Massachusetts

  • March 20, 2026

    How 1st Circ. Ruling Is Shaping Heck Rule In Probation Cases

    A First Circuit ruling that pretrial probation is not a conviction under the Heck doctrine is now shaping civil rights cases, allowing plaintiffs to pursue claims after criminal charges are dismissed without any guilty plea or admission.

  • March 20, 2026

    Mass. Court Mandates Higher Sentences For Gun Violations

    Two men convicted in Massachusetts in separate incidents of possessing high-capacity firearms or feeding devices were improperly sentenced, the state's highest court said, clarifying guidelines and requiring the pair to be sentenced to more time Friday.

  • March 20, 2026

    Groups Look To Block Interior's National Parks' Signage Order

    A coalition of nonprofits is asking a Massachusetts federal court to block a U.S. Interior Department order that instructed National Park Service staff to remove signage that gives information about slavery, Indigenous history and climate change, arguing that it imposes a broad campaign of censoring disfavored history and science.

  • March 20, 2026

    White House Pushes Congress To Override State AI Laws

    The White House directed Congress to preempt "burdensome" state laws on artificial intelligence in a legislative framework released Friday.

  • March 20, 2026

    Schools Back Delay Of Hasty Trump Admissions Data Demand

    A Trump administration demand for years of college admissions data on race and sex, with just a few months' notice, has "created a perfect storm" for schools scrambling to comply, a coalition of academic organizations has told a Massachusetts federal judge in support of a bid to delay implementation of the new survey.

  • March 20, 2026

    DOJ Threatens Harvard's Funding With Antisemitism Claims

    The Trump administration launched a fresh attack on Harvard University on Friday with a complaint claiming the university has allowed antisemitism to go unchecked on campus, violating Jewish students' rights.

  • March 19, 2026

    HHS Can't Block Trans Care Under Kennedy Edict, Court Says

    A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia prevailed on Thursday in their challenge to a Trump administration move to cut access to gender-affirming care for minors when an Oregon federal judge agreed to void a policy statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

  • March 19, 2026

    States Join Push To Revive EPA Climate Danger Finding

    A coalition of state and local governments on Thursday became the latest group to ask that the D.C. Circuit overrule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission last month of its long-held position on the danger greenhouse gases pose to public health.

  • March 19, 2026

    MLB Deals With Polymarket, CFTC For Sports Market 'Integrity'

    Major League Baseball said Thursday that it has struck an exclusive licensing deal with Polymarket to bolster the brand and promote the "integrity" of the baseball-focused prediction markets on the platform, and separately reached a first-of-its-kind information-sharing agreement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

  • March 19, 2026

    Financial Firms Must Face Suit Over Adviser's Thefts

    A group of investors whose funds were stolen by a now-jailed financial adviser will get another chance to convince a judge the investment firms he worked for should be held civilly liable, a Massachusetts intermediate appellate court ruled Thursday.

  • March 19, 2026

    Live Nation CEO Says He Can't Recall 'Market Power' Remark

    Live Nation's longtime CEO sparred Thursday with states that say the $36 billion entertainment giant engages in monopolization, telling a Manhattan federal jury the business is a "better mousetrap" than rivals and saying he couldn't recall telling investors the company has "incredible market power."  

  • March 19, 2026

    Judge Tosses Bias Suit Over Boston School Admissions

    Three elite public schools in Boston dodged a challenge to their competitive admissions process Thursday, with a federal judge saying white students' theory of discrimination has been rejected by the courts before.

  • March 18, 2026

    13 State AGs Urge EPA To Walk Back 'Compliance First' Memo

    Attorneys general for New York, Massachusetts, Washington and 10 other states have called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rescind a December memo unveiling a "compliance first" approach to enforcement, arguing the strategy sidelines staff expertise and creates "bureaucratic bottlenecks" that will ultimately enable polluters.

  • March 18, 2026

    EPA Pushes For Win In Solar Grant Fight

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a Washington federal judge it reasonably terminated billions of dollars in grants for solar energy projects after Congress passed the 2025 federal budget bill, so a coalition of states can't challenge its decision.

  • March 18, 2026

    Ed. Dept. Flouting Mental Health Funding Order, States Claim

    The U.S. Department of Education is flouting orders that it fund K-12 mental health grants given to public schools by only partially funding the grants and threatening to withhold remaining funds, a group of state attorneys general told a Washington federal court.

