New England Biz Law Update

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued a formal “enforcement guidance” addressing the applicability of the chief federal employment discrimination statute, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the use of criminal conviction and arrest records ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

Suppose the deferred compensation component of an executive’s change of control or employment agreement, or the company’s executive compensation plan, contains hurdles or exceptions to vesting or, even, a cliff vesting provision — such as requiring employment for at least ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard arguments in Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent, an appeal that considers (or, some might say, reconsiders) the protectability of a single color as a trademark to identify the source of a ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

According to a recent study, more than half of all employees admit to stealing employers’ confidential data.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

Social media clearly has changed the way we interact with each other. We offer up-to-date commentary about the details of our lives with BlackBerries, iPhones, smart phones and other devices.  And we can say what we want without fear of ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court have agreed to hear a case that puts at issue what many lawyers, until now, had thought to be a well-accepted interpretation of a critical paragraph of residential purchase and sale agreements.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

From the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to fee disclosure regulations taking effect in 2012, employer-sponsored retirement plans have seen a flurry of changes from Congress and regulators.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

One advantage of working as in-house counsel for a company is that, in theory at least, you have only a single client: the company itself. But, because of that fact, many in-house counsel become desensitized over time to potential conflicts ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The National Labor Relations Board recently announced that it will begin an educational campaign to teach non-unionized employees that they have the same rights as unionized employees to engage in “concerted activity” protected by the National Labor Relations Act. 

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

“You tell me what you know and I’ll confirm. I’ll keep you in the right direction if I can. … Just … follow the money.” — Deep Throat, “All the President’s Men” In the depth of the Watergate scandal, the ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue