CFAA – Confidentially Yours or Mine?

Confidentially, how good is your NDA –  the Non-Disclosure Agreement you have your employees sign periodically? For the time being, it appears better to be in New England to protect your private data where the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld legal protections under federal law. In the Pacific Northwest –  the 9th […]

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Shareholders and Trade Restrictions

Have you heard about Demoulas Super Markets (DSM) interesting family litigation? While many people know of its stores, few know that DSM has been a significant source of Massachusetts’ corporate laws about shareholder disputes. * The history of the family litigation reads like some TV courtroom drama, with a greedy uncle taking advantage of his […]

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Employee Handbooks: Everything You Need To Know To Keep You Out Of Trouble

Today we present a guest article by my colleague,  Jeanne M. Colachio, Esq.  We both presented at the recent Lorman Employment Law Update seminar,  for the second year.  She agreed to become my first guest blogger and has great advice about employee handbooks. We wanted to share her excellent advice with you. EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS: EVERYTHING […]

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Age Discrimination Defense: Factors Other Than Age

BTW, have you noticed our blog has a new name? With age discrimination cases, claims that business practices have a disparate impact on people protected by the ADEA* can make it difficult to mount a strong defense. The ADEA was created to prohibit discrimination in employment against people ages 40 and older, and has since […]

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Get Serious with Series LLCs to Save Costs?

Get Serious with Series LLCs to Save Costs? An article by a Robert Geurden about a novel idea here in Massachusetts called the Series LLC recently appeared in Mass. Lawyers Weekly. I wanted to comment on it, share the concept, and urge our business community and legislators to push for a change in the law […]

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Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) new 2013 rules

The new Family Medical Leave Act  (FMLA) Rules were put into effect as of March 8, 2013! We have touched upon the FMLA in the past, and the military provisions in particular. These Department of Labor rules have bloomed like crocuses in the spring and, if you are a family in need, they are just […]

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Waiving Wage Act Claims

A recent case as resulted in an important update to the Wage Act, concerning statute of limitations and what is a valid release. The Townsend Oil Company, Inc., barely a stone throw away from my office, was in court over a Wage Act dispute involving two important legal doctrines for employers and employees:  independent contractors […]

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Applications: Best Hiring Practices Part 2

The challenge for employers, their HR staff, and hiring managers is to absorb enough employment law to make the right decisions. Here are 10 of my favorite tips about the hiring process/application forms: Some Massachusetts Hiring Application Requirements Lie Detectors – A Statement that Lie Detector Tests are unlawful in Massachusetts   as a condition of […]

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The VPA: Asset Protections Part II

In the first of our two-part series, we talked about certain protections for profit corporations.* Today we review the considerably greater protections for volunteers, including volunteer officers and directors serving non-profit, charitable corporations under the VPA. The doctrine of the Corporate Shield (or Veil) protects those owning interests in for profit Corporations, and those in […]

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