“You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” — Lauren Bacall in “To Have and Have Not” Humphrey Bogart might have known how to whistle, at least at Lauren Bacall, but the ...

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

The Massachusetts Superior Court has ruled that a mandatory arbitration agreement in a consumer sales contract is unenforceable because it contains a class action waiver.

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

Disputes among co-venturers and shareholders in closely held entities continue to be a common source of litigation. This article will highlight significant developments in Massachusetts caselaw, including the importance of an entity’s governing documents in determining liability and remedies. Duty ...

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

This spring, in BFI v. Casella Waste Management, 79 Mass. App. Ct. 300, the court gave in-house lawyers even more reason to be concerned about pursuing summary judgment on contract claims in Massachusetts when it affirmed the trial court’s decision to create from whole cloth an entirely new provision and engraft it onto a thoroughly negotiated contract.

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

On Sept. 16, the America Invents Act of 2011 was signed into law, ushering in one of the most dramatic changes to U.S. patent law in recent memory.

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

A technology company could not deny a state Wage Act claim brought by its sales director who resided in Florida, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled.

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

A group of hospital employees who allegedly were dissuaded from seeking payment for work done during meal breaks and before and after their shifts had grounds to pursue a class action claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a U.S. ...

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

An employer that repeatedly reprimanded an employee after she complained of racial discrimination could not be held liable for retaliation, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has determined.

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

An unsuccessful applicant for a promotion could not hold her employer liable under a theory that the employer impliedly admitted she was qualified by allowing her to advance to the interview and exam stages of the process, the 1st U.S. ...

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue

Copyright infringement cases targeting the hosts of websites are notoriously hard to win. But a Boston law firm recently convinced a South Carolina jury that a search engine optimization firm should pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after ...

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2011 issue