  • March 18, 2026

    Philips, Fitbit End Fight Over Health Monitoring Patents

    Philips North America and Google-owned Fitbit have agreed to resolve their yearslong patent fight over health monitoring fitness-tracking technologies in wearable devices, according to a stipulation filed Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court. 

  • March 18, 2026

    Prior Counsel In Settled EBay Harassment Case Eyes Payment

    An attorney who previously represented a Massachusetts couple in a harassment lawsuit against eBay and three former executives has asked a federal judge to hold off on entering a dismissal in the now-settled case until she receives assurances she will be paid.

  • March 18, 2026

    Boston Firefighter Union's OT Win Vacated By Judge

    A Massachusetts state judge has ruled that Boston can limit the availability of overtime shifts for certain union employees in the fire department, finding the move is a staffing decision not subject to mandatory bargaining.

  • March 18, 2026

    Biotech Investor Blames Pierce Atwood For Messy Asset Sale

    A Ukrainian billionaire who was recently ordered to pay other investors in a failed genetic testing company more than $1.8 million in damages is blaming the Pierce Atwood LLP lawyers who advised him on what a court later found to be a "fundamentally unfair" forced asset sale.

  • March 18, 2026

    Wall Street Giants Challenge Chip Co. Stock Scheme Claims

    Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and Interactive Brokers Group Inc. have asked a New York federal court to dismiss them from a stock manipulation suit filed by an investor in Israeli chipmaker Eltek Ltd., arguing the complaint's claims that they depressed the company's share prices are contradictory.

  • March 17, 2026

    1st Circ. Pauses 3rd-Nation Deportations Ruling During Appeal

    The First Circuit has granted the Trump administration a stay pending appeal of a Massachusetts federal court ruling that a class of noncitizens facing removal to countries to which they have no ties must receive meaningful notice and an opportunity to raise fears about being deported to those countries.

  • March 17, 2026

    Mich. AG Joins Fair Housing Laws Fight Against HUD Guidance

    Michigan's attorney general spoke Tuesday about joining 15 states and the District of Columbia in a California federal suit claiming the Trump administration undermines enforcement of fair housing laws by threatening to halt funding for local government programs protecting people discriminated against for gender and sexual orientation, among other things.

  • March 17, 2026

    Private School Founder Forged Letter Of Credit, Suit Says

    The now-suspended founder and director of a group of private primary schools in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, used a bogus letter of credit to execute a $12.5 million lease, which the landlord discovered after the school abandoned its expansion plan amid public opposition, a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court alleges.

  • March 17, 2026

    Bimbo Bakeries Can't Steer Driver Suit To Arbitration

    A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge won't ship to arbitration a pair of New England drivers' claims that Bimbo Bakeries USA misclassifies them as independent contractors, finding that the drivers are covered by an exception to the federal arbitration statute.

  • March 17, 2026

    2nd Circ. Panel Not Sold On Ivy League Players' Antitrust Suit

    A Second Circuit panel seemed inclined Tuesday to uphold a Connecticut federal judge's dismissal of a challenge to the Ivy League's ban on athletic scholarships, though one judge suggested reviving the case to probe whether students properly pled antitrust injury.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

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    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

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    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • What Trump Order Limiting State AI Regs Means For Insurers

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    Last week's executive order seeking to preclude states from regulating artificial intelligence will likely have minimal impact on insurers, but the order and related congressional activities may portend a federal expectation of consistent state oversight of insurers' AI use, says Kathleen Birrane at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • 2025 Noncompete Developments That Led To Inflection Point

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    Employers must reshape their approaches to noncompete agreements following key 2025 developments, including Delaware's rejection of blue-penciling and the proliferation of state wage thresholds, say attorneys at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • NBA, MLB Betting Indictments: Slam Dunks Or Strikeouts?

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    Recent fraud charges against bettors, NBA players and MLB pitchers raise questions about what the government will need to prove to prosecute individuals involved in placing bets based on nonpublic information, and it could be a tough sell to juries, say attorneys at Ford O'Brien.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

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    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Navigating The New Patchwork Of Foreign-Influence Laws

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    On top of existing federal regulations, an expanding wave of state legislation — placing new limits on foreign-funded political spending and new registration requirements for foreign agents — creates a confusing compliance backdrop for corporations that demands careful preplanning, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

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    Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

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    Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

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