New England Biz Law Update

A pair of insurers that defended claims against a policyholder under a reservation of rights and later obtained a declaration that the claims were not covered could not recoup costs they had advanced up to that point, a Superior Court ...

A Rhode Island town’s termination of its finance director did not violate his right to due process, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held. The terminated plaintiff contended that both his pre- and post-termination proceedings were a sham. ...

Interpreting language in G.L. §28-36-5 requiring that workers’ compensation insurance policies cover the “entire liability of the employer,” the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ordered a Massachusetts insurer to pay benefits to an injured employee of a Rhode Island construction ...

More and more, midsize law firms are finding themselves to be the better option for corporate clients that increasingly are questioning the value of paying big-firm rates for the handling of run-of-the-mill legal matters. That conclusion is borne out in ...

A federal judge has determined that the assets of a limited liability company closely related to a construction business in Chapter 7 bankruptcy could be reached to satisfy the claims of the creditors of the bankruptcy estate. The decision resolves ...

The National Labor Relations Board should not have invalidated an employer’s policy granting non-union employees a hiring preference for non-union positions, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found. The employer argued that it instituted its hiring policy in ...

An out-of-state corporation could not reasonably anticipate being subject to personal jurisdiction in Rhode Island based on its Internet marketing and a sales contract derived from that advertising, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. The Rhode Island plaintiff brought ...

The test for determining whether a meal break is compensable under the Massachusetts Wage Act should be whether an employee was relieved of all duties during the break, a judge from the Superior Court’s Business Litigation Session has ruled. Plaintiff ...

A corporation that acquired a retail food business could be sued by employees claiming to have been paid less than the amount required by federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws, a U.S. magistrate judge has determined. The defendant ...

A federal court decision related to claims brought under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 indicates that it will be difficult to end litigation in its early stages using the act’s whistleblower provision, attorneys say. The case involved an ...