Massachusetts

‘Civil Action’ Lawyer Claims Tolls are ‘Illegal Tax’

Jan R. Schlichtmann, the lawyer made famous by the book and movie A Civil Action, has taken on a new foe: the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. Schlictmann, whose on-screen character was played by actor John Travolta, filed a class action seeking a refund for drivers who maintain their tolls are an…

May 11, 2009 2:44 PM CDT

Judge Blasts Prosecutor, Quashes Subpoenas in ‘Pottygate’ Probe

A Boston Globe reporter who broke news of a district attorney’s “pottygate probe” won’t have to reveal to a grand jury how he obtained the information. A Massachusetts judge has quashed subpoenas of Globe reporter Jonathan Saltzman and two lawyers for a juvenile clerk magistrate investigated for obtaining a bathroom…

May 8, 2009 2:34 PM CDT

New Accusations Against Craiglist Suspect Fuel AG Attack on Website

Announcing new accusations today against the so-called Craiglist suspect involving a third claimed assault victim, the Rhode Island state attorney general also fired a verbal salvo at the website accused of posting advertisements to which Philip Markoff allegedly responded. The Boston medical student already was being prosecuted in Suffolk County,…

May 5, 2009 12:21 AM CDT

Fired Associate Allowed to Sue Firm on Claim of Porn Ethics Dustup

Updated: A Massachusetts appeals court is allowing an associate to sue a Boston law firm based on a claim he was illegally fired for refusing to destroy child pornography inadvertently found on a client’s computer. The law firm—Hinckley, Allen & Snyder—had maintained the suit by lawyer Kevin Plante should be…

May 1, 2009 4:01 PM CDT

Retired Boston Lawyer Earns $162K at Part-Time Job

After nearly 50 years at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, many of them in leadership positions, attorney Paul McCann has a pension of nearly $100,000 a year. But the longtime city planning official also makes another $162,000 annually for working about 25 hours a week as a consultant, reports the Boston…

Apr 27, 2009 11:12 PM CDT

AGs Call for More Oversight of Web Ads After So-Called Craigslist Murder

A Boston medical student who allegedly attacked or robbed at least two women he met via ads they placed on Craigslist and is now charged with murdering one of them has sparked new calls for stricter oversight of the explicit sex ads for which the website is, in part, known.…

Apr 22, 2009 11:12 PM CDT

Boston Firm Snags 6-Lawyer Dewey Wealth Team

A 200-attorney Boston-based law firm has further expanded its growing New York office by adding a six-lawyer trusts and estates group from Dewey & LeBoeuf. Economic uncertainty, ironically, is keeping wealth management lawyers at Sullivan & Worcester and other firms busy, as clients reconfigure their remaining assets and anticipate possible…

Apr 17, 2009 8:46 PM CDT

Associate Who Claimed Drugging at Bingham Party Sees Complaint Tossed

A Massachusetts agency has tossed a complaint by a former associate who claimed Bingham McCutchen didn’t do enough to investigate her claim of a drugging at a law firm holiday party. The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination said former associate Michelle Moor failed to prove the working conditions at Bingham were…

Apr 15, 2009 11:18 AM CDT

Harvard Prof Defends Controversial Tactics in Music Downloading Case

Harvard Law School professor Charles R. Nesson, infamous for his eccentric antics in the courtroom and the classroom, continues to draw criticism for his unconventional defense of a Boston University graduate student accused of illegally downloading music. In recent weeks, Nesson, whose client, Joel Tenenbaum, is accused of illegally downloading…

Apr 9, 2009 7:26 PM CDT

After Quack, Mack and Jack, Now Pack is Latest Bronze Duckling Stolen in Boston

Adding a new episode to a saga of unsolved crimes in Boston’s Public Garden, another one of the eight bronze ducklings replicating a famous contingent raised by Mrs. Mallard in a beloved children’s book has been stolen. Following earlier thefts of Quack, Mack and Jack, this time Pack has been…

Apr 7, 2009 11:29 PM CDT

Obama’s Aunt Gets 10 More Months to Prepare Deportation Fight

Zeituni Onyango praised God as she left a closed hearing Wednesday in Boston during which an immigration judge gave her until Feb. 4, 2010, to prepare yet another argument against deportation. Onyango, whose immigration case is drawing international interest because she is Barack Obama’s aunt, has twice been ordered to…

Apr 2, 2009 11:08 AM CDT

Obama’s Aunt Fights Deportation

The Kenyan aunt of President Barack Obama is expected to present new evidence in federal court today seeking to reverse a nearly five-year-old deportation order. Lawyers for Zeituni Onyango haven’t discussed their strategy, which could focus on the woman’s numerous health problems, political unrest in Kenya, or something else, the…

Apr 1, 2009 11:46 AM CDT

After Insanity Win in Murder One Case, Lawyer Accuses DA of ‘Incompetence’

A lawyer who won a rare insanity acquittal from a Massachusetts jury last week for a client charged with the first-degree murder of his own mother has blasted the district attorney for taking the case to trial. Despite three expert opinions that his 37-year-old client, Lee Chiero, is insane, Worcester…

Mar 30, 2009 6:51 PM CDT

Some Madoff Investors Complain Their Lawyers Were to Blame

Some law firms could face liability for advising clients who lost money with Bernard Madoff, according to a Massachusetts state official. Secretary of State William Galvin, who regulates securities brokers in Massachusetts, told the Boston Globe that he is hearing complaints from Madoff clients who may be blaming lawyers for…

Mar 27, 2009 1:17 PM CDT

‘Ad Agency’ Law Firm’s Business Booms; $50 Million Campaign Envisioned

Although it’s ubiquitous on the nation’s airwaves, Jim Sokolove’s law firm tries almost no cases. Instead, in a feat of marketing prowess that has earned the firm a feature article in Advertising Age, the Massachusetts attorney makes a living operating his Sokolove Law plaintiffs firm as “almost strictly as an…

Mar 23, 2009 9:59 PM CDT