National Conference of State Legislatures’ Post

I'm about to do something controversial. I'm going to try to predict the non-murder cases for the February #MassSJC sitting. I'm basing my predictions on "Ready"cases, i.e, ones that are fully briefed. Comm. v. Barros, SJC-13506 (#Crimmigration and the #righttocounsel, good luck to Edward Crane) Comm. v. Scordino, SJC-13474, and Comm. v. Oliver, SJC-13486 (#CriminalLaw, on proof of intent in uttering false check cases, good luck to Joshua Daniels, counsel for Oliver) Boston Teachers Union v. Boston Public Schools, SJC-13491 (on #arbitration, waves to Lan Kantany and Chelsea Choi) Business Interiors Floors v. Graycor Construction, SJC-13507 (#constructionlaw and #LaborLaw) Hanley v. New England Auto Max, SJC-13419 (#211three, on #civilpractice and #litigation, the amount in controversy requirement in the #DistrictCourt) Comm. v. Smith, SJC-13403 (Post rescript #firstdegreemurder case.) There are two other cases that may fit that are awaiting red briefs-one is more likely than the other. I was hoping to hit 10. But I think 7 is good. And some of these cases deserve their own previews. Later. #MassSJCUpdate #MassSJC #AppellateLinkedIn

Well, the #MassSJC's February calendar is now up! How'd I do prediction wise? https://lnkd.in/giTz3hk Monday, February 5: Scordino, SJC-13474, Oliver,, SJC-13486, (#criminallaw, on proof of intent in uttering false check cases), and Hanley, SJC-13419 (#211three on the amount in controversy requirement in the #DistrictCourt.) Wednesday, February 7: Graycor, SJC-13507 (#constructionlaw and #LaborLaw) and Barros, SJC-13506 (#crimmigration)! Boston Teachers Union and Smith didn't go on. But, 5 out of 7? Pretty good, IMHO! #MassHealth comes up in Frenier v. Sudders, SJC-13514. And #Pretrialdetention does too in Campbell, SJC-13504. #CivilCommitments for #addiction are also there in SJC-13492 and SJC-13493. I thought Campbell might be paired with Miele, SJC-13523, but not yet. I think I'll make another March prediction, what do you think faithful followers? #MassSJCUpdate #thisiswhyitsgreattobealawyer #AppellateLinkedIn

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The federal Advisory Committee on Civil Procedure will hold two more public hearings on the proposed FRCP 16.1 for MDLs. LCJ is advocating for much-needed reforms to improve the proposal, and these hearings are your opportunity to ensure that the final rules will be fair to companies and the defense bar. Many of today’s ad hoc MDL procedures are unbalanced, and the FRCP should be updated to avoid problems including meritless claims. Read Lawyers for Civil Justice’s comment here: https://bit.ly/49L3te2. 

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Parmar v Parmar, 2024 ABKB 6 (CanLII) https://lnkd.in/gpaMDtmc This recent property division case from the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, outlines the importance of counsel working together to prepare Books of Exhibits for Trial.  In mid 2022, Counsel for the Plaintiff and the Defendant received a procedural order requiring the parties to submit an agreed upon exhibit book for filing prior to trial. Neither party did so.  In fact, when the trial started on November 28th, 2023, 18 months after the procedural order was pronounced, the wife’s counsel presented a binder (Exhibit 1), which lacked organization, containing repetitive and disorganized documents that only partially supported the wife’s claimed expenses. After the lunch break, the husband’s counsel presented two binders (Exhibit 4) consisting of his entire document production. However, neither Exhibit 1 nor Exhibit 4 included a table of contents, index, or document descriptions, and many pages were not referenced during testimony or argument. In his 21-page decision, which mostly consisted of the descriptions of each asset and the equalization of same, which it appears the honourable Justice G.S. Dunlop had to piece together from these binders presented at trial. Justice Dunlop stated, “The introduction of a large amount of irrelevant material into evidence is improper. This is particularly so when the parties had been ordered more than a year before trial to submit an agreed-upon exhibit book.” Given the misconduct, Justice Dunlop ordered each party to bear their own costs.   #PropertyDivision #CourtOfKingsBench #CounselCollaboration #TrialPreparation #ExhibitBook #ProceduralOrder #LegalMisconduct #DocumentOrganization #TrialProcedure #LegalEthics #TrialFailures #LegalLesson #JudicialDecision #CostsAllocation #LegalProcedure

Did you miss this? It’s an honor to be called upon in our industry expertise. Bernstein-Burkley partner Keri Ebeck discussed a panel topic for Lorman Education Services on May 22, 2024. The panel focused on procedural and legal aspects of discharge and non-dischargeable matters in bankruptcy, discussing discharge requirements under each chapter and exceptions. Catch up on this discussion: https://ow.ly/LkcS50RYqKz #bbpc #bblaw

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Read our reviews of local law firms - https://lnkd.in/eNx3rTDK

Read our reviews of local law firms - https://lnkd.in/eNx3rTDK