s Federal Employers’ Liability Act suit alleging cumulative, or wear-out, injuries to his neck and knees. Crowther v. Consolidated Rail Corporation, et ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A complaint alleging that the defendant seller of real property violated a federal statute by not disclosing the presence of lead paint must be dismissed as untimely because by the time of the closing in 2003 the plaintiff buyer should ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

Design defect claims against generic drug manufacturers are not preempted by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Bartlett, et al. v. Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 01-117-12) (27 pages) (Boudin, J.) (1st Circuit) Appealed from ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue