In two recent cases, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has rejected attempts to throw out consumer protection lawsuits for failure to follow the strict mandates of the Chapter 93A demand letter requirement. Massachusetts’ Consumer Protection...
Year: 2021
District Court Finds No Jurisdiction Over Claims Against Foreign Corporate Owner and Operator of Ship in Boston Harbor Accident
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently dismissed claims against two foreign corporations which owned and operated a ship which damaged a pier in Boston Harbor in 2017, in American Home Assurance Company v. M/V One Helsinki f/k/a...
New Appeals Court Case Addresses Attribution Of Income Where Spouse Had Been Under-Earning In The Years Leading Up To A Divorce
In Davae v. Davae, the husband was a licensed physician, board-certified in the field of diagnostic radiology. While practicing at a medical center, the husband started a teleradiology business. The husband left his hospital practice and started working at his...
First Circuit rules that class arbitration is not implicitly authorized in agreement
In American Institute for Foreign Study, Inc. v. Fernandez-Jimenez, the First Circuit recently affirmed a preliminary injunction enjoining class arbitration because, while the agreement required the parties to arbitrate their disputes, it did not authorize class...
New Child Support Guidelines Will Become Effective On October 4, 2021
In accordance with federal regulations (i.e., 45 CFR, § 302.56), the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Task Force has completed its quadrennial review of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (“Guidelines”). On August 2, 2021, the Trial Court released...
Changes to Come in Banking Regulation?
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order that could spell changes for banking regulation. The Executive Order’s stated purpose is to promote a “fair, open, and competitive marketplace” and the Order asserts that “in the financial-services sector,...
Use of Pre-Existing List of Numbers Does Not Qualify as Automatic Telephone Dialing System in Violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Relying on the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina has found that Bank of America, N.A.’s system used to place alleged debt collection calls does not qualify as...
When can a child’s name be changed?
In a recent decision by the Appeals Court of Massachusetts, Gomes v. Candido, the court clarified the standard that is used when two parents disagree about their child’s surname. In the trial court, the parents, who were unmarried but in a relationship when the twin...
Update: President Biden Signs Joint Congressional Resolution Striking Down “True Lender” Rule
In late 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued the “true lender” rule, which was immediately met with criticism. Shortly thereafter, several State Attorneys General, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, sued the OCC seeking to...
Food Fight: Ioan Micula, et. al. v. Romania
In Ioan Micula, et. al. v. Romania, Swedish food industry brothers Viorel and Ioan Micula asked the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to affirm a federal judge’s ruling ordering Romania to pay the remaining balance of $96 million on a $356...
Sign up to the Fitch briefs
Fitch Law Partners LLP reports news and insights on complex litigation topics. Clients, colleagues and friends may receive The Fitch Briefs by signing up here.