The United States Supreme Court recently held that federal courts are required to stay litigation following the grant of a motion to compel arbitration – courts do not have discretion to dismiss the case. In Smith et al. v. Spuzzirri et al, delivery drivers brought...
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What is the Valuation Date for a Divorce?
In Peacock v. Peacock (Memo and Order Rule 23.0 Decision April 29, 2024), the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the Probate and Family Court’s marital home date of valuation. In August 2019, the husband moved out of the marital home. In November 2019, the wife...
Supreme Court Holds That An Employee Challenging a Job Transfer Under Title VII Need Not Show Significant Harm
In Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, the United States Supreme Court held that an employee challenging a job transfer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must show that the transfer brought about “some harm” with respect to an identifiable term or...
Avoiding “Double Dipping” (and even “Triple Dipping”) in Divorce Cases
In Trethewey v. Trethewey, the Appeals Court vacated a Probate and Family Court judge’s double counting of an asset as both a divisible asset (and liability) of the marital estate and a stream of income. This decision provides guidance to both family law practitioners...
Amendments to UCC Permit Secured Financial Transactions with Digital Assets
In 2022, the American Law Institute and Uniform Law Commissions proposed amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”). These amendments included a new Article 12 and revisions to Article 9 to permit the use of digital assets in secure financial transactions. The...
Court Rejects AT&T’s Attempt to Bind Non-Signatory to Arbitration
A non-signatory may not avoid arbitration when they have knowingly exploited an agreement that contains an arbitration clause by knowingly accepting the benefits of such an agreement. This was AT&T Services Inc.’s (“AT&T”) principal argument in seeking a stay...
Appeals Court Poised to Decide Whether State Requirements for Enforceability of Employment Arbitration Clauses Are Pre-empted by FAA
The Massachusetts Appeals Court is faced with deciding whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) pre-empts state law requirements for waiver of employment discrimination claims. In Rosencranz v. iAnthus, an employee brought employment discrimination claims against his...
How are conservation restrictions enforced?
A conservation restriction is “a right, either in perpetuity or for a specified number of years…executed by or on behalf of the owner of land or in any order of taking, appropriate to retaining land or water areas predominantly in their natural, scenic or open...
United States District Court Holds Credit Bureaus Can Be Required to Provide Non-English Credit Reports
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey has held, in Consumer Data Industry Association v. Platkin, that states can require credit bureaus to provide credit reports in non-English languages without violating the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act,...
Federal Court Finds Corporation Is Alter Ego of National Government
In Amaplat Mauritius Ltd. v. Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, et al., the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (“District Court”) recently held that a mining company was the alter ego of the Zimbabwean government and, thus, the District...
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