News
Client Advisory – Change to the Massachusetts Tax Exemption
On October 4, 2023, the first increase in the Massachusetts estate tax exemption in almost 20 years was signed into law…
Client Advisory – The SECURE Act and its Impact on Retirement Planning
Our Trusts and Estates attorneys have been closely monitoring the SECURE Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. SECURE stands for “Setting Every Community Up…
Arbitration – Pre-award interest
Where an arbitrator, having found in favor of a plaintiff subcontractor, awarded interest in an amount far below that requested by the plaintiff …
Estate Planning In Light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Our Trusts and Estates attorneys have been closely monitoring The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on December 22nd. We have been assessing the impact of…
General contractor liable for ‘loss of productivity’ by sub
A “no-damages-for-delay” clause in a construction contract did not bar claims for additional labor costs incurred by a subcontractor due to loss of productivity resulting from …
Taxation – Real estate valuation
Where the owner of a ranch-style dwelling on Clifton Street in Belmont claims that the property was overvalued by the town assessors for fiscal year 2007, the claim of overvaluation is …
General contractor liable for subcontractor’s ‘loss of productivity’
A “no-damages-for-delay” clause in a construction contract did not bar claims for additional labor costs incurred by a subcontractor due to loss of productivity resulting from the general contractor’s failure to …
Contract – Construction – Delay – Lost productivity
Where a judge awarded a subcontractor damages for loss of productivity incurred while working for the defendant general contractor on a large construction project, the judgment should be …
Client Advisory – Massachusetts Sick Leave Law
On November 4, 2014, Massachusetts voters approved a law to provide earned sick leave to Massachusetts employees. The new sick leave law, to be enacted as G.L. Ch. 149, § 148C, affects all Massachusetts employers. Employers with eleven or more employees must provide employees paid sick time while employers with fewer than eleven employees must give employees unpaid sick time…
‘No damages for delay’ clause doesn’t bar recovery
A “no damages for delay” clause did not preclude a subcontractor from recovery after it incurred “loss of productivity” as a result of the general contractor’s mismanagement of the project …
Contract – Construction – Delay – Loss of productivity
Where a defendant general contractor breached its obligation to the plaintiff, a subcontractor retained to furnish labor and material for the drywall and ceiling portions of a state …
Client Advisory – American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
Among many other aspects of our federal tax policy, the new Act addresses the federal transfer tax legislation that was set to sunset on December 31, 2012, directly impacting many of our estate planning clients…
Taxation – Condominium unit
Where the Belmont assessors valued a condominium unit at $1,311,000 for fiscal year 2009, the valuation was excessive by $111,000 and thus an abatement will be ordered. …
Client Advisory – Repeal of the Federal Estate Tax
As many of you have likely heard, the federal estate and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) taxes have been repealed as of January 1, 2010. The repeal is the result of legislation passed in 2001, which provided for a gradual increase in the exemption amount to a maximum of $3.5 million in 2009 and culminating in the complete elimination of the estate and GST taxes for 2010. While it was widely expected that Congress would take action before the end of 2009 to resolve the fate of the estate tax, it failed to do so…
Civil practice – Appeal dismissal – ‘Appeal on Record of Proceedings’
Where a defendant failed to file a timely designation of “Appeal on the Record of Proceedings,” a judge rightly dismissed the defendant’s appeal. “Here [defendant Robert] Mosher filed his …