Last month, the Commonwealth's highest appellate court considered how legal parenthood is defined in the context of children born to a same-sex couple as a result of artificial insemination. The case, Partanen v. Gallagher, is currently under advisement by the Supreme...
Month: August 2016
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rejects Challenge To Attorney’s Authority To Conduct Foreclosure Activities For Client Without Written Authorization
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the "SJC) has rejected a challenge to the authority of an attorney to conduct foreclosure activities on behalf of clients without specific written authorization to perform those activities. See Federal National Mortgage...
Federal Circuit Rules that Patent Suits Can Continue to Be Filed in Any District Where Defendant is Subject to Personal Jurisdiction
In a highly anticipated decision, the Federal Circuit recently issued an opinion denying a request made by TC Heartland LLC ("Heartland") for new restrictions on where patent suits can be filed. In Re TC Heartland LLC, No. 2016-105, slip. op. (Fed. Cir. April 29,...
Employers May Not Prohibit Class Actions, Holds The 7th Circuit
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently created a schism between the Circuits that may lead to the Supreme Court's intervention on an important issue: whether an employer may bar employees from bringing class action claims by requiring claims to be arbitrated. The...
DFPB Proposes Rule That Would Restore Consumer Right To Sue Banks
In AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011), the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws that prohibit consumer contracts from disallowing class-wide arbitration. On May 5, 2016, however, the Federal...
Appeals Court Dismisses HAMP-Based Negligence Claim
In a post-foreclosure lawsuit, Santos v. U.S. Bank National Association, et al., 2016 WL 3636049 (Mass.App.Ct. 2016), a borrower ("Santos") alleged inter alia that a foreclosing mortgagee ("U.S. Bank") and its loan servicer negligently handled his applications for a...
A Primer On The Defend Trade Secrets Act
A trade secret in the United States, once protected under state common law and state statute, is now officially a matter of national importance. President Barack Obama signed into federal law on May 11, 2016 the bi-partisan Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), which...
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