Massachusetts

Catholic prep school broke state law by rescinding job offer to man in same-sex marriage, judge says

A Catholic prep school in Massachusetts violated the state’s anti-discrimination law when it rescinded a job offer to a man in a same-sex marriage, a judge has held. Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins granted summary judgment to the plaintiff on Dec. 16. Wilkins found that the religious exemption to the…

Dec 22, 2015 3:40 PM CST

Bill Cosby files defamation countersuit against seven women who accused him of defamation

Seven women who accused Bill Cosby of defamation for denying sexual assault allegations are facing a counterclaim by the comedian claiming it is they who are defaming him. Cosby filed the counterclaim (PDF) in Massachusetts federal court Monday, the New York Times, the New York Daily News and USA Today…

Dec 15, 2015 11:03 AM CST

Guitarist for rock band Boston lacked basis for defamation suits, top state court says

After years of litigation, a top state court has definitively ended consolidated defamation cases by Boston guitarist Tom Scholz against the Boston Herald and the ex-wife of the rock band’s late frontman, Brad Delp. Scholz said news coverage in the Herald implied that he was to blame for Delp’s 2007…

Dec 1, 2015 12:35 PM CST

Claimed ‘Harvard-educated attorney’ is neither a grad nor a lawyer, authorities say

A law firm website for David Corazza describes impressive accomplishments by the “Harvard-educated attorney” and lists offices in Boston, New York and London. Photos show him in a pinstriped business suit, on the steps of an apparent courthouse and seemingly at the window of a highrise office building. But the…

Nov 24, 2015 3:30 PM CST

Ex-client guilty of threat to kill lawyer; another man fights case over lawyer face-slap

After less than an hour of deliberation, a federal jury in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday convicted Leon Houston of threatening to kill his former attorney, James Logan, during a jailhouse conversation with his girlfriend. Houston, who will be sentenced at a later date, had argued that what he said wasn’t…

Nov 19, 2015 4:30 PM CST

‘Pastafarian’ wears colander for driver’s license photo after state OKs exception to headgear rule

When Lindsay Miller initially tried to get her driver’s license photo taken with a pasta strainer on her head, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles balked. But, following an administrative appeal with the help of civil rights groups, the agency on Thursday permitted the self-proclaimed “Pastafarian” to don the metal…

Nov 16, 2015 1:00 PM CST

Massachusetts lawyer is arrested in slaying of man who claimed to be a diamond runner

A lawyer in Quincy, Massachusetts, has been charged with murder in the September slaying of a man who told neighbors he was a diamond and gold runner. Lawyer Michael Moscaritolo, 32, was arrested on Friday in the slaying of Robert McKenna of Marshfield, the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and…

Oct 13, 2015 7:23 AM CDT

Bar applicant’s litigation conduct, ‘personal attacks and invective’ are cited in law license denial

A law grad who passed the Massachusetts bar exam in 2008 was initially deemed qualified for a law license, until three lawyers contacted the Board of Bar Examiners to report their concerns about his conduct in divorce litigation. The lawyers represented the wife of the bar applicant, Chandrakant Shridhar Pansé.…

Oct 8, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Locke Lord chair is ‘bullish on Boston’ despite lawyer losses

Locke Lord’s Boston office has lost dozens of lawyers acquired as a result of a January merger with Edwards Wildman Palmer, according to a published report. Thirty-one lawyers have left the former Edwards Wildman office in Boston, including 10 partners, since the end of April, the Boston Business Journal reports.…

Sep 25, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Manslaughter case against texting teen in boyfriend’s suicide will proceed, judge says

The involuntary manslaughter case against a Massachusetts teenager accused of encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide will proceed, a judge has ruled. Juvenile Court Judge Bettina Borders, in an order Tuesday, said there is sufficient evidence for a grand jury to indict Michelle Carter, 18, in the death of her…

Sep 23, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

New Yorker profiles ‘St. Judy,’ revered defense lawyer who, for first time, had a client get death

Judy Clarke helped keep high-profile murderers including child-killer Susan Smith, Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Jared Loughner, who killed a federal judge in an Arizona shooting spree, off death row. But despite her best efforts, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whose conviction was generally viewed as almost inevitable, was sentenced to…

Sep 18, 2015 2:30 PM CDT

Gay lawyer denied coverage because he takes HIV-blocking drug files bias complaint against insurer

A gay Boston lawyer is planning to sue his insurer for allegedly denying him long-term care coverage because he takes the HIV-blocking drug Truvada. The 61-year-old lawyer, who filed a complaint Wednesday with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination—a precursor to filing a lawsuit—claims that Mutual of Omaha discriminated against him…

Sep 16, 2015 2:40 PM CDT

Teen faces manslaughter charges in boyfriend’s suicide over texts she sent him

There’s no law in Massachusetts against assisting someone else in committing suicide. But prosecutors found another way to attempt to hold Michelle Carter accountable for allegedly encouraging another Massachusetts teenager to take his own life last year—they charged her with involuntary manslaughter. Attorney Joseph Cataldo represents the now 18-year-old and…

Sep 9, 2015 3:25 PM CDT

Lawyer gets home confinement for insider trading based on golfer’s tips

A federal judge in Boston has sentenced a Massachusetts lawyer to eight months of home confinement for trading on insider information gleaned form a golfing buddy. Lawyer Douglas Parigian, 56, was sentenced on Monday, Reuters reports. He pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy and securities fraud. His guilty plea had…

Aug 18, 2015 9:29 AM CDT

Top Massachusetts court upholds sex-trafficking law

The highest court in Massachusetts has upheld the state’s sex-trafficking law in an appeal that claimed the defendants were assisting consenting adult prostitutes rather than trafficking. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled (PDF) on Thursday in its first case considering the 2011 law, finding it to be “sufficiently clear and…

Aug 14, 2015 8:13 AM CDT