Published:
September 20, 2007
Judges
may compel fiscal appropriations
A
judge has the inherent power to bind the state contractually for expenses
reasonably necessary to the operation of his court and may issue ex parte
orders for the payment of such obligations even though there exists no prior
state appropriation to cover those expenses.
O'Coin's,
Inc. v. Treasurer of the County of Worcester, et al., 362 Mass. 507
Leases
are recognized as contracts
A
lease will from this point forward be considered a contract between a landlord
and tenant, not the conveyance of an estate in real property for a term.
Boston
Housing Authority v. Hemingway,
363 Mass. 184
Discovery
rule applied to legal malpractice
The
statute of limitations begins to run in legal malpractice cases only when the
lawyer's alleged misconduct was discovered or should reasonably have been
discovered.
Hendrickson,
et al. v. Sears, 365
Mass. 83
Recovery
allowed for wrongful death of fetus
A
fetus is a person for purposes of the Massachusetts wrongful death statute.
Mone,
administrator v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., et al., 368 Mass. 354
No
PIP benefits for workers' compensation recipient
A
person insured under a motor vehicle liability policy is precluded from
receiving "personal injury protection" benefits if he is entitled to
workers' compensation for injuries received while operating a vehicle within
the course of his employment.
Flaherty
v. The Travelers Insurance Company,
369 Mass. 482
Landlords
have duty to care for common areas
Landlords
owe tenants a continuing duty to exercise reasonable care in keeping common
areas safe.
King
v. G & M Realty Corporation,
373 Mass. 658
Products
liability claim accrues on date of injury
The
limitations period in products liability actions based on negligence must be
measured from the date of injury, not the date of manufacture.
Cannon
v. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Inc.,
374 Mass. 739
Incapacity
benefits allowed for mental injury
An
employee is legally entitled to workers' compensation if he becomes
incapacitated by a mental or emotional disorder growing out of specific
stressful work-related incidents.
Albanese's
Case, 378 Mass. 14
Death
penalty ruled unconstitutional
The
state's death penalty statute must be struck down as unconstitutional, in that
it is unacceptably cruel under contemporary standards of decency and would
inevitably be administered with arbitrariness and discrimination.
District
Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson, 381 Mass. 648
Ante
nuptial agreement is upheld
An
ante nuptial agreement that set forth the rights of a husband and wife in the
event of divorce was binding as to alimony and the division of property.
Osborne
v. Osborne, 384 Mass.
591
Law
firm barred from opposing former client
A
law firm may not act as plaintiff's counsel against a company that it defended
in other matters without the consent of all parties.
McCourt
Properties v. FTC Properties,
386 Mass. 145
Arbitrary
drunk-driving roadblocks ruled illegal
Arbitrary
roadblock stops to detect drunk drivers are unconstitutional.
Commonwealth
v. McGeoghegan, 389
Mass. 137
Grantee
gets choice when deed description varies
If
a deed to convey land employs two conflicting descriptions of the property, the
grantee may adopt the description most beneficial to him.
Bernard
v. Nantucket Boys Club, Inc.,
391 Mass. 823
State
constitution demands more than U.S. Constitution for valid search
Article
14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights provides more substantial
protection to criminal defendants than does the Fourth Amendment in
determinations of probable cause for search warrants.
Commonwealth
v. Upton, 394 Mass. 363
Paternity
test found to be admissible
Results
of human leukocyte antigen testing are admissible under controlled conditions
as evidence in paternity proceedings.
Commonwealth
v. Beausoleil, 397 Mass.
206
'Issue'
of decedent includes illegitimate children
If
the term "issue" is left unexplained in a will or trust instrument
executed after April 16, 1987, it will be considered to include all biological
descendants whether legitimate or illegitimate.
Powers,
trustee v. Wilkinson,
399 Mass. 650
Corporations
must be represented by lawyers
In
all judicial proceedings other than small claims matters, corporations may not
be represented by corporate officers who are not licensed to practice law in
Massachusetts.
Varney
Enterprises, Inc. v. WMF, Inc.,
402 Mass. 79
Fiduciary
duty of law partners clarified
Lawyers
violated their fiduciary duty to their former partnership where, after deciding
to form a new partnership, they secretly sought existing clients' authorization
to remove cases to the new firm and did not clearly inform those clients of
their right to choose who would continue to represent them.
Meehan,
et al. v. Shaughnessy, et al.,
404 Mass. 419
Parents
get damages for loss of adult child's companionship
Damages
for loss of an adult unmarried child's companionship and society are available
in a wrongful death action to the decedent's parents as next of kin.
Schultz
v. Grogean, 406 Mass.
