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Published by the Boston Bar Association on October 25, 2024 (here). The importance of public service and academic excellence was instilled in Chris Netski at a young age while she was growing up in upstate New York. Both her parents were public educators and the first in their families to go to college. Her late father, a first-generation Polish-American who went to college under the G.I. Bill following service in World War II, understood the importance of equal opportunity and promoted diversity and inclusion throughout his career, including helping to lead the effort to integrate the public schools in their town in the late 1960s. Her parents’ commitment to their community and their positive influence on the lives of so many young people continue to inspire Netski today. “They inspired me to always be alert to how I might contribute to the betterment of our society, and they taught me…
Sugarman Rogers partners Anthony M. Doniger, Lisa C. Goodheart and C. Dylan Sanders have been recognized by Chambers USA 2020. Doniger received a top “band 1” ranking for his High Net Worth success in the area of family law. Goodheart received a top “band 1” ranking for her work in Environmental Law as well as a “band 2” ranking in the area of General Commercial Litigation. Sanders received a “band 3” ranking in the area of Environmental Law. Chambers USA described Anthony M. Doniger as “a notable litigator who regularly handles sophisticated matrimonial matters, including divorces.” A peer stated that Doniger “is someone we have traditionally referred clients to a lot of the time. He's really well respected in the Boston community." Lisa C. Goodheart “has a first-class environmental practice and frequently counsels clients on high-profile disputes” according to Goodheart’s Chambers USA review. One peer commented that Goodheart is “the…
Retail stores, restaurants, and other commercial tenants are shut down. Shipments of parts are delayed. Long-planned vacations and wedding celebrations have been cancelled. Childcare facilities and gyms are closed indefinitely. From corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables, the economic impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the resultant lockdowns are impossible to ignore—to say nothing of its devastating public health impacts. Among the myriad ways the virus has disrupted life in recent weeks, COVID-19 is wreaking unprecedented havoc on the performance of contractual agreements—from industrial to personal—raising thorny questions about who bears the costs when obligations aren’t met, and what remedies are available to parties who do not receive the benefit of their bargain. While the challenges presented by this pandemic may be unique, there are a number of established legal concepts that provide a framework for addressing these questions and determining the respective rights and obligations of companies and individuals…
Sugarman Rogers partners Lisa Goodheart and Dylan Sanders have been recognized by Chambers USA 2019. Lisa received a top “Band 1” ranking for her work in Environmental Law as well as a “Band 2” ranking in the area of General Commercial Litigation. Dylan received a “Band 3” ranking in the area of Environmental Law. “Hailed as an ‘outstanding environmental litigator,’ Lisa Goodheart has an impeccable record serving clients on complex land use and environmental matters. A peer reports: ‘She is a terrific environmental litigator; she is very expert in this area, a strong advocate and just a pleasure to work with,’” reported Chambers USA. In the area of general commercial litigation, Chambers USA stated that “Lisa Goodheart is highly sought after for her prowess in contested real estate, energy and commercial matters. Sources praise her ‘tremendous gravitas’ and say: ‘She always does a great job with her case.’” Additionally, Chambers…
(This article originally appeared on the Boston Bar Association website. Reprinted here with permission.) The Boston Bar Association will honor Edward Barshak with its Lifetime Achievement Award on September 12 at the 2014 Annual Meeting Luncheon. A leader isn’t always the first one to speak up. A true leader exhibits command of speech so that when they do speak, their words carry weight. As we interviewed Boston’s most respected advocates and citizens for this profile, one phrase resonated among countless sound bites. “When Barshak speaks, everybody listens.” From Fitchburg’s Finest to One of Boston’s Best When he joined Mapplebeck, Alberts & Sugarman in 1957, Fitchburg native Edward J. Barshak had already carved out a reputation as one of Boston’s most promising trial attorneys. As the fifth attorney at what would later become Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, Ed set to work building what would soon become Boston’s top tier civil…
