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Massachusetts

  • 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.

  • May 13, 2025

    Former J&J, Moderna Exec Joins Goodwin Procter In Boston

    Goodwin Procter is continuing to grow its resources in the life sciences practice with the recent addition to the Boston office of an attorney who has gone back to private practice after more than seven years as an in-house counsel for Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.

  • May 13, 2025

    1st Circ. Vacates $10M Severance Win Over Drafting Error

    The First Circuit threw out a judgment that valued a departing technology executive's severance payout at $10.2 million due to a mistake in the contract, ruling that the company's intended offer of $680,000 in total value could also be reasonably construed from the text of the deal.  

  • May 13, 2025

    Cleaning Co. Paying $1M To Resolve Mass. Wage Claims

    A Massachusetts commercial cleaning company has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in penalties and restitution for violating the state's wage and hour laws, the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General announced Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    Mass. Contractor To Pay $10M For Alleged Overcharges

    Massachusetts-headquartered government contractor NORESCO LLC has agreed to pay $9.6 million to settle allegations that it overcharged multiple federal agencies for energy efficiency improvements, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston announced Tuesday.

  • May 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Erases MIT, Broad CRISPR Win In Conception Fight

    The Nobel Prize-winning scientists who lost their interference proceeding on a key use of the gene-editing technology CRISPR persuaded the Federal Circuit on Monday to​ give them another chance, with the court providing clarity on how to analyze conception.

Expert Analysis

  • Budding Lessons From Landmark Plant Seed Patent Battle

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    The Corteva v. Inari case involving intellectual property rights in genetically modified plants is now proceeding through discovery and potentially to trial, and will raise critical questions that could have a major impact on the agriculture technology industry, say Tate Tischner and Andrew Zappia at Troutman Pepper.

  • Useful Product Doctrine May Not Shield Against PFAS Liability

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    Courts have recognized that companies transferring hazardous recycled materials can defeat liability under environmental laws by showing they were selling a useful product — but new laws in California and elsewhere restricting the sale of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances may change the legal landscape, says Kyle Girouard at Dickinson Wright.

  • SEC Fine Shows Risks Of Nonpublic Info In X, LinkedIn Posts

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a settlement with DraftKings over charges arising from posting material nonpublic information on the CEO's social media accounts, highlighting that information posted to company websites and social media sites does not automatically qualify as "publicly disclosed" for purposes of Regulation FD, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Review Shipping Terms In Light Of These 3 Global Challenges

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    Given tensions in the Middle East, labor unrest at U.S. ports and the ongoing consequences of climate change, parties involved in maritime shipping must understand the relevant contract provisions and laws that may be implicated during supply chain disruptions in order to mitigate risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Defining All-Risk: Despite $30M Loss, Loose Bolt Not 'Damage'

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    A Massachusetts federal court’s recent ruling in AMAG Pharmaceuticals v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co., denying coverage for $30 million in damages claimed when a loose bolt caused an air leak, highlights an ongoing debate over the definition of “direct physical loss or damage,” say Josh Tumen and Paul Ferland at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging

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    More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.

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