Mass Law Blog
Intellectual property and business litigation, Massachusetts and nationallyWritten by humans
Lee Gesmer’s Mass Law Blog began in 2005, and contains almost 600 posts. The site initially focused on Massachusetts law, but today it follows business and intellectual property law nation-wide. The site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm represents startup and established companies in the areas of litigation, transactions (including financings, mergers and acquisitions), IP rights, taxation, employment law, standards consortia, business counseling and open source development projects and foundations. You can find a summary of the firm’s services here. To learn how Gesmer Updegrove can help you, contact: Lee Gesmer
Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Judgment
One of the most highly respected Massachusetts Superior Court Judges, Allan van Gestel, retired on December 31, 2007, at the age of 72. A recent press release from JAMS shows that Judge van Gestel is following the time-honored practice of becoming a mediator and arbitrator for JAMS (or another large mediation/arbitration organization). A lot of judges that try this really don't seem very well suited for the task, for reasons that escape me. Maybe they have a hard time transitioning from a...
The "Alliance for Open Competition" or "Noncompete Agreements Should Not Be Enforceable in Massachusetts"
In December I wrote a post title Why Has Silicon Valley Outperformed Boston/Route 128 as a High Tech Hub? The topic was whether the legality of noncompete agreements ("NCAs") in Massachusetts has put the state at a disadvantage to California, where NCAs are not enforceable. The Alliance for Open Competition is a blog where people and organizations who would like Massachusetts to join California (and other states) and make NCAs illegal express their views on this issue. The first entry in the...
First Circuit Widens Door to Claims of "Hostile Work Environment"
The words "hostile work environment" get tossed around a lot by lawyers. But, just what constitutes a hostile environment that's actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is uncertain. It's sort of a "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it" standard. That standard may work at the two extremes (clearly egregious vs. obviously benign behavior), but it can be difficult to apply in the grey zone. The First Circuit has weighed in on this issue with an important decision,...
SJC Approves Joint Defense Agreements in Massachusetts
Lately, I've had a number of cases where the lawyer for a co-defendant wants to cooperate. Because this usually involves sharing attorney-client privileged information, we agree that our discussions are covered by the "joint defense privilege," and sometimes enter into a "joint defense agreement." Recent discussions in this area reminded me that I never mentioned the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's 2007 decision in Hanover Insurance Company v. Rapo, where the SJC, for the first time,...
This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact:
Lee Gesmer