New England Biz Law Update

Retired Judge Allan van Gestel is raising concerns about the future of the Massachusetts Superior Court business session he helped build, putting the judges who are now running the session on the defensive.

Tagged with: March 2011 issue

Massachusetts Superior Court judge has found that a plaintiff nursing home must pay attorneys’ fees and costs for filing a frivolous lawsuit, even though the underlying complaint was withdrawn before the judge reached a ruling on the defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion ...

Tagged with: frivolous lawsuit Jan. 2011 issue sanctions SLAPP

Civil litigators say a recent Massachusetts Appeals Court decision involving an $11 million personal injury judgment means plaintiffs are no longer required to prove causation and damages when making claims against insurance companies for failure to effectuate prompt settlement offers.

Tagged with: Jan. 2011 issue late settlement offer

For two years, employers have been waiting for federal regulators to clarify just what the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act means for them. Now that wait is over.

Tagged with: employment law Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Jan. 2011 issue

Workplace romances can be perilous in the best of circumstances. But when an employee is fired after his sweetie files a discrimination complaint against the company, can he sue for retaliation under Title VII?

Tagged with: employment law Jan. 2011 issue workplace relationship

Class-action lawsuits pitting privacy advocates against an industry built on buying and selling state motor vehicle records have resulted in contradictory rulings in federal courts across the country over the last few years.

Tagged with: Jan. 2011 issue selling motor vehicle records

An amendment to the state’s workers’ compensation statute that quietly went into effect in November for the first time gives employees, business competitors and others the power to sue a Massachusetts employer for failing to pay its workers’ comp insurance ...

Tagged with: insurance Jan. 2011 issue workers' comp

A rule that lawyers and judges in Massachusetts and beyond have been using to determine damages in patent infringement cases has been abolished by the Federal Circuit Court.

Tagged with: Jan. 2011 issue patent infringement

A Massachusetts Superior Court judge recently shed some light on the secretive world of arbitration by lifting a blanket confidentiality clause that had veiled documents in a dispute between a Wall Street brokerage firm and a former employee.

Tagged with: Jan. 2011 issue

The U.S. Department of Justice’s controversial decision to file criminal charges against Lauren C. Stevens, a North Carolina attorney employed by drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, raises questions about whether lawyers working for companies are now firmly in the government’s enforcement crosshairs ...

Tagged with: Jan. 2011 issue