In McLaughlin v. Lenovo Global Technology Inc., plaintiff Daniel McLaughlin sued his former employer, defendant Lenovo Global Technology Inc., alleging Lenovo failed to pay him unpaid commissions and reimburse him for certain business expenses that totaled over...
The Fitch Briefs
U.S. Supreme Court Mandates that Federal District Courts Must Stay All Proceedings While an Interlocutory Appeal on Arbitrability is Pending
Coinbase, Inc. operates an online cryptocurrency exchange platform. To gain access to Coinbase’s platform, individuals must create a Coinbase account, which requires them to sign Coinbase’s user agreement. This agreement contains an arbitration clause that requires...
LLCs and Other Unincorporated Associations Present Challenges for Federal Diversity Jurisdiction
Unincorporated associations, such as LLCs, present particular challenges for establishing federal diversity jurisdiction. In BRT Management LLC v. Malden Storage LLC, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently reversed a District Court judgment...
In Huang v. Ma, the Supreme Judicial Court Holds that an Oral Real Estate Exclusive Brokerage Contract is Enforceable
Last year, we blogged about a case in which a real estate broker alleged she had a verbal exclusive buyer’s broker contract with clients to represent them in connection with the purchase of a new home. The broker filed suit against the clients after they bought a home...
Non-Competition Agreement’s Geographic Scope Limited by Court
In a recent decision, Genzyme Corp. v. James C. Melvin, the Suffolk Superior Court (J. Salinger) significantly narrowed the geographic scope of a non-competition agreement from the entire United States to the Metro Atlantic Region in response to a motion by Genzyme...
Adopting a permissive view of the long-arm statute, SJC holds Massachusetts has jurisdiction over Michigan car manufacturer
On June 8, Massachusetts’ highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, held that a Massachusetts court had the authority (jurisdiction) to consider a case involving an out-of-state car manufacturer who sold cars in the Commonwealth. The case, Doucet v. FCA US LLC,...
Absent Formal Modification, Court Orders Should Be Followed
In Rungta v. Dhanda, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed multiple contempt judgments against father that were issued by the Probate and Family Court. Pursuant to the parties’ divorce judgment from 2013, mother could “claim the child for [F]ederal and [S]tate...
A Divorced Party Can Pursue A Petition for Partition Despite Signing a Separation Agreement Prohibiting Him From Selling The House Without His Ex-Wife’s Consent
Although any co-owner has the right to partition a property (meaning selling a property through a legal proceeding called a partition action), irrespective of the consent of the other co-owners, there is an exception: a partition action is not available to tenants by...
Nonsignatories May Nevertheless Be Bound By Arbitration Clause, First Circuit Warns
A dispute between New Balance and its Peruvian distributor recently gave the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reason to consider whether Massachusetts law would compel nonsignatories to comply with the arbitration clauses of other entities. In the case...
Student Loans and Bankruptcy
For individuals seeking to discharge debt through bankruptcy, student loans are unique in that they require a bankruptcy court’s determination that payment of said loans would impose an undue hardship on the debtor and the debtor’s dependents. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8)....
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