Labor and employment attorneys are taking special notice of a recent memorandum issued by the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board that requires regional officers to seek guidance from the board’s Division of Advice before proceeding on a ...
Read More »Bias suit cautionary tale for employers
A Massachusetts Superior Court jury handed his clients a resounding victory, but Eugene J. “Jay” Sullivan III sounds more exasperated than triumphant when he talks about the recent win. That’s because the defense verdict in Nansamba v. North Shore Medical ...
Read More »Supreme Court takes up ERISA fiduciary duty case
By Kimberly Atkins Seeking to resolve a rather lopsided circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to support a requirement that employees alleging breach of fiduciary duty overcome a pleading-stage presumption that employee stock plan fiduciaries acted with prudence. ...
Read More »Paradigm shift
Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Boston office has seen more than 20 departures since last year, but no exit has been more prominent — in title, at least — than the recent defection of managing partner Joseph J. Basile. Basile left ...
Read More »CrossFit to be tied
Discussions of throat-slitting ninjas aren’t commonplace in federal court, but such is the nature of a trademark infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Boston that has taken a number of bizarre turns. The case began ordinarily enough. The CrossFit ...
Read More »Bar watching, waiting for software patentability ruling
Patent lawyers in New England are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court provides some useful guidance this term on whether computer-implemented software programs that draw on non-computerized principles — a category that could encompass countless types of programs used by millions ...
Read More »Supreme Court ruling raises questions over lawyer-whistleblowers
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Massachusetts case not only expanded whistleblower protections available under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but also seemed to go out of its way to make clear that lawyers themselves are entitled to such protections. ...
Read More »High court decision leaves gap for judges, Congress
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling extending Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower protection to private contractors of publicly traded companies has some attorneys concerned about the lack of any limiting principle. The decision in Lawson v. FMR LLC was the court’s first stab at ...
Read More »Competitor can’t be held liable for tortious interference
A Rhode Island Superior Court judge has ruled that an independent contractor who was responsible for generating new business for a Rhode Island company could not be sued for tortious interference after leaving to start a competing firm. The Rhode ...
Read More »Company president couldn’t terminate VP brother
The president of a closely held family corporation needed board approval to terminate his brother, the vice president of the company, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled in a case of first impression. The corporation argued that its president, ...
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