364
Summary
judgment burden explained
A
party in a civil action moving for summary judgment on a claim on which the
opposing party will have the burden of proof at trial is entitled to summary
judgment if it demonstrates, by reference to materials described in Mass. R.
Civ. P. 56(c), unmet by countervailing materials, that the opposing party has
no reasonable expectation of proving an essential element of that party's case.
Kourouvacilis
v. General Motors Corporation,
410 Mass. 706
Lead
paint held not 'pollutant' for insurance purposes
The
lead in paint is not a "pollutant" as that term is generally used in
the pollution exclusion clauses of comprehensive liability policies and
therefore insurers cannot normally rely on such clauses to avoid their duty to
defend landlords against damage suits filed on behalf of child tenants
allegedly injured by eating lead paint.
Atlantic
Mutual Insurance Company v. McFadden,
413 Mass. 90
Age
discrimination victims cannot be awarded punitive damages under state law
Punitive
damages are not available to a plaintiff who wins an age discrimination suit
under the state anti-discrimination statute.
Fontaine
v. Ebtec Corporation,
415 Mass. 309
Jurors
may not be excluded based on gender
Under
the Massachusetts Constitution, it is impermissible to use gender to eliminate
prospective jurors.
Commonwealth
v. Fructman, 418 Mass. 8
Burden
of proof defined in employment bias cases
Once
a plaintiff charging employment discrimination under G.L.c. 151B shows that a
defendant employer's nondiscriminatory reasons for termination are false, the
plaintiff will prevail even without presenting direct proof of discrimination
or excluding all other possible explanations for the discharge.
Blare
v. Husky Injection Molding Systems Boston, Inc., 417 Mass. 437
Evidence
of settlement ruled generally inadmissible
No
evidence of a settlement or its amount is admissible in a tort case unless such
evidence is relevant on some issue other than damages.
Morea, administratrix v.
Cosco, Inc., 422 Mass.
601
No
warnings required before alphabet test
The
police need not give Miranda warnings to a motorist who has been stopped for
alleged drunk driving before asking the motorist to recite the alphabet.
Vanhouton
v. Commonwealth, 424
Mass. 327
Claimant's
conduct may free insurer from G.L.c. 176D liability
If
an auto insurance claimant seeking in excess of the policy limit will not
settle all claims against the policyholder that are covered by the policy, the
insurance company does not violate G.L.c. 176D by refusing to pay the policy limit.
Lazaris
v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance Company, 482 Mass. 502
Real
property purchase offer signed by both parties established binding contract
A
real estate purchase offer, which was signed by a plaintiff and a defendant
property owner, created a binding agreement to sell the property, even though a
purchase and sale agreement was never executed.
McCarthy
v. Tobin, 429 Mass. 84
Testator's
children barred from suing for legal malpractice
An
attorney could not be sued for malpractice by the children of a testator whose
will the lawyer had prepared.
Miller,
et al. v. Mooney, 431
Mass. 57
Juror
questioning of witnesses held generally permissible
The
practice of allowing jurors to ask witnesses questions is generally acceptable
in both criminal and civil cases, with some restrictions.
Commonwealth
v. Britto, 434 Mass. 285
Suit
allowed against medical practice group
A
woman whose baby was delivered stillborn at a hospital after an auto accident
could sue the medical practice group that employed the treating doctor, even
though the group had no apparent decision-making authority over the doctor.
Dias,
et al. v. Brigham Medical Associates, Inc., 438 Mass. 317
State
constitution found to grant same-sex couples the right to marry
Under
the Massachusetts Constitution, same-sex couples cannot be excluded from the
benefits and obligations of marriage.
Goodridge,
et al. v. Department of Public Health, et al., 440 Mass. 309
No
post-MCAD right to jury trial for bias-claim respondents
Respondents
to bias claims at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination are not
legally entitled to a de novo jury trial in Superior Court following an
unfavorable administrative ruling.
Stonehill
College v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, et al., 441 Mass. 549
Chapter
151B claims freed from immunity cap
The
charitable immunity cap does not apply to claims brought under G.L.c. 151B.
Ayash
v. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, et al., 443 Mass. 367
No
duty owed by commercial landlord to non-tenants
A
commercial landlord owes no duty of care to non-tenants legitimately on the
leased premises.
Humphrey
v. Byron, et al., 447
Mass. 322
Perpetuities
rule not infringed by unlimited first-refusal right
A
right of first refusal unlimited by any time restriction is not in violation of
the rule against perpetuities.
Bortolotti
v. Hayden, 449 Mass. 193
Attorney
for Plaintiff: Thomas P. Carpenter, Ardito, Sweeney, Stusse, Robertson &
Dupuy, West Yarmouth