New England Biz Law Update

On November 22, 2016, the Massachusetts Division of Banks (“DOB) announced that it has returned approximately $2.3 Million to 1,673 Massachusetts residents, as part of a settlement with an online payday lender. The payday lender allegedly issued payday loans with interest rates ...

On October 28, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in the matter of Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., which asks the Court to weigh in on the issue of restroom access for transgender students.  The ...

On November 22, 2016, a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing its new overtime rule. The rule – which would have raised the salary threshold below which employees must ...

As the Obama administration winds down, its regulators are showing no signs of letting up.  Last week the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) decided that it should no longer be constrained by its subpoena power when it seeks to obtain ...

On December 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime rule will take effect. Most significantly, effective December 1, 2016, the minimum salary a worker must be paid to qualify for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions will increase ...

The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently issued an opinion in ZVI Construction Co. v. Levy, et al., 90 Mass. App. Ct. 412 (2016) refusing to override the terms of a written confidentiality agreement entered into between parties to a mediation. The ...

Seyfarth Synopsis:  In Weavexx, LLC the Board deferred to an arbitrator’s finding that the employer had the right to change its payday and pay cycle without first bargaining.  The bigger question is how much longer will such charges be deferred ...

An order from the District of Massachusetts sheds light on how the Supreme Court’s June 2016 decision in Halo Electronics v. Pulse Electronics is being interpreted by the district courts. The Memorandum and Order by Chief Judge Patti B. Saris denied a request for enhanced ...

Why do lawyers write “Privileged & Confidential” at the top of a legal hold notice? Most courts have decided that legal hold notices are immune from discovery, but not because of the header or title.  What generally protects a legal ...

In a recent decision from the District of Massachusetts, Judge Indira Talwani denied a motion to dismiss a patent suit under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim due to patent ineligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 . In ...