The Boston Globe's recent request to the Norfolk County Probate and Family Court to vacate portions of an impoundment order issued during Maureen Sullivan Stemberg's post-divorce action in 1990 against her ex-husband, Tom Stemberg (the founder of Staples), and make...
Month: October 2012
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Stepped Dispute Resolution Clauses
The dispute resolution clause in commercial contracts is very often inserted at the last minute without much attention given to the implications of the particular language contained in the clause. It is increasingly common to see "stepped" dispute resolution clauses,...
Preferred Practices international Arbitration
Over the last eight months, the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary, University of London conducted a comprehensive and wide-ranging survey on issues germane to international arbitration - particularly on current and preferred practices in the field. The...
“What Happened in Vegas” is Fair Game in Divorce Court… and the “Cost” of a Weekend in Sin City Could be Alimony and Property Payments to Your Former Spouse
The Bachelor Party. In the UK, it's known as "Stag Night"; in France, "enterrement de vie de garcon" - literally, "burial/funeral of the life as a bachelor." For grooms-to-be across the globe, it is a time honored tradition, and in the US, Las Vegas is commonly known...
A ‘Well-Heeled’ Divorcee and Mandatory Self-Disclosure
Beth Shak, a famous World Series of Poker player and aficionado of expensive, designer shoes, who has been featured on MTV Cribs and Millionaire Matchmaker, is in the news again, and she gives us food for thought regarding Mandatory Self-Disclosure and Financial...
Business Litigation Session Limits Partial Dispositive Motions
Prosecuting or defending a motion to dismiss or a motion for summary judgment can be a substantial undertaking. In a complex case a motion for summary judgment can consume a hundred hours or more of attorney time and tens of thousands of client dollars. At the same...
Read (and Draft) That Forum Selection Clause Carefully!
The Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled that a party to a business contract could file suit in Massachusetts even though the contract specified that "jurisdiction shall vest in the State of Illinois." The Appeals Court held that the "jurisdiction shall vest"...
Allegations on ‘Information and Belief’ Not Enough to Stop Mortgage Foreclosures
One less-discussed but important aspect of the Supreme Judicial Court's ("SJC's") decision in Eaton v. National Federal Mortgage Association, 462 Mass. 569 (2012), is found in its most narrow ruling. Even though the Court held that the named plaintiff, Henrietta...
The ABCs of PC: What is a Parenting Coordinator (“PC”), and how can Parenting Coordination help you and your family?
According to the Guidelines for Parenting Coordination developed by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Task Force on Parenting Coordination, "[P]arenting coordination is a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process in which a mental health or...
Foreign Judgments Recognition Law Due for Update
The Commonwealth's policy regarding the recognition and enforcement of money judgments rendered by foreign courts has suffered from lack of clarity, as shown in the current version of the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 235, sec....
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