Massachusetts partition actions do not always end with the court-ordered sale of the real estate in question. After a property being partitioned is sold, the proceeds of the sale must be divided between the co-owners. The law presumes that the proceeds should be...
BG Group plc won a major victory at the U.S. Supreme Court last month when the Court upheld an arbitration award requiring Argentina to pay BG Group more than $185 million. The case is yet another example of the deference that arbitration awards receive in U.S....
The United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has held that government land recording offices cannot state a claim under the federal RICO statutes for loss of revenue due to fewer filing fee revenues or for allegedly inaccurate records. Welborn v. Bank of...
With unanimous approval, members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives recently advanced An Act relative to domestic violence, new legislation aimed at preventing domestic violence (the "Act"). Said to be driven by the high profile case of Jared Remy, who is...
The Massachusetts Appeals Court requires some pleadings to be filed electronically, rather than through hard copy. Although the Standing Order concerning electronic filings has been effective for nearly three years, it is still a confusing process that is ripe for...
Employers and employees everywhere should check their employee handbooks - if it has an arbitration provision, it is likely any disputes between the two will take place in arbitration rather than in court. In a recent decision, Daniels v. Raymours Furniture Company,...
On February 27, 2014, posted a blog article regarding the volatile market for Bitcoin and the rapid rise of the cryptocurrency over the past two-three years. Over the past month, there have been several important new developments. First,...
Earlier this month, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York spun a new twist in the long-standing legal battle over environmental contamination in the Lago Agrio region of Ecuador. In a 485-page ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that lawyers leading the...
Massachusetts partition law provides four methods for partitioning real estate: physical division, private sale, public auction, and "set-off" (a buy-out of the entire property by one or more co-owners). Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, as well as...
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has reaffirmed its prior holdings in Culhane v Aurora Loan Services of Nebraska, 708 F.3d 282 (1st Cir. 2013) and Woods v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 733 F.3d 349 (1st Cir. 2013) regarding Mortgage Electronic...
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