The Boston legal community has lost one of its finest. Edward J. Barshak passed away peacefully on August 12, 2020, at age 96. For more than five decades as one of our founding partners, Ed was an icon of the trial bar and a fearless defender of civil rights. As a young lawyer, he courageously represented lawyers charged with engaging in communist activities during the McCarthy investigations and achieved the groundbreaking SJC ruling in Brown v. Commonwealth, 335 Mass. 476 (1957), recognizing a right to counsel for criminal defendants under the Massachusetts constitution – six years before the US Supreme Court’s decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. He later represented Mitchell Goodman in the now-famous federal prosecution against Dr. Benjamin Spock, Goodman, and three other co-defendants for advocating resistance to the Vietnam-War draft, culminating in the 1969 First Circuit decision vacating their convictions. In her book about the Spock trial,…
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On February 6, 2013, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), the U.S. Department of Labor issued its Final Rule (the "2013 Regulations") on the FMLA. The 2013 Regulations become effective March 8, 2013. The 2013 Regulations incorporate -- and in some cases, expand -- the military leave amendments of 2008. Families of eligible veterans now have the same protections as families of active military service members. The definition of "serious injury or illness" now covers pre-existing conditions aggravated by military service. A new leave category, parental leave, has been added to the qualifying exigency leave. The period of leave to be granted for a service member's rest and recuperation has been extended from five to 15 days. In addition, private health care providers, not affiliated with the military healthcare system, are now authorized to issue FMLA certifications for military-related leave. Listed below is a…
Majority members of a limited liability company cannot rely upon the “exclusive remedy” provision in the Massachusetts Limited Liability Company statute (M.G.L. c. 156C) to prevent minority members from recovering certain equitable remedies in cases where the majority has breached its fiduciary duties to accomplish a merger that the minority opposed, according to the Supreme Judicial Court’s recent decision in W. Robert Allison v. Elof Eriksson. Indeed, the SJC held that trial courts have discretion to fashion equitable relief for minority LLC members wrongfully “frozen out” by majority members seeking to consolidate their control through mergers. Such relief may include rescission of the merger or, more commonly, modification of the new entity’s operating agreement to provide greater minority member protections. Here, Robert Allison and Elof Eriksson were the founders and sole members of Applied Tissue Technologies (ATT-MA), a Massachusetts LLC. Eriksson controlled roughly 75% of the company and Allison controlled…
In Esler v. Sylvia-Reardon and Massachusetts General Hospital, SJC-11899, 2015 WL 10435938 (Mar. 9, 2016), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) revived a verdict in favor of an employee who claimed that her employer’s refusal to reinstate her after she exhausted all available FMLA leave constituted unlawful retaliation. In doing so, the Court highlighted the distinction between the FMLA’s “prescriptive” and “proscriptive” provisions, reminding employers that providing an employee with all required leave under the statute does not insulate an employer from potential liability for retaliation. Esler, a dialysis nurse at MGH, requested and received four weeks of FMLA leave for anxiety, during which her treating physician advised her to engage in “pleasurable activities and light exercise” to help relieve her stress. While on leave, she traveled to New York to visit friends and fractured her wrist while ice-skating. Shortly thereafter, Esler received a “rather nasty” call from her supervisor…
The First Circuit federal appellate court has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by the Town of Westport against the chemical giant Monsanto and related entities, ruling that the company could not have foreseen, in 1969, that PCBs it sold to manufacturers of caulk could volatilize at levels harmful to humans, in uses such as the construction of a town school in Westport. The decision, in Town of Westport v. Monsanto Company, also is likely to lead to dismissal of a parallel lawsuit against Monsanto by the Town of Princeton, also pending in federal court. A third federal suit against Monsanto, brought by the Town of Lexington, was dismissed in 2015. All three towns were seeking to recover the costs of remediating the PCB-containing caulks in their school buildings. The fate of the three school cases illustrates the multitude of challenges in seeking to hold Monsanto itself liable…
