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
Lawyers Gone Wild (rated PG 13)
I've debated with myself whether to post this video of Joe Jamail, the Texas lawyer who won a 10 billion dollar verdict in the infamous (in the 1980s) Penzoil v. Texaco case. Of course, my colleagues, trouble makers that they are, encouraged me to publish this. Click here to see the video. The background of this case, which was a cause celebre of major proportions at the time, is discussed here. Old Joe got a whopping $1 billion contingent fee out of this case (which settled for $3 billion),...
"If America Wants to be the Massage Capital of the World, We're Well on Our Way"
What I'm Reading. Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, held in London on June 22, 1897, was one of the grandest fetes the world has ever seen: 46,000 troops and 11 colonial prime ministers arrived from the four corners of the earth to pay homage to their sovereign. The event was as much a celebration of Victoria's 60 years on the throne as it was of Britain's superpower status. In 1897, Queen Victoria ruled over a quarter of the world's population and a fifth of its territory, all connected by...
Trying to Enforce Your Noncompete? – Denied, Denied and Denied Again
Noncompete Agreements. Plaintiffs trying to obtain preliminary injunctions to enforce noncompete contracts in the Massachusetts states courts are off to a bad start this year. In February Superior Court Judge Richard Connon refused to enforce a noncompete clause against a former employee for a reason we see all to often: the employee signed the noncompete with one company, and then worked for another (presumably related) company with which he had not signed a noncompete. Sorry, this may be...
Making Money Selling Music Without DRM: The Rise Of eMusic
What I'm Reading. A fascinating, in depth article about my favorite music download site, eMusic.com: The Holy Grail of online music sales is the ability to offer iPod-compatible tracks. Like the quest for the mythical cup itself, the search for iPod compatibility has been largely fruitless for Apple's competitors, whose DRM schemes are incompatible with the iconic music player. For a music store that wants to succeed, reaching the iPod audience is all but a necessity in the US market, where...
Are We Losing the War for Innovation? (Part I)
What I'm Reading. Some interesting thoughts on American education (or the decline and fall of same) by blogger Bob Kronish [link] This opening anecdote/joke on the evolution of teaching math since 1950 will give you a sense of his point of view: Here is how it progresses: Teaching math in 1950: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5th of the price. What is his profit? Teaching math in 1960: a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of...
Law Firm's "Cynical Shenanigans" Draw Wrath of Massachusetts Judge
What Were They Thinking? Even the least experienced Massachusetts lawyer knows that when an answer to a lawsuit is not filed within the requisite 20 days and a default judgment is issued, the default is easily set aside as a matter of course based on even the flimsiest excuse. And, if the answer is filed only one day late professional courtesy mandates that the plaintiff permit the defendant to file late. Apparently some lawyers in a large Boston law firm (unidentified) never got this message:...
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