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Massachusetts
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May 16, 2025
Real Estate Recap: Gold Card, Hospitality, Revolving Door
Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from ¼«ËÙÈü³µ Real Estate Authority — including attorney insights into the "Gold Card" visa program, the hospitality sector's reaction to tariffs, and the path from in-house attorney to private practice.Â
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May 16, 2025
1st Circ. Rejects Appeals By Trio Of 'Varsity Blues' Parents
The First Circuit has upheld the guilty pleas of three parents in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scheme, finding that a past ruling in the long-running case undercut their bids to unwind the convictions.
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May 16, 2025
23 States Win Order Halting Billions In HHS Public Health Cuts
A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday barred the Trump administration from cutting off billions of dollars in funding to state public health programs, determining the abrupt grant terminations likely violated congressional authority over spending.
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May 16, 2025
Judge Blocks Energy Department's Cap On Research Costs
A Boston federal judge blocked a U.S. Department of Energy policy capping research costs, saying the suit was "far from identical" to another case in which the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to education grant cuts.
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May 16, 2025
Surgical Center Operator Inks $15M Deal Over Data Breach
Shields Health Group Inc., which runs dozens of MRI and surgical centers around New England, has agreed to pay around $15 million to resolve claims in a proposed class action stemming from a data breach that compromised the personal information of over 2 million people.
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May 16, 2025
Susan Sarandon, Contractor End Dispute Over Vt. Home
Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon has resolved a dispute with a contractor that oversaw construction and maintenance for her $2 million sustainable Vermont retreat, which featured a geothermal heating system she claimed was less efficient due to missing insulation, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.
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May 15, 2025
Each Justice's Key Comments At Universal Injunction Args
U.S. Supreme Court justices conducted a searching inquiry Thursday regarding the Trump administration's quest to curtail sweeping injunctions against its agenda, sometimes sounding sympathetic but also wary of alternative remedies and the White House's willingness to accept any future courtroom losses.
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May 15, 2025
Harvard Alum Drops Antisemitism Suit Over Campus Incidents
A former Harvard University student has voluntarily dismissed his suit over the Ivy League school's handling of antisemitic incidents on campus, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed Thursday in Massachusetts federal court.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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2 Anti-Kickback Developments Hold Lessons For Biopharma
The U.S. Department of Justice's Anti-Kickback Statute settlement with QOL Medical and a favorable advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide a study in contrasts, but there are tips for biopharma manufacturers trying to navigate the vast compliance space between them, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health Law.
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In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege
Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.
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CFPB's Message To States Takes On New Weight Under Trump
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's January guidance to state enforcers has fresh significance as the Trump administration moves to freeze the bureau's work, and industry should expect states to use this series of recommendations as an enforcement road map, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
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National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis
Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.
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Series
Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.
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Emphasize Social Spaces During RE Project Public Review
As Boston continues to work through revisions to its public review process for real estate projects, developers attempting to balance impact mitigation and community improvements may benefit from emphasizing the ways in which development plans can facilitate open social exchange, says David Linhart at Goulston & Storrs.
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Opinion
Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
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Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example
Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Perspectives
Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines
KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.
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AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex
Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.
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When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law
In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering
Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.
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Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025
Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Series
Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.
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Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations
In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.