Massachusetts’ new non-compete statute represents a substantial shift in the enforceability of restrictive covenants in this state. Employers that utilize these types of agreements will be well-served to closely examine their existing agreements and, in the weeks ahead, make the necessary revisions to ensure their new agreements will comply with all upcoming changes to the law. Moreover, given the many areas of uncertainty in the new statute, employers should consult knowledgeable counsel to identify potential problem areas, minimize exposure, and safeguard company information and goodwill.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that claims for unfair and deceptive acts against contractors under the state’s consumer protection act–Chapter 93A–where they are premised on a breach of the home improvement contractor law–Chapter 142A–must be brought within six years of completion of the project. This six year window is absolute, even where a consumer has no reason to suspect any wrongdoing, or where the defects have been intentionally concealed. The rare split decision, Bridgwood v. A.J. Wood Construction, Inc., is a significant win for the construction industry. And it is the first time that the SJC has held that the six year “statute of repose” that limits common law construction defect claims for negligence and breach of the implied warranty of habitability also limits claims under Chapter 93A alleging violations of the home improvement contractor law. The decision, authored by Justice Cypher, was not unanimous. A dissent, by…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this week significantly expanded state constitutional protection for parks and other open public spaces. In doing so, the court came down on the side of conservationists in a common dispute with public officials over potential use of municipal land for public improvements, including roads and schools, but also including other newer uses of municipal open space, such as for wind turbines and solar arrays. The SJC ruled, in Smith v. City of Westfield, that the defendant city could not, without a super-majority vote of the state legislature, build an elementary school on city land that had long been used as a public park, even though no written restriction was ever recorded designating the land for protection under Article 97 of the Massachusetts constitution, the state’s “Environmental Bill of Rights.” Reversing a decision of the Appeals Court, the SJC held that no such recording in the…
Citrix Remote Access https://remote.srbc.com You will need to download the Citrix client software before accessing the server. Clicking on this link should automatically detect your operating system and download the appropriate client for your computer: http://receiver.citrix.com **after installing on a MAC, click on this link to configure client settings: citrixreceiver://createprofile?pname=SRBC%20Citrix%20Applications&s=https%3A%2F%2Fremote.srbc.com&gw=0 Once you have the client software installed, point your browser to: https://remote.srbc.com If you have not installed the software prior to your first visit, you will be prompted to do so automatically. It is recommended you install the client from one of the above links prior to visiting the remote server. If you have installed the software, you will see a login screen. Simply enter your username and your network password. Once logged in, you may select individual applications to launch, or you may launch a desktop session. After you're done with your work, please make sure you log off…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has once again emphasized the high stakes, under the state’s consumer-protection statute, for an insurer who delays in settling a clear-liability case and allows the matter to go to trial. In its February 10, 2025 decision in Rhodes v. AIG Domestic Claims, Inc., the Court awarded $22.6 million in punitive damages—plus attorneys’ fees, on top of the $11.8 million already recovered by the plaintiffs—against an insurance claims service, AIGDC,1 for unfairly and willfully delaying settlement of a clear-liability automobile-accident case. The Court applied language of the Massachusetts consumer-protection statute, Chapter 93A, and made the $22.6 million award despite acknowledging that the figure bore no relationship to any identifiable harm caused by AIGDC’s settlement delay. The case arose from a 2002 accident in which a tractor-trailer rear-ended a car driven by 46-year-old Marcia Rhodes, who had been stopped by a police officer directing traffic around a…
