Judge Ricciuti, sitting in the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session, rejected a shareholder’s claim that she could shed herself of the fiduciary duty she owed to a close corporation by renouncing her shares in the...more
In Lubin & Meyer v. John J. Manning, Judge Salinger, sitting in the Business Litigation Session, ruled that Lubin & Meyer’s claims for breach of fiduciary duty against its former associate, John Manning, survived summary...more
The Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure recently voted unanimously to approve two proposed amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, “Testimony by Expert Witnesses.” Rule 702 governs the...more
In Kirk Ramey v. Trustees of Boston University, et al., Judge Krupp, sitting in the Business Litigation Session, ruled that Ramey, a former BU research scientist, was entitled to a trial on his claim that defendants, BU and...more
In Verveine Corp., et al., v. Strathmore Insurance Company, et al., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that claims for business losses made by three restaurants arising from COVID-19 dining restrictions were...more
Judge Krupp, sitting in the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session, granted Uber’s motion to compel documents containing the identities of drivers who shared information with the Attorney General about their work for Uber...more
Judge Salinger dismissed a real estate developer’s counterclaims against a project manager, ruling that the counterclaim allegations did not “plausibly suggest that [project manager] [wa]s liable for the contractor’s...more
Judge Ricciuti ruled that the plaintiff, whose educational-travel trip was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, stated a viable Chapter 93A claim that the contractual remedy provided by the tour operator improperly...more
In Bertolino v. Fracassa, Judge Salinger ruled that the advice-of-counsel defense did not insulate Frederick McDonald, a defendant in the case, from liability under the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act (MUSA), G.L. c....more
In January, the Social Law Library sponsored the Business Litigation Session 2021 Year in Review. The panel included Judge Kenneth Salinger, the BLS Administrative Justice, as well as Michael Tuteur and Andrew Yost, attorneys...more
2/15/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Bench Trial ,
Business Closures ,
Business Court Division ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Duty to Disclose ,
Employee Definition ,
Frustration of a Common Purpose ,
Jury Trial ,
Lyft ,
Public Schools ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Uber
Three new judges have joined the BLS rotation. Judge Peter Krupp replaced Judge Karen Green for the January-June rotation period of BLS1. In 2013, Governor Deval Patrick appointed Judge Krupp to the Superior Court. Before his...more
In Hershey v. Mount Vernon Partners, LLC, Judge Green faced dueling motions to dismiss in a dispute arising from the purchase of an “ultra-luxury” condominium in Beacon Hill. Judge Green granted Brett Hershey’s motion, in...more
In Brining v. Donovan, the latest blow to former MIT business professor, John J. Donovan, Judge Davis held that shareholders in Donovan’s failed internet start-up, SendItLater (SIL), could recover more than $700,000 in...more
In Crotty v. Continuum Energy Technologies, Judge Salinger granted Thomas Crotty’s special motion to dismiss counterclaims for tortious interference brought by Continuum Energy Technologies (CET) and John Preston under the...more
Emphasizing the concept of “notice pleading” under Mass. R. Civ. P. 8, Judge Salinger recently denied a gelatin factory’s motion to dismiss. In Baranofsky v. Rousselot Peabody, Inc., a proposed class of neighboring City of...more
In Flessas v. Rouisse, Judge Davis denied “dueling motions” seeking enforcement of the parties’ settlement agreement. The settlement agreement arose out of a dispute in which Costas Flessas alleged that he was fraudulently...more
In Steward Health Care System v. CHSPSC, Judge Sanders found that CHSPSC, an affiliate of Community Health Systems (CHS), is subject to personal jurisdiction in Massachusetts for claims made under transition-services...more
Massachusetts state and federal courts issued a number of important product liability decisions in 2019. The Product Liability practice group at Nutter recently reviewed these cases. Highlighted below are some of the key...more
2/3/2020
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Asbestos ,
Asbestos Litigation ,
Bodily Injury ,
Breach of Warranty ,
Causation ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Closing Arguments ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Damages ,
Diversity Jurisdiction ,
Failure To Warn ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Manufacturers ,
Mesothelioma ,
Mistrial ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Preemption ,
Public Health ,
Reversal ,
RICO ,
Statute of Repose ,
Summary Judgment ,
Supply Chain ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Tolling ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Warning Labels ,
Wrongful Death
A business plaintiff’s assertion of a Chapter 93A claim could boomerang where the plaintiff moves to dismiss a Chapter 93A counterclaim. That’s a key takeaway from Judge Kaplan’s decision in Microsemi Corp. v. Langlois....more
Judge Sanders issued an interesting summary-judgment decision in Bassett v. Triton Technologies. She teed up the issue this way...more
On March 16, 2018, in a matter of first impression in Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) joined a minority of states in recognizing a tort theory of “Innovator Liability” – namely, that brand-name drug...more
3/20/2018
/ Failure To Warn ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Innovator Liability ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Merck ,
Negligence ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Preemption ,
Remand