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On June 13, 2014, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision in Commonwealth v. Steven J. Morse reversing the defendant’s conviction for misleading a police officer under Massachusetts’ witness intimidation statute, G.L. c. 268 s. 13B. As a result of the reversal, the defendant’s sentence will be reduced significantly. Monica Shah submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of the defendant on this issue. The amicus brief and SJC’s decision can be found by clicking on the respective links.

On June 4, 2014, Monica Shah argued before the Court of the Appeals for the First Circuit to prevent the extradition of a client, who suffers from serious mental illness and is highly suicidal, to the United Kingdom. In light of the gravity of the issues presented, the lower court had stayed the extradition order and granted the client bail pending appeal. The Court of Appeals has taken the appeal under advisement. The Boston Globe article on the case can be accessed here.

In May 2014, the firm obtained a very favorable settlement for a Department of Correction employee who alleged that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Governor’s Office, the Executive Office for Public Safety and Security, and the Department of Correction discriminated and retaliated against her on the basis of her political beliefs, her request for protected medical leave, and her complaints that the Commonwealth failed to pay her promised pay raise when she was promoted to a higher position and paid her substantially less than her male counterparts for equal work.

In May 2014, David Duncan and Naomi Shatz won an appeal with a student originally disciplined by her graduate program for plagiarism. On appeal the school agreed with the student that she was improperly given a failing grade for a clinical internship based on the allegation of plagiarism, and reversed the imposition of the grade.

In April 2014 Naomi Shatz and Norman Zalkind favorably settled a claim on behalf of their client, a young woman who was viciously attacked by a dog as she walked by him on the street.

The Hanging Judge is the first novel by Judge Michael A. Ponsor of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Emma Quinn-Judge reviewed the book in the March 2014 edition of The Champion, the journal of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Her review can be read here.

On March 7, 2014, Emma Quinn-Judge argued to the Massachusetts Appeals Court that the 2011 jury verdict awarding our client $1.1 million in punitive damages, which had been vacated by the trial judge, should be reinstated. She also argued a related appeal regarding the scope of the attorney’s fees provision in chapter 151B, the Massachusetts antidiscrimination law. A decision is not anticipated for several months.

The firm has joined Twitter, follow us @zalkindlaw. We’ll be tweeting news about our work and legal issues around the country. You can also “like” us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with the latest ZDB news.

David Belfort, Inga Bernstein, Eugenia Guastaferri, Scott Connolly, and Peter Lauriat served as panelists at the MCLE discussion.

In February 2014, Inga Bernstein served on the faculty of a Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education program titled, “Proving & Valuing Damages in Employment Cases.” Ms. Bernstein spoke to an audience of attorneys about issues related to damages including how to maximize damages for employment plaintiffs in cases in court and before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

In February 2014, David Duncan and Rachel Stroup successfully obtained summary judgment for our clients, directors and shareholders of a small corporation, on breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by the plaintiff. Relying on Delaware law, Duncan and Stroup argued that the plaintiff filed too late because the statute of limitations began to run not when the action that allegedly injured the plaintiff was taken, but when the directors took the vote that led to that action. The Massachusetts Superior Court judge agreed and dismissed the plaintiff’s lawsuit in its entirety.