In a recent 1:28 decision, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts considered a challenge to a judge's order that real estate acquired by the Husband prior to the marriage should remain with the Husband following the divorce. The Wife appealed a divorce judgment where the...
When foreign companies do business with Chinese companies, international arbitration can be a key tool for dispute resolution, as it avoids either having a foreign court judgment that is unenforceable in China or having to deal with Chinese courts and home-court...
The Massachusetts Homestead Act allows homeowners to shield up to $500,000 of equity in their principal place of residence from claims from unsecured creditors (i.e. credit card debt).Even in those circumstances where the property is held in a trust, the...
In Motsis v. Ming's Supermarket, Inc., (Mass. App. Ct. Nov. 5, 2019), the Appeals Court affirms a judgment awarding a commercial tenant both monetary relief and specific performance.Monetary damages and specific performance are two remedies that a party may pursue...
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued an important decision in Chamberlain v. Badaoui reversing a Superior Court judgment and holding that a condominium's master deed did not create an express easement granting to Plaintiffs' unit access through...
Recently in Costello v. Molari, Inc. (Memo and Order, November 20, 2019), the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted an employer summary judgment because the employee failed to show that the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") applied to...
A few short months ago, I wrote a blog post about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau surviving an attack on its constitutionality in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In that case, the plaintiff alleged that the CFPB's structure was...
In Massachusetts, the durational residency requirement for a plaintiff to file for divorce is one year G.L. c. 208, § 5 (meaning, one must be a Massachusetts resident for a year before Massachusetts has jurisdiction over their divorce), but until recently, appellate...
In civil litigation, which includes cases in the Probate and Family Courts, the American rule generally dictates that each party is responsible for its own attorney's fees and expenses. However, there are some exceptions to this, and in Massachusetts some...
One of the most contentious issues arising in divorce proceedings will often be the division of the parties' assets. In Massachusetts, the courts follow an equitable system of division, meaning they seek to divide property "fairly," not necessarily "equally." There...
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