In the recent decision Crocker v. Townsend Oil Company, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a general release that intends to release claims under the Massachusetts Wage Act, M.G. L. c. 149, §148 ("Wage Act") will be enforceable as to those claims...
Mandatory arbitration clauses present in contracts are binding on assignees of those contracts, even where the transfer agreements assigning those contracts do not themselves contain arbitration clauses, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has...
Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the "SJC") held that a plaintiff who is not a present mortgagee (or the mortgagee's agent) has no standing to bring an action under the Massachusetts Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act for a...
Studies indicate that parents who make disparaging comments about each other, engage in verbal altercations in the presence of their children, place the children in the middle of parental disputes, encourage protective behavior by the children in favor of one parent...
A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard oral argument in the matter of Oratai Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services of Nebraska earlier this week. The panel was comprised of Chief Judge Hon. Sandra L. Lynch, Senior Circuit Judge Hon. Bruce...
Banks and other financial institutions that maintain ATMs got good news from Congress to close out the year. On December 11, 2012, the Senate passed H.R. 4367 by unanimous consent, following passage by the House of Representatives in July. The bill now moves to the...
All clients involved in litigation need money to pay their counsel's legal bills, which include the initial retainer fee, fees incurred during the pendency of the litigation, and often replenishing the retainer fee. A client obtaining a divorce, however, has a unique...
Aside from the flexibility to tailor the process to the particular needs of the case, arbitration also enjoys another major advantage over litigation: The ability to keep the proceedings confidential. Although a party involved in litigation can move to seal the court...
In a decision handed down just last week, the Appeals Court ruled that a large project permitting appeal filed in the Land Court's six-year-old permit session cannot be removed to the Housing Court, since the Housing Court lacks jurisdiction over such matters. In...
Aside from the flexibility to tailor the process to the particular needs of the case, arbitration also enjoys another major advantage over litigation: the ability to keep the proceedings confidential. Although a party involved in litigation can move to seal the court...
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