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2 days ago | 
masslawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
A police chief could deny a high-capacity firearm license to an applicant based on the allegedly volatile home environment created by the substance abuse, mental health issues and behavior of the applicant’s wife and son, the Appeals Court has decided in a 2-1 decision.
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4 days ago | 
rilawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
A “distributor” who delivered goods from a baking company to its retailers could be forced to arbitrate his misclassification claims pursuant to a dispute resolution agreement in his distribution contract, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.
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4 days ago | 
rilawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
A Narragansett couple that did not deny in municipal and state filings that their neighbors rightfully owned a disputed part of an abutting property could not claim adverse possession over the property, a Superior Court judge has found. Plaintiffs David and Elizabeth Carroll purchased their property, “Lot 21-1,” in 2007. Over the next 13 years, they allegedly used part of a neighboring parcel, “Lot 21-2A,” as if it was their own.
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1 week ago | 
masslawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
Capital gains that a former Massachusetts resident and his wife realized after he sold stock in the company he previously worked for were taxable as Massachusetts source income, the Appeals Court has determined. Taxpayer Craig Welch acquired a 50-percent share in AcadiaSoft in 2005, shortly after the Massachusetts company was founded. He served as CEO for the next decade.
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2 weeks ago | 
milawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
A Macomb Circuit Court judge has ruled that the third-party beneficiary of an agreement between a subcontractor and general contractor wasn’t bound by an arbitration provision in the contract. Defendant Ivanovic Construction, the general contractor on a project to build an outside storage lot on property owned by defendant V&D Investments, enlisted plaintiff Florence Cement Company to do the concrete work for the project.
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2 weeks ago | 
masslawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
Email correspondence between members of Concord’s Select Board and the town manager were protected by the attorney-client privilege even though no lawyer was included on the emails, the Appeals Court has determined. The plaintiffs, Susannah Kay and Brooks Read, were among a group of residents sued by the town after they blocked public access to a wooded trail that abutted their properties.
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2 weeks ago | 
rilawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
A state law allocating to the District courts exclusive jurisdiction over landlord-tenant disputes did not preclude removal of a case to federal court on diversity grounds, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has determined. Plaintiff 289 Kilvert rented commercial premises to defendant SBC Tower Holdings under a lease with a provision stating that all disputes would be decided under Rhode Island law.
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2 weeks ago | 
rilawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
The attorney work product privilege did not protect a country club in a slip-and-fall case from having to produce a surveillance video of the incident, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has found. A Superior Court judge had denied plaintiff Rajmonda Mile’s motion to compel production of a videotape with a recording of her accident on defendant Kirkbrae Country Club’s premises. The judge had applied the Supreme Court’s 1989 Cabral v.
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3 weeks ago | 
masslawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
Survivors of a state employee who was killed in a car accident while returning to her office from an offsite meeting were not entitled to accidental death benefits, the Contributory Retirement Appeal Board has ruled. Deborah Combra, an employee at the Department of Mental Health in Brockton, attended a meeting in Westboro before having lunch at a nearby restaurant with colleagues. They apparently discussed work issues at lunch and continued the discussion in the parking lot afterward.
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4 weeks ago | 
masslawyersweekly.com | Eric T. Berkman
The Massachusetts-based general counsel of a Silicon Valley company can sue her California-based supervisor in Massachusetts for wrongful discharge under Chapter 151B, a U.S. District Court judge has held. Plaintiff Jennifer Lawrence worked out of her Massachusetts home as GC for defendant Next Insurance and was supervised by the company’s chief executive officer, defendant Guy Goldstein, who lives and works in California.
