In November 2008, the owners of condominium units at Grand Manor and the Grand Manor Condominium Association (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) discovered hazardous material in the land beneath the condominiums, which had been used as a landfill operated by the City of...
The Fitch Briefs
Court Addresses Attorney Gender Pay Gap in Attorneys’ Fee Award Decision
In a recent decision awarding attorneys’ fees, a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania explicitly considered the historic attorney gender pay gap. In that case – Ray v. AT&T Mobility Services, LLC – the plaintiff, Alison Ray, sought a total of $847,945 in attorneys’...
Court Affirms The Extension Of Alimony Obligation Beyond Statutory Durational Limits
In a recent Rule 23 decision, a panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the lower court’s modification judgment that extended husband’s alimony obligation to his former wife beyond the durational limits set forth in Massachusetts’ Alimony Reform Act (M.G. L....
Eastern District of New York Holds Loan Servicers Are Not Debt Collectors If They Acquired the Account When It Was Not In Default
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has held that a loan servicer does not qualify as a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C.A. §1692a (“FDCPA”), where the loans were not in default when the servicer...
What Happens When A Party To A Petition For Partition (Holding Title As Joint Tenant) Dies During Its Pendency?
Co-owners of real estate who no longer want to share title may file a petition for partition. If the property cannot be physically divided, the partition may be done in one of two ways: either one party buys out the interest of the other or the property is sold and...
Zoning Loss for Cannabis Business Due to Predicted “Undue Traffic Congestion”
As part of the recent explosion in cannabis facilities in Massachusetts, in around 2020 Nova Farms sought four special permits from the City of Attleboro. Two of the permits would have enabled Nova Farms to establish a cannabis retail business and a Medical Marijuana...
International Organizations Must Explicitly Waive Immunity For Judicial Enforcement, Modification or Vacatur of Arbitral Awards
The United States Appeals Court for the District of Columbia recently affirmed the dismissal of a case seeking modification or vacatur of an arbitration award in favor of the International Monetary Fund (“the IMF”) on the grounds the IMF had not explicitly waived its...
Massachusetts Superior Court Strikes Down Overreaching Fiduciary Duty Rule
On March 30, 2022, in Robinhood Financial, LLC v. William F. Galvin, et. al., the Massachusetts Superior Court (Ricciuti, J.) struck down the recently adopted Fiduciary Duty Rule (950 C.M.R § 12.207), a state regulation that held brokerage dealers to the same...
Arbitrating Against a Foreign State
In a recent case from the District of Columbia Circuit, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd. v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, the DC Circuit allowed an arbitration enforcement action to proceed against Nigeria despite a foreign court’s setting aside of the arbitral...
Overcoming the Presumption of Parentage
Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts are statutorily authorized to establish parentage pursuant to complaints filed under M.G.L. c. 209C, § 5 (“209C”). Under 209C (specifically 209C, § 6(a)(1)), there exists a statutory presumption whereby the spouse of an...
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