Updates

All Posts
Legal Memos
Manager Notes
Updates

4 days ago
1 min

Death Terminates Brokerage Agreement

The owner of three residential properties died after signing an exclusive right-to-sell agreement with a real estate agency. Her estate s...

Public Data Scraping Likely Does Not Violate CFAA

Paul Peter Nicolai

Sep 1
2 min

Public Data Scraping Likely Does Not Violate CFAA

The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act (CFAA) prohibits accessing a computer without authorization. It is violated when a person circumvents a ...

Not Every Job Change Terminates Non Competes

Paul Peter Nicolai

Aug 25
1 min

Not Every Job Change Terminates Non Competes

A 1968 decision has been consistently argued to terminate old noncompete agreements. A court has ruled that not every job change will cause

Liability for Work from Home and Personal Email Policies

Paul Peter Nicolai

Aug 11
1 min

Liability for Work from Home and Personal Email Policies

Allowing employees to work from home and use their personal emails for business, the firm created a cyber-security risk.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Aug 4
1 min

Sale Taxable Without A Transfer

The Massachusetts Supreme Court announced that transfer of title or possession is not required to find that a taxable event occurred.

Wage Act Claims Against Company Officials Dismissed

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jul 28
1 min

Wage Act Claims Against Company Officials Dismissed

A Massachusetts federal court judge dismissed Wage Act claims brought against individuals for lack of jurisdiction.

First Amendment Can Apply to Facebook Pages

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jul 10
2 min

First Amendment Can Apply to Facebook Pages

This decision is one of the first to explicitly hold that Facebook pages can be public forums, laying down an important marker that freedom

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jun 23
2 min

VOLUNTEER DIRECTORS IMMUNE

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has issued a broad decision immunizing volunteer directors to Massachusetts nonprofits from liability and...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jun 9
1 min

Arbitration Notice Succeeds

A Plaintiff sued her employer saying it misclassified her as an independent contractor and failed to pay her minimum wages. The court dis...

Supreme Court Says Willful Infringement Not Required to Award Profits In Trademark Cases

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jun 2
1 min

Supreme Court Says Willful Infringement Not Required to Award Profits In Trademark Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a trademark infringement plaintiff does not have to show willful infringement to get an award of profits.

Paul Peter Nicolai

May 5
1 min

RETALIATION TRIPLES DAMAGES

Commissions not yet owed became lost wages when an employer retaliated against an employee foir complaining about commissions nonpayment.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 28
1 min

Oops...Corporate Debt Gets Personal

Corporate debts can get personal if you make a mistake trying to avoid them.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 14
1 min

Depression Leads to Discrimination

An employee diagnosed with depression blurted out he was resigning. When he retracted his resignation, the employer refused to allow it a...

Commercial Landlord & Tenant – Possession

Paul Peter Nicolai

Apr 7
1 min

Commercial Landlord & Tenant – Possession

Commercial tenants may not be able to stop eviction by filing a prior case for damages.

Uber’s Arbitration Terms Ruled Unenforceable

Paul Peter Nicolai

Mar 31
1 min

Uber’s Arbitration Terms Ruled Unenforceable

Uber's contracting process has been ruled ineffective.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Mar 17
1 min

Limitations Waiver Unenforceable

The Virginia Supreme Court has decided that some contractual waivers of statute of limitations are unenforceable.

Paul Peter Nicolai

Mar 10
1 min

Employee Misclassification Spreads

The danger of misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor is growing with the new ABC test.

Government Agencies Cannot Seek Patent Review

Paul Peter Nicolai

Feb 11
1 min

Government Agencies Cannot Seek Patent Review

In 2011 Congress passed the America Invents Act (“AIA”). It changed the patent system from a first-to-invent to a first-inventor-to-file ...

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jan 28
2 min

Overtime Exemptions Redefined

A ruling from the Supreme Court overturns 80 years of case law on the subject of FLSA overtime exemptions.

Paid Administrative Leave Not Necessarily Safe Harbor

Paul Peter Nicolai

Jan 21
2 min

Paid Administrative Leave Not Necessarily Safe Harbor

A court has ruled that paid administrative leave does not necessarily shield an employer from employment litigation liability.

{"items":["5f0deef254140d00171444a5","5f0ced5f476f1a001754c5f0","5f0ce69e40161a0017f9c62f","5f0ccb6de1e1ae00170775a7","5f0a2ebdbb44160017871087","5f09efc38a7946001888b8c1","5f09ea58fdf2ba00173158a8","5ecfc1615180b600174b1313","5ecec7209f5ac9001860e10a","5ecec08f4801710017d223e4","5e9e0ca096ceb2001747c31e","5e9e04a5a0a0100018e0901e","5e8b69faf44d500017d7df8d","5e6fed918abf7d0017e799c3","5e6ac8101669ae0017298717","5e4c65475f768d0017806a10","5e4c61689f58b20017563726","5e24b46e7f4319003b695c49","5e163e06c9babd00177bf3d5","5e14795179397100189f0130"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":940,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":16,"galleryMargin":0,"floatingImages":0,"chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCubeRatio":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":false,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"useCustomButton":false,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryHorizontalAlign":"center","galleryTextAlign":"center","galleryVerticalAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"expand","fullscreen":true,"allowSocial":true,"allowDownload":false,"allowTitle":true,"allowDescription":false,"loveButton":true,"loveCounter":false,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","scrollDirection":0,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowTitleExpand":true,"allowDescriptionExpand":true,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"AUTOMATIC","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"textsVerticalPadding":0,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"titleDescriptionSpace":6,"customButtonText":"","customButtonBorderWidth":1,"customButtonBorderRadius":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":940,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_16","value":"rgba(0,35,70,1)"},"galleryLayout":2,"modifiedGallerySize":true,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":1440,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}