Massachusetts

  • January 31, 2025

    Workers Score Class Cert. In Electric Parts Co. ESOP Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge has certified a group of employees in their class action against the owners of an electrical components company and managers of its employee stock ownership plan that claims they undervalued the plan's shares when the program was shut down.

  • January 31, 2025

    Del. Justices Uphold $33M-Plus Award In Software Co. Suit

    Delaware's Supreme Court shot down on Friday a higher education software company founder's appeal from a $33 million-and-growing Court of Chancery award favoring shareholders who claimed they were kept in the dark when millions in stock purchase warrants were allowed to expire without notice.

  • January 31, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Aerospace Co. Code Meets Fair Use Standard

    Aerospace contractor Astronics has convinced Ninth Circuit judges that the code used in its replacement parts is covered by the same fair use protections created by the U.S. Supreme Court's Google v. Oracle decision.

  • January 31, 2025

    Hub Hires: Jones Day, Mintz, Nutter, Holland & Knight

    The new year brought a wave of attorney hires in Massachusetts, including former state and federal government officials heading to private practice in Boston and a Clinton-era White House associate counsel joining a firm.

  • January 31, 2025

    Supreme Court Eyes Its 'Next Frontier' In FCC Delegation Case

    A case about broadband subsidies will give the U.S. Supreme Court the chance to revive a long-dormant separation of powers principle that attorneys say could upend regulations in numerous industries and trigger a power shift that would make last term's shake-up of federal agency authority pale in comparison. And a majority of the court already appears to support its resurrection.

  • January 31, 2025

    Dem AGs Say Trump's DEI Attacks Undercut Anti-Bias Efforts

    A dozen state attorneys general decried President Donald Trump's attempts to roll back diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs across the federal government, saying Friday his stance threatens decades of bipartisan work to combat discrimination and provide equal job opportunities.

  • January 31, 2025

    NJ, 15 Other States Urge 5th Circ. To Revive ATF Trigger Ban

    New Jersey led a coalition of 16 states urging the Fifth Circuit to reverse a Texas federal court decision blocking the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from classifying forced reset triggers as illegal machine guns, arguing, "FRTs are new, but the mechanical principles on which they operate are not."

  • February 14, 2025

    Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2025 editorial advisory boards.

  • January 31, 2025

    Trump Funding Freeze Blocked As Court Doubts Reversal

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from freezing spending on federal grant and aid programs, calling the move illegal and saying the issue was not mooted by a White House memo claiming the directive had been rescinded.

  • January 31, 2025

    Cannabis Test Lab Says Competitors Fudging Results

    A Massachusetts cannabis testing lab accused eight of its competitors of intentionally inflating results for potency and concealing findings of contamination in order to lure away customers, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.

  • January 31, 2025

    Mass. Justices Rule 'Unwarranted Privilege' Law Not Vague

    Massachusetts' top court ruled on Friday that a statute that bars public officials from misusing the benefits of their position for private gain is not unconstitutionally vague, rejecting a former police officer's bid to reverse his conviction for borrowing cash from his department's evidence room to pay his mortgage and other personal expenses.

  • January 31, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Cravath, Gibson Dunn, Milbank

    In this week's Taxation with Representation, Eversource Energy sells Aquarion Water Co., Diversified Energy Partners acquires oil and gas company Maverick, Lantheus Holdings buys Evergreen Theragnostics, and NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson becomes the majority owner in the Legacy Motor Club racing team.

  • January 30, 2025

    SEC's Trial Win In VistaPrint Insider Trading Case Stands

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday rejected a Lexington man's contention that his conviction for trading VistaPrint options off of nonpublic information resulted from an inconsistent jury verdict, but said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's request he pay $1.8 million in civil penalties for the insider trading was too much.

  • January 30, 2025

    Sheriffs Raise Concern About New FCC Prison Phone Caps

    A sheriffs' group brought concerns to the Federal Communications Commission about recently adopted caps on prison phone rates, saying the exclusion of certain cost categories would lead to less access to services for the incarcerated.

  • January 30, 2025

    1st Circ. Restores Endangered Whale's Cape Cod Protections

    The First Circuit on Thursday upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service's decision to seasonally ban some lobster and crab fishing equipment near Cape Cod in order to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.

