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Massachusetts

  • May 15, 2025

    Student Clearinghouse Gets Final OK For $10M Breach Deal

    A Massachusetts federal judge has granted final approval to National Student Clearinghouse's proposed $9.95 million settlement resolving allegations that the student data company's lax security practices exposed Social Security numbers and personal information in the hack of Progress Software's MOVEit file transfer tool.

  • May 15, 2025

    Spinal Implant Co. CEO Pleads Guilty Ahead Of Kickback Trial

    The head of a Massachusetts medical device company pled guilty Thursday to a false statements charge days before he was set to face a jury over claims that he and another executive bribed surgeons with sham consulting deals to get them to use the company's spinal implants.

  • May 15, 2025

    Justices Wary Of Pausing Sweeping Injunctions In Birthright Case

    A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed eager Thursday to limit lower courts' use of universal injunctions generally, but several justices voiced concerns about the effect such a ruling would have on lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order that aims to limit birthright citizenship.

  • May 15, 2025

    Mass. Town's $102K Deal For Firefighters Gets Final OK

    A Massachusetts town will shell out about $102,000 to end claims that it failed to pay overtime to nearly 120 firefighters, as a federal court gave the deal its final sign-off Thursday.

  • May 15, 2025

    SEC Says RI Investment Firm Ran $2.5M Ponzi-Like Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday accused the owner of a Rhode Island-based investment firm in a complaint of using misleading statements to solicit about $2.5 million from investors and misappropriating much of it to enrich himself and pay back earlier investors.

  • May 15, 2025

    Apple Accused Of False IPhone AI Promises In 50-State Suit

    Apple pulled a bait-and-switch on phone buyers when it promised that new artificial intelligence features would be available on the iPhone 16, despite knowing it hadn't yet developed those features, according to a sprawling proposed class action that brings claims under consumer protection laws in all 50 states.

  • May 15, 2025

    Harvard Researcher Held By ICE To Be Returned To Mass.

    A Harvard Medical School researcher and Russian national taken into custody by immigration officers who found frog embryos in her luggage three months ago will be returned to Massachusetts to face a smuggling charge, a Louisiana federal judge ordered on Thursday.

  • May 15, 2025

    Gov't Fights Expansion Of Transgender Passport Ruling

    The U.S. State Department is fighting a request to expand to thousands of people a Massachusetts federal court's preliminary ruling ordering the government to issue or renew passports to six transgender or nonbinary people to reflect their gender identity.

  • May 15, 2025

    Judge Puts Buffer Between ICE And Tufts Student After Bail Order

    A Vermont federal judge on Thursday said he will require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide at least 48 hours' notice to his court of any future plan to detain Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, after her lawyers expressed concern that the government could attempt an end-run around his bail order.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds, Immigrants Spar Over Defense Dept. Role In Removals

    A group of immigrants facing deportation to countries where they have no prior ties and may be at risk of harm urged a Massachusetts federal judge to add the U.S. Department of Defense as a defendant in their pending class action, a move the government says is unnecessary.

  • May 15, 2025

    Judge Recuses After Atty's Conviction Partially Overturned

    The Boston federal judge who oversaw the trial of an attorney charged with bribing a Massachusetts police chief to secure a local marijuana license recused himself from the case Thursday, after the First Circuit vacated most of the convictions and ordered the lawyer to be resentenced on the remaining guilty finding.

  • May 14, 2025

    HUD Allocates $1.1B For Tribal Affordable Housing Initiatives

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will allocate more than $1.1 billion in Indian Housing Block Grant funding to support affordable housing efforts in Native American tribal communities, HUD announced Tuesday.

  • May 14, 2025

    Harvard Researcher Charged With Smuggling Amid ICE Case

    Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unsealed criminal smuggling charges against a Russian national and Harvard Medical School researcher who has been challenging her monthslong detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she returned to the U.S. from Europe carrying frog embryos.

  • May 14, 2025

    Risks Abound For Higher Ed As Top Court Ruling Turns 2

    Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in higher education admissions, schools around the country have been looking for innovative ways to achieve diversity on campus amid constant threats of additional litigation that could make them the next high-profile high court case.

