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Massachusetts
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May 09, 2024
Plumbing Co. Owner Cops To Tax Scheme Tied To Gold Bars
The co-owner of a Boston plumbing supply company pled guilty Thursday to underreporting his business and personal income, after prosecutors said he plowed some of the unreported receipts into $10 million worth of gold and silver bars.
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May 09, 2024
Plumbing Co. Ignoring OT Precedent, 1st Circ. Judge Chides
A First Circuit judge said Thursday that a plumbing supply distributor arguing that its inside sales representatives don't qualify for overtime pay appears to be "running as fast as you can to get away" from a key recent precedent.
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May 09, 2024
Body-Sculpting Device Supplier Hit With Fraud Claims
A Massachusetts company that sells body-sculpting equipment tricks buyers into believing their operations will be unrealistically lucrative, and harms them with restraints on pricing and coercion against transferring their devices, according to a lawsuit in Connecticut state court.
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May 09, 2024
Mobile Carriers Pay $10M To End 50 AGs' Deceptive Ad Claims
A coalition of nearly all the country's state attorneys general on Thursday announced $10.25 million in settlements that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have agreed to pay to end a multistate probe into the wireless carriers' allegedly misleading advertising practices.
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May 09, 2024
6th Circ. Nominee Sparks Debate Over Blue Slips
Four judicial nominees were approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, including a Sixth Circuit nominee who has come under fire from Republicans for ethics accusations and whose nomination sparked a larger debate about the lack of blue slips for appellate nominees.
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May 09, 2024
Ex-Celtic 'Big Baby' Gets 40 Mos. In Health Fraud Case
Former Boston Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis was sentenced to 40 months in prison Thursday after being convicted for his role in a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices to an NBA healthcare plan.
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May 09, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Asks 1st Circ. To DQ Judge In Contempt Case
U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf cannot be impartial and must be disqualified from presiding over a criminal contempt trial against a former pharmaceutical executive accused of using an alias to flout a civil judgment, the defendant told the First Circuit in a Wednesday filing.
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May 08, 2024
AGs Blast Federal Data Privacy Law's Proposed State Override
California joined attorneys general from more than a dozen other states and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to urge Congress to ensure that proposed federal data privacy legislation sets a "floor, not a ceiling" that would preserve more stringent protections states have enacted and allow them to add new laws to address rapid technological developments.
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May 08, 2024
Teva Must Face Bulk Of Asthma Inhaler Antitrust Suit
A Massachusetts federal judge largely refused Tuesday to toss antitrust claims accusing Teva of a decadelong anticompetitive scheme to delay generic competition for its blockbuster QVAR asthma inhalers, finding it plausible that Teva paid off a would-be rival and forcibly switched doctors and patients to a new product.
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May 08, 2024
Labaton, Boston Pension Win Bid to Lead NYCB Investor Suit
A New York magistrate judge appointed Boston's municipal pension plan and its attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP to lead a proposed securities class action against New York Community Bancorp Inc. after the pension plan successfully showed that the plaintiff with the greatest losses bought their shares too late.
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May 08, 2024
Prison Officer Gets 2 Years For Bribes Linked To Rajaratnam
A former federal corrections officer in Massachusetts who accepted bribes and a loan from a billionaire inmate, reportedly the convicted insider trader Raj Rajaratnam, was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for engaging in what a Boston federal judge called "corruption of the most dangerous sort."
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May 08, 2024
Cannabis Law Firm Accused Of $5M Error In Pot Shop Deal
A cannabis retailer has sued Vicente LLP in Massachusetts state court, alleging the law firm negligently drafted an amendment to a purchase agreement that prevented the company from recovering nearly $5 million in damages when the deal fell through.
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May 08, 2024
Dems Propose Scrapping Title VII Damages Caps
House and Senate Democrats unveiled legislation Wednesday that would eliminate ceilings on the amount of damages workers can receive under federal civil rights law if a jury finds they've been discriminated against, a proposal the lawmakers say would correct outdated limits.
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May 08, 2024
Mass. Justices May Give Green Light To Tip Ballot Measure
Massachusetts' high court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday of arguments by a group of restaurant owners seeking to kill a ballot question that, if approved, would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to the state's $15-per-hour standard.
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May 08, 2024
Boston Man Says He Was Chinese Activist, Not Gov't Spy
A Massachusetts resident denied charges of acting as a Chinese government agent by allegedly reporting pro-democracy activity in the Boston area, arguing that he is merely a local community activist whose political beliefs happen to align with those of the People's Republic of China.
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May 08, 2024
Lighting Co. Reaches Deal To End Parental Leave Suit
A lighting company struck a deal with a former project manager who accused the company of firing him because he asked to take parental leave after his child was born and he was then stuck in Egypt at the outset of the pandemic, a Massachusetts federal court filing said.