  • January 30, 2025

    Former Pharma Exec Gets 2 Months For Insider Trading

    A former Ipsen Pharmaceuticals executive who pled guilty to insider trading last fall was sentenced to two months in prison Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston has announced.

  • January 30, 2025

    Mass. Law Firm Settles Data Breach Suit For $150K

    A small Massachusetts law firm will pay $150,000 to settle a data breach class action in Massachusetts federal court seeking to hold it liable for a 2022 cyberattack on its computer systems, the class representative told the court Thursday.

  • January 30, 2025

    1st Circ. Backs Hospital's Win In Fired Nurse's Vax Bias Suit

    The First Circuit backed a Boston hospital's defeat of a Christian nurse's lawsuit claiming she was fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, finding she couldn't overcome the medical center's argument that letting her skip the jab would have been too risky.

  • January 30, 2025

    Storage Co. Says Rothman Gordon Left Behind Files, Big Bills

    The defunct Pittsburgh law firm Rothman Gordon PC has left thousands of file boxes in storage at a contractor's warehouse without paying, and is insisting that the contractor go through the stored records to return files to former clients, according to a lawsuit the storage company filed in Pennsylvania state court.

  • January 30, 2025

    Mass. High Court Backs Insurers' Lost Resale Value Exclusion

    Language in Massachusetts auto insurance policies limiting coverage to "tangible losses" lets MAPFRE Insurance subsidiary Commerce and other companies off the hook for claims based on lost resale value after an accident, the state's highest court said on Thursday.

  • January 29, 2025

    Roomba Maker Escapes Suit Over Scuttled Amazon Merger

    A Massachusetts federal judge has permanently thrown out a shareholder class action accusing iRobot Corp. of misleading investors about expected regulatory opposition that ultimately led to the abandonment of a proposed $1.7 billion merger with Amazon, saying "the pleading process ought not be used as a trial balloon, with repeated bites at the apple."

  • January 29, 2025

    German National Again Ordered To Pay $4.6M In Fraud

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday ordered a German national to hand over $4.6 million in profits and interest from a multinational pump-and-dump scheme, money that the government says was parked overseas by his son.

  • January 29, 2025

    Cities Urge Judges To Halt Trump Birthright Citizenship Order

    Local governments and officials representing more than 70 jurisdictions spanning 24 states expressed support on Wednesday for a nationwide pause on President Donald Trump's order restricting birthright citizenship, warning federal judges the mandate will otherwise fuel administrative dysfunction and detract from publicly funded programs.  

  • January 29, 2025

    Mass. Judge Sends Stellantis' UAW Strike Suit To Calif.

    A Massachusetts federal judge has sent a Stellantis lawsuit accusing the UAW of violating a collective bargaining agreement by threatening mid-contract strikes to a California federal court where the automaker is pursuing identical claims over the union's tactics.

  • January 29, 2025

    Jenzabar Tells Del. Justices Investor Delay Sinks $26M Award

    An attorney for the founder of a higher education software company told Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday that shareholders moved too late to recover on claims they were kept in the dark when millions in stock purchase warrants were allowed to expire without notice that they could invest in a follow-on opportunity.

Expert Analysis

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

    Author Photo

    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

    Author Photo

    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

    Author Photo

    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling

    Author Photo

    Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable

    Author Photo

    A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Questions Remain After Mass. Adverse Possession Case

    Author Photo

    A recent Massachusetts Land Court decision, concerning an adverse possession claim on a family company-owned property, leaves open questions about potential applicability to closely held corporations and other ownership types going forward, says Brad Hickey at DarrowEverett.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

    Author Photo

    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Cell Therapy Cos. Must Beware Limits Of Patent Safe Harbors

    Author Photo

    Though developers of gene and cell therapy products commonly assume that a legal safe harbor protects them from patent infringement suits, recent case law shows that not all preapproval uses of patented technology are necessarily protected, say Natasha Daughtrey and Joshua Weinger at Goodwin.

  • Why Employers Shouldn't Overreact To Protest Activities

    Author Photo

    Recent decisions from the First Circuit in Kinzer v. Whole Foods and the National Labor Relations Board in Home Depot hold eye-opening takeaways about which employee conduct is protected as "protest activity" and make a case for fighting knee-jerk reactions that could result in costly legal proceedings, says Frank Shuster at Constangy.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

    Author Photo

    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Massachusetts archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!