  • May 14, 2025

    Alnylam Halts Patent Row Over Pfizer, BioNTech COVID-19 Vax

    Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has decided to end a district court patent case over the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech, asking a Delaware federal judge Tuesday to rule that the companies do not infringe its mRNA patents, while potentially setting the stage for an appeal.

  • May 14, 2025

    National Grid​​​​​​​ Must Face Jury Trial In Debt Harassment Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday that power company National Grid and two debt collectors must face a jury trial in a suit by a customer who says he was contacted about his outstanding debt more often than state law allows.

  • May 14, 2025

    Mass. Governor Nominates 2 To Superior Court

    A Massachusetts state district court judge and a supervising prosecutor for the state attorney general's office have been nominated to seats on the Superior Court, Gov. Maura Healey announced Wednesday.

  • May 14, 2025

    States Ask Court To End Trump's Wind Project Freeze

    A coalition of states on Wednesday asked a Massachusetts federal judge for a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to end its freeze on wind energy project permitting, saying the policy could erase nearly $100 billion in investments and cost 40,000 jobs if left in place throughout the president's term.

  • May 14, 2025

    Biotech Firm Verax Tells Court Eviction Could End Company

    Biotech company Verax Biomedical Inc. has said it faces the prospect of going out of business unless a Massachusetts judge agrees to block its landlord from proceeding with an eviction, at least through the end of its current lease.

  • May 14, 2025

    Biogen Sues Ex-Collaborator Over Rights To Drug Tech

    Biogen said its partner on a since-shelved Alzheimer's drug is trying to claim rights to an unrelated novel therapeutic that the Massachusetts company recently shared with the Swiss partner under a confidentiality agreement, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    States Say Trump Can't Link Immigration To DHS, DOT Funds

    A 20-state coalition hit the Trump administration with lawsuits Tuesday in Rhode Island federal court asking the court to stop the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Transportation from conditioning billions of state grant dollars on enforcing the president's immigration agenda.

  • May 13, 2025

    Lawsuit Challenging Trump Energy Order May Be Premature

    States may have good reasons to fight President Donald Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency, but courts may be unwilling to evaluate the strength of a new suit from 15 states in the absence of expedited energy project approvals.

  • May 13, 2025

    NIH Letters Ending Grants Lack Factual Support, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday that a "blast" of hundreds of virtually identical letters in March canceling National Institutes of Health-funded research projects appeared to offer no factual basis, only unsupported assertions that the projects were unscientific or discriminatory.

  • May 13, 2025

    The Man Who Ended Affirmative Action Is Just Getting Started

    Nearly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, the legal strategist who brought the landmark case is using the ruling in a bid to end race-based programs in the public and private sectors, bolstered by allies in the executive branch.

  • May 13, 2025

    1st Circ. Urged To Rule In Appeal Over Canceled HUD Grants

    Groups challenging Trump administration cuts to $30 million in housing grants asked the First Circuit to rule that a Massachusetts federal judge, in fact, has the power to order federal officials to fund the grants, even after the judge dissolved such a ruling in reaction to a recent U.S. Supreme Court finding.

Expert Analysis

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • 5 Lessons From Consulting Firm's Successful DOJ Disclosure

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    The Boston Consulting Group recently received a rare declination of prosecution from the U.S. Department of Justice after self-disclosing a foreign bribery scheme, and the firm’s series of savvy steps after discovering the misconduct provides useful data points for white collar defense attorneys, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Video Game Release Highlights TM Pitfalls Of App Store

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    The upcoming release of poker video game Balatro in Apple's App Store underscores the tradeoff of keyword advertising and trademark protection for indie developers who, unlike corporate counterparts, lack resources but seek to maximize the reach of their game, say Parmida Enkeshafi and Simon Pulman at Pryor Cashman.

  • Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules

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    A Missouri federal court’s recent order enjoining the state’s anti-ESG rules comes amid actions by state legislatures to revise or invalidate similar legislation imposing disclosure and consent requirements around environmental, social and governance investing, and could be a blueprint for future challenges, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

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