Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

1 week ago | masslawyersweekly.com | Robert Kidd

This microphone records but does not amplifyYour plea to the judgeFor mercy and justice. It listens without judgementto your admission to factssufficient to invoke fear and shame. It listens to the alcoholic and the addict,the preppie and the pauper,the rapist and the robber (alleged)And still it does not blame. It echoes the judge’s chantof waivers and findings on the record of free willsuch as it is. It hears the lawyer whisper in your ear,even when he tries to cover it with his hand.

3 weeks ago | masslawyersweekly.com | Pat Murphy

An appellate decision clarifying an essential element of aiding-and-abetting liability did not constitute “extraordinary circumstances” justifying relief from judgment for victims and families of victims of terror attacks who moved for leave to amend their complaint seeking to hold banks liable for providing financial services to Hamas-affiliated customers, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in reversing a decision from the 2nd Circuit concluding a federal judge abused her discretion in denying...

3 weeks ago | masslawyersweekly.com | Pat Murphy

In briefSCOTUS denies cert in L.M. v. Middleborough student speech case1st Circuit upheld school’s ban on “Two Genders” T-shirtRuling affirms schools’ ability to regulate demeaning expressionKP Law attorneys defended the school in civil rights lawsuitTwo Boston lawyers are resting easy now that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear the appeal of a Middleborough student prohibited from wearing a T-shirt with a message that school officials deemed to be over the line.

3 weeks ago | masslawyersweekly.com | Pat Murphy

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act bars claims brought by the government of Mexico seeking to hold seven U.S. firearm manufacturers liable for gun violence in the country based on a theory the defendants failed to exercise reasonable care to ensure their products did not come into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in reversing a decision from the 1st Circuit. Click here to read the full text of the June 5 decision in Smith & Wesson Brands v.

3 weeks ago | masslawyersweekly.com | Pat Murphy

A straight woman was not required to assert “background circumstances” showing the defendant was “that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority” in order to proceed with a Title VII reverse-discrimination suit involving claims a position she sought was deliberately left open until it could filled by a gay employee, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in reversing a decision from the 6th Circuit and resolving a circuit split.