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May 08, 2024
Mintz Lands Manatt's Boston Office Founder, 2 Other Attys
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC announced Wednesday that it has added two new members to its Boston office for its data and privacy litigation and investigations practice.
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May 07, 2024
85 Lawmakers Join Chorus Opposing Space Force Transfers
A bipartisan group of 85 federal lawmakers on Tuesday joined all 50 state governors in opposing a proposal to allow Air National Guard units to be transferred to the U.S. Space Force without gubernatorial approval, arguing the measure would undermine "the integrity and longstanding mission of the National Guard."
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May 07, 2024
Fed. Circ. Seems Wary Of Broad's CRISPR Inventorship Win
Federal Circuit Judge Todd Hughes on Tuesday suggested that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board cited the correct standard when reviewing who first invented a particular use of the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9, but then applied an improper standard when ruling in favor of a Massachusetts research team.
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May 07, 2024
Feds Say Student Recruiter Charged UK Schools Illicit Fees
A Massachusetts company that recruits American students to attend British universities unlawfully demanded that foreign schools participating in U.S. student aid programs pay it an incentive fee and then hide the payments from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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May 07, 2024
Steward Health Gets Ch. 11 Loan, Says It Plans Hospital Sales
A Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday allowed Steward Health Care to take out $75 million in Chapter 11 financing to meet its next-day payroll after being told the hospital chain plans to sell facilities to pay down its $9 billion in debt.
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May 07, 2024
Employment Agency Owner Admits Hiding $10M In Income
The owner of a temporary employment agency pled guilty to filing false federal business tax returns to conceal more than $10 million in corporate income, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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May 07, 2024
1st Circ. Questions SEC Walk-Back In Conn. Atty's Fraud Case
A First Circuit panel indicated Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to have it both ways by avoiding a retrial of a fraud case against a Connecticut attorney while keeping in place an earlier win.
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May 07, 2024
1st Circ. Critical Of Boston's Choice To Ice Out Satanists
A First Circuit panel on Tuesday said Boston's process of selecting faith and community leaders to offer an opening prayer at city council meetings raises constitutional concerns, suggesting it could revive a suit over the exclusion of satanists.
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May 07, 2024
WilmerHale Guides Akamai's $450M Buy Of Noname Security
Cloud company Akamai Technologies Inc., advised by WilmerHale, on Tuesday announced plans to buy Noname Security, an application programming interface security company, for $450 million.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements
As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.
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Steps To Success For Senior Associates
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities
At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.
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What Affirmative Action Ruling Means For Higher Ed And Cos.
The U.S. Supreme Court's holding that race-conscious admissions programs at two educational institutions violate the Constitution's equal protection clause applied the "strict scrutiny" standard that governs race-conscious programs in a way that will be very difficult for educational institutions and other entities to satisfy, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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DC Circ.'s Perchlorate Ruling Means Regulatory Restart
The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling in National Resources Defense Council v. Regan, requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate perchlorate under the Safe Drinking Water Act, reopens a decadeslong regulatory debate and creates renewed uncertainty for companies, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Opinion
Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice
The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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NBA Players Must Avoid Legal Fouls In CBD Deals
The NBA’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to promote CBD brands and products, but athletes and the companies they promote must be cautious of a complex patchwork of applicable state laws and federal regulators’ approach to advertising claims, says Airina Rodrigues at Brownstein Hyatt.
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How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks
Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.
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Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip
After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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'Varsity Blues' Reversal May Inform Conspiracy Defenses
The First Circuit’s recent decision vacating the convictions of two “Varsity Blues” defendants provides potential support for creative arguments against conspiracy charges, particularly where defense counsel can show competition or indifference among alleged co-conspirators, say Cormac Connor and Emily Mikes at Husch Blackwell.
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5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving
Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.
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3 Abortion Enforcement Takeaways 1 Year After Dobbs
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, confusion continues to abound amid the quagmire of state-level enforcement risks, federal efforts to protect reproductive health care, and fights over geolocation data, say Elena Quattrone and Sarah Hall at Epstein Becker.
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Rethinking In-Office Attendance For Associate Retention
The hybrid office attendance model doesn't work for all employees, but it does for many — and balancing these two groups is important for associate retention and maintaining a BigLaw firm culture that supports all attorneys, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.
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What Innovators Can Expect In The Patent World After Amgen
After the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Amgen v. Sanofi decision, which invalidated Amgen's patents because the specifications failed to enable the full scope of the invention, innovators should expect more enablement rejections and invalidity challenges, and higher standards overall for obtaining broad genus claims, says Kisuk Lee from Harness IP.