Massachusetts is a non-judicial foreclosure state, meaning that a mortgagee is authorized to foreclose on a mortgaged property without obtaining prior court approval. The ability of a lender to exercise its "power of sale," that is without court approval, exists only...
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I Didn’t Quit – You Fired Me!
An employee who voluntarily quits their job is, in most circumstances, not entitled to collect unemployment benefits or sue their employer for wrongful termination. However, an employee who believes they were forced to quit their job because their working conditions...
Land Court or Superior Court? Choosing a venue for your property dispute.
Parties involved in a real estate dispute in Massachusetts are fortunate to have choices when it comes to the venue of the litigation. One of the most strategic decisions that a plaintiff or defendant can make is deciding where to litigate the case. When it comes to...
Computer-Based Phone System Does Not Violate TCPA Prohibitions on Use of Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has agreed with the Northern District of Illinois's reasoning in Arora v. Transworld Systems Inc., 2017 WL 3620742 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 23, 2017), and found that a loan servicer's use of a computer-based...
Beware the Convention on the International Sale of Goods
Would it surprise you to learn that when you see a clause in your international sales contract stating that Massachusetts (or any other State's) law applies, that it actually incorporates an international treaty that will likely supersede the Uniform Commercial Code...
Removal Cases Before Determining Custody Arrangements
Removal matters - where one parent seeks to move with a child or children either to another state or to a place within the Commonwealth that is far enough away to cause a significant impact on the parenting plan - are amongst the most fraught cases that attorneys and...
You May Not Have Until December 31, 2018 to Avoid Losing the Alimony Deduction
One of the new provisions of the new tax reform bill - background here - is that the long-standing tax deduction for alimony will no longer be available for separation agreements and divorces obtained after December 31, 2018. Specifically, the reform applies to "any...
District of Columbia Court of Appeals Upholds CFPB’s Single-Director Power Structure
Authorized by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "CFPB") is an agency of the United States government that regulates banks, credit unions, debt collectors, and many other sectors of the American...
Bitcoin: What’s its Worth in Court?
The price of Bitcoin has recently skyrocketed, rising from $1200 per Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2017 to $ 10,000 per Bitcoin in 2018. However, the law has not kept pace: critical questions remain regarding how Bitcoin should be valued. For example, if Bitcoin is...
Bitcoin: What’s its Worth in Court?
The price of Bitcoin has recently skyrocketed, rising from $1200 per Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2017 to $ 10,000 per Bitcoin in 2018. However, the law has not kept pace: critical questions remain regarding how Bitcoin should be valued. For example, if Bitcoin is...
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