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Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
Where (1) a plaintiff filed a complaint alleging a breach of a commercial lease and guaranty and (2) both defendants were defaulted, the defendants should be held jointly and severally liable in the amount of $4,792,497.43, plus reasonable counsel fees and costs of $46,811.23.
Consumer protection – Fee – MassHealth
Where the defendants’ policy of charging and collecting a fee from MassHealth patients for missing or cancelling an appointment violated MassHealth rules and long-published guidance, the defendants should be held jointly and severally liable for $170,925.
Arbitration – Accounting malpractice – Chapter 93A
Where two defendants have moved to compel arbitration, their motion should be allowed based on arbitration provisions in two letter engagement agreements.
Arbitration – Employment agreements
Where three defendants have moved to compel arbitration, their motion should be allowed on the basis of an arbitration provision in their employment agreements.
Contract – Termination – Injunction
Where the plaintiff developer of a wind power generation project has moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent the defendant from terminating a turbine supply agreement, that motion should be allowed because the plaintiff has demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits and has demonstrated that it would be irreparably harmed if the injunction does not issue.
Judge: professor may have claim to trade secrets
A Northeastern University professor is the owner of trade secrets that she alleges another professor and former student misappropriated, a Superior Court judge has found.
Education – Trade secrets – Standing
Where a university professor has alleged misappropriation of her trade secrets, a motion to dismiss the complaint should be denied despite the defendants’ argument that the plaintiff lacks standing based on a patent policy in the faculty handbook.
Judge: GE can’t stop work on Vineyard Wind project
A Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled that GE Renewables cannot terminate its contracts or stop work on the Vineyard Wind offshore project.
Negligence – Tax consulting services
Where plaintiffs have alleged that the defendant provided negligent tax consulting services, there are genuine issues of material disputes of fact precluding summary judgment.
Contract – Settlement – Release
Where a defendant has moved for summary judgment based on a release contained in a settlement agreement, that motion should be denied in part, as the release expressly exempts from its scope any claims based on the defendant’s warranty obligations.
Corporate – Special-purpose LLCs
Where a plaintiff has claim membership interests in special-purpose limited liability companies, his motion for summary judgment should be allowed in part and denied in part based on language in operating agreements.
Civil practice – Third-party discovery
Where plaintiffs seek to discover a broad array of information from customers and other third parties with which the defendant did business, the requested discovery is overbroad but some of the discovery sought is reasonable in scope, not unduly burdensome, and reasonably calculated to the lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
