Massachusetts

Lack of Ellipses Leads to Public Reprimand for Massachusetts Lawyer

A Massachusetts lawyer has been publicly reprimanded for failing to include ellipses when he omitted some words from a trial judge’s statement of facts in his first-ever appeal. Lawyer Vincent Cragin had presented the statement of facts in single-spaced, indented format, implying it was a full copy of the factual…

Mar 9, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Major Regional Firms Expand in Calif., NYC; BigLaw Firm Reportedly to Plant Flag in Boston

As the economy reportedly picks up, a number of law firms are experiencing a spring growth spurt. Two regional powerhouses are expanding in new territory far from their longtime headquarters offices. And a BigLaw firm report with multiple offices in the United States and abroad has found another American city…

Mar 9, 2011 1:18 AM CST

Citing 4-Year Vacancy, Chief Federal Judge in RI Sends Cases to Other States, Upsetting Some Parties

In a highly unusual move, the chief federal district judge in Rhode Island has sent some two dozen cases to colleagues in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She and another judge have struggled for four years to keep up with the load as a third seat on the bench sat vacant…

Mar 7, 2011 6:40 PM CST

1L at U Mass Dartmouth Reportedly Was a Fugitive, Has Been Charged with Having AK-47 in His Home

A first-year law student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth is a fugitive wanted in Texas and has been arrested on illegal firearms possession charges, Dartmouth police say. John Cassidy, 26, was arrested this week in the law school parking lot minutes after he left class. Meanwhile, searching his…

Mar 4, 2011 7:07 PM CST

New UMass Law School Is Unexpected Cash Cow; Extra Enrollment Helps Raise Nearly $1M

When the University of Massachusetts was considering whether to accept the offered donation of Southern New England School of Law’s assets, some objected that the state’s acquisition of the private institution could prove costly. So far, however, the opposite has been true: The UMass School of Law at Dartmouth not…

Feb 28, 2011 8:10 PM CST

Sal the Cat’s Jury Duty Was Yesteryear’s News

Corrected: The story was bound to generate a lot of buzz: Boston’s jury commissioner had refused to release Sal the cat from jury duty after his owners sought to disqualify him on the ground he cannot speak English. According to reports by 7NewsWHDH.com and MyFoxBoston.com, Sal’s owners, Guy and Anna…

Jan 21, 2011 9:20 PM CST

Lawyer Gets 12 Years in $10.6M Mortgage Fraud; Another Attorney Awaits Sentencing

A Massachusetts lawyer who was earlier suspended from practice has been sentenced to a 12-year federal prison term for his role in a $10.6 million mortgage fraud. Eric Levine could have gotten as much as 20 years after being convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering last year, according…

Jan 21, 2011 2:29 AM CST

Family of Teen Stowaway Who Allegedly Fell From Plane Wheel Well Blames Lax Security, Plans to Sue

While Delvonte Tisdale didn’t make a good decision when he reportedly stowed away in the wheel well of a USAirways plane at the Charlotte, N.C., airport, the 16-year-old high school student wouldn’t be dead but for the lax security that allowed him access to the flight last year, his family…

Jan 19, 2011 5:23 PM CST

Was 3L’s Plea Heard By BC Law Grad? School Gets $3M for Student Loan Forgiveness Program

A jobless third-year student at Boston College Law School isn’t getting quite the relief that he sought. But a $3 million gift raised with the help of a 1952 alumnus and former state attorney general will provide help with student loan payments to those who graduated within the past five…

Jan 18, 2011 10:14 PM CST

Ex-Police Chief Who Organized Gun Show Acquitted in Uzi Death of Boy, 8

A former police chief was acquitted today by a Springfield, Mass., jury in a high-profile criminal case brought over the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally killed himself in 2008 when he was allowed to fire an Uzi by himself at a machine gun expo. Onetime Pelham Police Chief…

Jan 14, 2011 9:59 PM CST

After Much-Awaited Mass. Foreclosure Ruling, Banks and Borrowers Continue with Existing Cases

In the aftermath of a much-awaited Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling Friday rejecting a “foreclose first, assign later” policy approved by a real estate bar group, both banks and homeowners say they are ready to move forward. The state’s top court didn’t put a permanent stop to foreclosures but simply…

Jan 10, 2011 9:14 PM CST

Ex-Clerk Gets 2 Years for Coerced Court Sex; Ex-Guard Gets 30 Years for Cuffed Inmate Rape

A former court clerk magistrate in Massachusetts was sentenced yesterday to two years in federal prison for coercing two women facing prostitution charges into courthouse sex. James Burke, 43, also lost his $84,000-a-year job at Chelsea District Court after his arrest last year, the Boston Globe reported. One of the…

Dec 17, 2010 8:34 PM CST

Suit by Fired Associate Claims Dechert’s Macho Culture Punished Paternity Leave

A Dechert associate claims he was fired partly because of the firm’s macho culture. Former Boston associate Ariel Ayanna claims the law firm retaliated against him for taking paternity leave and derided him for being the primary caretaker of his children, the National Law Journal reports. Ayanna took on additional…

Dec 16, 2010 12:26 PM CST

5-Partner IP Team Latest to Depart Nixon Peabody; Firm Announced Leadership Shift Earlier This Week

News of another partner defection in the New York offices of Nixon Peabody follows an announcement earlier this week that the leadership of the firm is shifting to a Boston-based partner. A five-partner team of four intellectual property lawyers and a litigator will be departing from the firm’s Rochester office…

Dec 15, 2010 9:17 PM CST

Class Action Accuses Anti-Piracy Law Firm of ‘Settlement Fraud and Extortion’

A defendant accused of illegal downloading along with more than 4,500 other defendants claims in a class action lawsuit that the law firm pursing the cases is guilty of “settlement fraud and extortion.” The suit targets the U.S. Copyright Group, the entity formed by the law firm Dunlap, Grubb &…

Nov 30, 2010 3:02 PM CST