New England Biz Law Update

Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has been ordered to pay a $53 million criminal fine for causing a series of natural gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley that killed one person and damaged scores of homes and businesses. The utility was ...

A federal judge has determined that Rhode Island enjoys specific personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state mortgage servicer accused of breach of contract in the sale of a mortgage loan, consistent with the three-prong test used by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court ...

The attorneys general of 18 states filed a lawsuit on June 4 alleging a new federal rule “strips away longstanding protections against sexual harassment” and will leave schools less equipped to keep students safe. The lawsuit takes aim at regulations around the ...

Massachusetts voters will get their say on a ballot question that would expand the ability of convenience stores to sell beer and wine, thanks to a May 26 decision by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. Package store owners had mounted ...

A federal judge in Massachusetts has found a rare exception to the rule that contract actions against agencies of the U.S. government fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims. On May 14, U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. ...

A federal judge in Boston has issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the enforcement of key provisions of emergency regulations issued in March by the state Attorney General’s Office to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive debt collection practices during ...

A federal lawsuit filed April 30 accuses Boston University of improperly retaining fees and other payments from students after “constructively evicting” students and transitioning to online classes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a suit filed the following day in U.S. District ...

On April 17, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law an act designed to provide liability protection for health care workers and facilities treating COVID-19 patients. The new law, Chapter 64 of the Acts of 2020, provides to health care professionals ...

A bank could not enforce its security interest in a taxi medallion against the proceeds of a settlement that a defunct Boston taxi cab company obtained against Uber Technologies, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Massachusetts has ruled. Berkshire Bank ...

A college in Massachusetts cannot avail itself of an affirmative defense grounded in the First Amendment’s religion clauses known as the “ministerial exception” in a discrimination suit brought by one of its former professors, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge ruled on ...