Massachusetts

Ex-Client Sues Seyfarth, Seeks Treble Damages & Legal Fees

In a legal malpractice suit filed against Seyfarth Shaw and four current and former lawyers of the law firm, a former client is seeking not only standard-issue relief but treble damages and attorney fees under a Massachusetts consumer protection statute. Plaintiff PCG Trading contends Seyfarth withdrew from its representation of…

Oct 30, 2009 8:56 PM CDT

Boston-Area Man Accused of Conspiracy to Attack Shopping Malls

A 27-year-old man living in suburban Boston has been charged with conspiring to attack shopping malls, two members of the executive branch and American service members in Iraq. The suspect, Tarek Mehanna, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, according to the New York Times and the…

Oct 21, 2009 5:59 PM CDT

Foley Hoag Prepares for the Flu with Sanitizer and Home-Office Setups

Fear of the swine flu has changed rituals at schools, churches and the workplace—including at least one law firm. “What used to be OK is not anymore, as the flu has ushered in new standards of etiquette that can be, in turns, mundane, absurd and heartbreaking,” the New York Times…

Oct 19, 2009 6:36 PM CDT

U Mass Mulls Possible Acquisition of Donated Private Law School

The University of Massachusetts is mulling over a possible plan to acquire the Southern New England School of Law, potentially creating the state’s first public law school and giving the law school, which is not accredited by the American Bar Association, a higher profile. The 235-student private law school, which…

Oct 14, 2009 11:29 PM CDT

Messy Foreclosure Cases Likely to Make a Lot of Work for Lawyers

Refusing to vacate a landmark ruling in March that is likely to create a lot of work for real estate lawyers, a Massachusetts judge today held banks accountable for failing to timely file all the foreclosure paperwork that he said is required by state law. By doing so, however, Land…

Oct 14, 2009 10:56 PM CDT

‘Toxic Titles’ Make Mortgage Foreclosures a Lot More Complex

Already dealing with a deluge of mortgage foreclosures, courts in Massachusetts now have a new problem. And, although litigation over the issue is farther along there than in a number of other states, it’s a growing concern that is also affecting other properties throughout the country. So-called toxic titles created…

Oct 9, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

After a Year of Looking, Laid-Off Lawyer Finds a Job—and She Likes It!

Looking for another job was harder than running a marathon, Lynne Zagami says. But, after a year of searching, she has succeeded. Laid off last fall from a $170,000-a-year job as a third-year corporate associate in the Boston office of Brown Rudnick, she is now in her first week at…

Oct 8, 2009 8:58 PM CDT

Defeated Wis. Justice Nominated for US Judgeship; 2 Others Get Appeals Nod

Louis Butler’s judging days may not be over. The former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice has lost two elections. The first time, he lost an election battle with Justice Diane Sykes, but was appointed to fill her state supreme court seat when she became a federal judge, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel…

Oct 7, 2009 3:34 PM CDT

Top Mass. Court OKs $1M in Punitives for Fired Wal-Mart Pharmacist

A former Wal-Mart pharmacist who contended she was fired on a trumped-up disciplinary charge after she complained she was paid less than male counterparts by the giant retailer is entitled to $1 million in punitive damages, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts decided yesterday. Its opinion upheld the trial judge’s…

Oct 6, 2009 11:07 PM CDT

Tom Cruise Makes Surprise Visit to Harvard Entertainment Law Class

Attendance was way up yesterday at a Harvard Law School entertainment law class after Tom Cruise made an unexpected appearance along with a celebrity lawyer who was serving as a guest lecturer. Some 30 minutes after entertainment attorney Bertram Fields, who graduated from the law school in 1952, took the…

Oct 6, 2009 8:15 PM CDT

Real Estate Lawyer ‘Stacked’ Mortgages on Family Homes, Prosecutor Says

A former Massachusetts real estate lawyer and title company agent has pleaded guilty to criminal charges concerning what a prosecutor says was a “mortgage stacking” scheme in which he obtained new mortgages on family homes without paying off the old ones. Meanwhile, a Massachusetts real estate lawyer has been indicted…

Sep 29, 2009 11:34 PM CDT

Harvard Law Prof Mentioned, But Not Named, as Kennedy Successor

Updated: A Harvard law professor had been mentioned as a possible successor to Edward M. Kennedy, but the nod has gone to another lawyer. Paul Kirk Jr., a lawyer who is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has been tapped to temporarily fill the Senate seat of the…

Sep 24, 2009 3:45 PM CDT

No Quick Freedom for Ex-Lawyer Whose Phone Calls Revealed Missing Money

Massachusetts’ highest court is keeping a former lawyer behind bars for at least another 30 days so a lawyer who listened to his recorded jailhouse conversations to find missing money can persuade a judge that more cash is hidden overseas. The Supreme Judicial Court said Richard Birchall can be released…

Sep 24, 2009 3:07 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Got JD to Represent Brother Wins $10.7M for Wrongful Conviction

A high-school dropout with two children who went on to get her general educational development certificate, graduate from college and earn a juris doctor degree so that she could represent her brother in a wrongful conviction case has now won $10.7 million in damages from a federal judge in Massachusetts.…

Sep 18, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Boston Lawyer Acquitted of Trying to Smuggle Heroin into Jail

Boston lawyer Kevin Barron has been acquitted of a charge that he tried to smuggle heroin into a Massachusetts state prison. Judge Janet Sanders ruled Barron did not know there was heroin hidden in a package he was carrying into the prison, the Boston Globe reports. In June, the mother…

Sep 17, 2009 5:54 PM CDT