FEATURED ARTICLE -
Efforts clauses are common in commercial agreements, including those involving real estate. Where one or both parties cannot guarantee a particular outcome, efforts clauses attempt to qualify obligations....more
4/14/2023
/ Best Efforts Clauses ,
Bylaws ,
Commercial Real Estate Contracts ,
Commercially Reasonable Efforts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Terms ,
Demolition ,
Real Estate Development ,
Reasonable Efforts Clauses ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Board of Appeals
CASES OF NOTE -
CHANGING LANDSCAPE FOR ACCELERATED RENT CLAUSES IN COMMERCIAL LEASES
Cummings Properties, LLC v. Hines, 21-P-1153 (Mass. App. Ct. Sept. 9, 2022)
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently considered...more
CASES OF NOTE -
LANDLORD UNABLE TO EVICT DESPITE TENANT DEFAULTS -
Varano v. PDJM Land Trust LLC, et al. No. 1884CV02662, (Mass. Super. Ct. June 16, 2022) The Massachusetts Superior Court held that a commercial landlord...more
11/16/2022
/ Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Leases ,
Conservation ,
Eviction ,
Landlords ,
Lease Termination ,
Lis Pendens ,
Preemption ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Rental Property ,
Statute of Frauds ,
Tenants
CASES OF NOTE -
GRAVE MATTERS: THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTIES CONTAINING BURIAL SITES -
Church of the Holy Spirit of Wayland v. Heinrich, 2022 WL 1419702, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 32 (2022)....more
8/8/2022
/ Building Permits ,
Bylaws ,
Churches ,
Contract Terms ,
Cremation ,
Decedent Protection ,
Energy Projects ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Sales Contracts ,
Religious Institutions ,
Site Plans ,
Solar Energy ,
Zoning Board of Appeals
CASES OF NOTE -
FINALIZE BUILDING PLANS EARLY ON TO AVOID DELAYS -
St. Paul's Foundation v. Ives, 29F.4th 32, 33 (1st Cir. 2022) -
A recent decision out of the First Circuit Court of Appeals emphasizes the...more
CASES OF NOTE -
SIMILAR PROJECTS, DIFFERENT DECISIONS -
Brossi, et al. v. Town of Grafton Planning Board, et al., No. 19 MISC 000551 (MDV), 2021 WL 5833935 (Mass. Land Ct. Dec. 9, 2021) -
The Massachusetts Land...more
3/3/2022
/ Article III ,
Building Permits ,
City Planning Departments ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Just Compensation ,
Land Courts ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulatory Takings ,
Rent ,
Security Deposits ,
Site Plans ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Subdivision ,
Unconstitutional Condition
CASES OF NOTE -
LIMITATIONS FACING PLAINTIFFS UNDER CHAPTER 40A -
Doyle v. Zoning Board of Appeals of City of Attleboro, No. 20 MISC 000386 (DRR), 2021 WL 5037871 (Mass. Land Ct. Oct. 29, 2021)...more
12/15/2021
/ Building Permits ,
Construction Project ,
Estoppel ,
Eviction ,
Leases ,
Moratorium ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
Rental Property ,
Variances ,
Zoning Board of Appeals ,
Zoning Maps
CASES OF NOTE -
CONVEYANCE OF PROPERTY RESULT OF MUTUAL MISTAKE -
Thomas v. Medeiros, 100 Mass. App. Ct. 1106 (2021) -
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently affirmed a determination by the Land Court that a...more
11/2/2021
/ Adverse Possession ,
Anti-SLAPP ,
Bylaws ,
Deeds ,
Defamation ,
Dispensaries ,
Extortion ,
Land Courts ,
Litigation Privilege ,
Local Ordinance ,
Marijuana ,
Mutual Mistake ,
Property Ownership ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transfers ,
Retail Market ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Maps
CASES OF NOTE -
UPHILL BATTLE FOR RETAIL CANNABIS APPLICANTS -
Mederi, Inc. v. City of Salem, 488 Mass. 60 (2021) Summary: In Mederi, Inc. v. City of Salem, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court grappled with...more
9/22/2021
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Breach of Contract ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Commercial Leases ,
Condominiums ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dispensaries ,
Easements ,
Impossibility ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Mandamus Petitions ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Property Improvements ,
Purchase and Sale Agreements ,
Real Estate Market ,
Retailers
CASES OF NOTE -
WHEN IT COMES TO SHORT-TERM RENTALS, PROPERTY OWNERS BEWARE -
Styller v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Lynnfield, 487 Mass. 588 (2021) In Styller v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Lynnfield, the...more
CASE HIGHLIGHT -
PLAINTIFFS MAKE WAVES FOR HARBOR PLAN -
Foundation, et al. v. Theoharides, et al., 1884 CV02144-BLS1 (April 1, 2021) -
In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Superior Court granted partial summary...more
6/8/2021
/ Commercial Leases ,
Easements ,
Educational Institutions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Holdover Provisions ,
Land Developers ,
Navigable Waters ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Ultra Vires ,
Urban Planning & Development
CASES OF NOTE THE SECRET'S OUT Victoria’s Secret Stores, LLC v. Herald Store Owner LLC, 70 Misc. 3d 1206(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jan. 7, 2021) A New York court recently held that a retailer’s closure due to a state law imposed...more
2/5/2021
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Interruption ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Common Law Claims ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
Failure To Pay ,
Frustration of a Common Purpose ,
Government Lockdown ,
Impossibility ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Rent ,
Rental Property ,
Retailers ,
Victoria Secret
Trending Now -
On October 17, 2020, the Baker Administration’s moratorium on certain residential and small business eviction and foreclosures expired. However, also on October 17, Massachusetts adopted a new moratorium,...more
Cases of Note -
Marie Baptiste et al v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, et al.
In July, two residential landlords, Marie Baptiste and Mitchell Matorin (“Plaintiffs”), filed suit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,...more
Trending Now:
Massachusetts SJC Ruling: Good News for Owners and Developers -
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued a written decision in Murchison v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Sherborn, et al. (SJC-12867) on...more
Trends in Real Estate Litigation -
Commercial Landlords and Tenants Take Their COVID-Related Lease Disputes to Court -
The slow-burning standoffs between commercial landlords and tenants in the COVID-19 pandemic are...more
7/13/2020
/ Commercial Leases ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
Landlords ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Rent ,
Rental Property ,
Tenants
It is always the case that lawyers and law firms must stay attuned to the possibility of prior work conflicts: conflicts of interest that arise when a firm’s interest in protecting its own prior work, or protecting the firm...more
Many of us who defend law firms or serve in a firm’s General Counsel office know well the rule that, in order to prevail at trial, the plaintiff in a legal malpractice case usually must offer testimony from a competent expert...more