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2nd Circuit ruling ends confusion for securities attorneys 

By: David Frank
Published: April 27, 2012

Tags: 2nd Circuit, domestic transaction, U.S. Supreme Court

Securities lawyers say a 2nd Circuit ruling defines for the first time the meaning of “domestic transaction” under a test laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark 2010 Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. decision.

Federal removal statute creates venue changes 

By: David Frank
Published: February 17, 2012

Tags: Discovery, Federal courts, jurisdiction, venue

Civil practitioners say a new federal venue law that quietly went into effect last month will lead to an increase in diversity-based discovery and cut down on the “jurisdictional gamesmanship” that regularly occurs in litigation.

Removal statute clarifies areas of confusion 

Published: February 17, 2012

Tags: jurisdiction, venue

The Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 was passed by unanimous consent in both chambers of Congress on Jan. 6.

Accommodating the ADA 

By: David Frank
Published: January 4, 2012

Tags: ADA, attorney fees, Massachusetts

Depending on which side of the aisle a lawyer practices, plaintiffs like John Marshall are seen as either heroic civil rights advocates or crafty manipulators of the legal system.

Lorillard liable under state consumer protection statute 

Published: September 2, 2011

Tags: consumer protection, Lorillard Tobacco Co., negligence, punitive damages, tobacco litigation, Top Ten Jury Verdicts of 2010, warranty of merchantability

A Massachusetts judge has found that the manufacturer of Newport cigarettes violated the state’s consumer protection law by breaching the implied warranty of merchantability and by breaching the voluntary duty it undertook to accurately report to the public its research and knowledge concerning the health risks of smoking cigarettes.

Firm not protected from McCourt malpractice suit 

Published: August 25, 2011

Tags: Frank McCourt, legal malpractice

Despite his myriad legal problems, Frank McCourt was handed a legal victory last week.

Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders denied Boston-based law firm Bingham McCutchen’s request that she find partner Lawrence I. Silverstein did nothing wrong when he prepared a postnuptial agreement addressing McCourt’s ownership interest in the now-bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers.

Law firm takes the first swing in Frank McCourt case 

By: David Frank
Published: April 29, 2011

Tags: Bingham McCutchen, Frank McCourt, legal malpractice, McCourt

In what appears to be a preemptive strike against an expected multi-million-dollar legal malpractice claim, Boston law firm Bingham McCutchen has filed suit against former client Frank McCourt.

Sixth Circuit decision to bring an end to e-mail seizures 

By: David Frank
Published: April 5, 2011

Tags: Department of Justice, e-mail, e-mail seizures, Fourth Amendment, privacy, search and seizure, Stored Communications Act

Two lawyers who have won a landmark 6th Circuit case say the ruling should spell the end of a long-standing practice across the country of federal prosecutors seizing e-mails without warrants.

Defendant in seminal Confrontation Clause case acquitted 

By: David Frank
Published: February 18, 2011

Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Sixth Amendment, Supreme Court

Luis Melendez-Diaz made national headlines in 2009 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause required prosecutors to put a drug analyst on the stand before introducing a lab certificate into evidence.

Court strikes method used for determining patent case damages 

By: David Frank
Published: January 13, 2011

Tags: damages, intellectual property, patent infringement, patent law

A rule that lawyers and judges have been using to determine damages in patent infringement cases has been abolished by the Federal Circuit.