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Sugarman Rogers Partner and MBA Civil Litigation Section Co-Chair Tony Agudelo will moderate a panel discussion at the Massachusetts Bar Association entitled "Making the Winning Argument" on Wednesday, November 12. Five master trial lawyers will deliver verdict-winning opening statements and closing arguments they gave in real-life headline-making cases, and will explain their goals and challenges in preparing the arguments. Cases and topics include: Price v. Ambrus M.D. ($7 million verdict; medical negligence case) Zeolla v. Ford Motor Company (rollover of Ford Expedition; wrongful death case) A multi-plantiff racial discrimination and harassment case (Employment law; defense verdict) Aleo v. Toys R Us ($20.6 million verdict; product liability/wrongful death case) The program is free for all MBA members. Full event details are listed below. Making the Winning Argument Wednesday, November 12 4:00–7:00 P.M. MBA | 20 West St., Boston Register online MODERATOR Anthony V. Agudelo - Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, PC FACULTY Rober M. Higgins - Lubin & Meyer…
In a case with significant implications for the management of the state’s shellfish industry, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled that local conservation commissions, acting under their authority from the state Wetlands Protection Act (WPA), may regulate hydraulic dredging for sea clams—even where doing so impinges on rights otherwise granted to fishermen under state permits from the Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF). In Aqua King Fishery v. Conservation Commission of Provincetown (June 16, 2024), the Appeals Court struck down a Provincetown bylaw that regulated hydraulic dredging, after finding the bylaw inconsistent with state law. But the Court also held, in a significant win for local jurisdictions, that Provincetown could regulate hydraulic dredging for sea clams in shallow waters in its capacity as the local enforcement authority under the state Wetlands Protection Act. Hydraulic dredging is a method for harvesting clams from the ocean floor. It uses high-pressure jets of water…
The Boston Bar Association (BBA) will honor Sugarman Rogers Partner Edward Barshak with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBA's Annual Meeting Luncheon on September 12. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes Ed's service to the BBA and his longstanding dedication to the equal and fair administration of justice. Ed served as President of the BBA for two terms (1974-1976), where he led the bar in educating the public about the desegregation movement and busing, made legal services a priority and called for a comprehensive review of the judicial nominating process. Sugarman Rogers' Managing Partner, Regina Roman, noted "Ed has been an exceptional role model and advocate for civil rights. Over the years, Ed has demonstrated a faithful commitment to public service, which continues to be one of the cornerstones of this firm today. On behalf of the partnership at Sugarman Rogers, we are proud to join the BBA in honoring our colleague, mentor and friend."…
In a decision published on February 29, 2016, Bulwer v. Mount Auburn Hospital (473 Mass 672), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified the evidentiary burden a plaintiff must meet to overcome a motion for summary judgment in an employment discrimination claim under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 4. The Court held that where a reasonable jury could infer from evidence presented by a plaintiff that an employer's justification for terminating the plaintiff was false, the question of whether the given justification was a pretext for discrimination must be presented to a jury. The plaintiff in Bulwer, a black male from Belize who held a medical degree from a foreign medical school, practiced medicine outside the United States for thirteen years. Plaintiff came to Mr. Auburn Hospital to complete a residency program so that he could practice in the United States. The residency agreement was for a one-year term, renewable…
Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen is proud to announce that all of their female partners have been named "Top Women Attorneys in Massachusetts" by Super Lawyers and were featured in the April issue of Boston magazine. Lisa C. Goodheart and Christine M. Netski both made the "Top 50 Women Attorneys in Massachusetts" list; Goodheart for her work in Environmental Litigation, and Netski for her work in Business Litigation. In addition, managing partner Regina E. Roman was recognized for her work in Insurance Coverage, along with Susan A. Hartnett. Alisa L. Hacker was featured for her work in Family Law, and Andrea Studley Knowles made the list for her work in Product Liability Defense. "We are so proud of this accomplished group. Their recognition further validates our long tradition at Sugarman Rogers of recruiting, hiring, promoting and supporting first-rate women lawyers," said William L. Boesch a partner and member of Sugarman…
An employee who was terminated as a result of her lawful medical use of marijuana has the right to sue her former employer for handicap discrimination under Massachusetts law, the state Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. In the decision, Barbuto v. Advance Sales and Marketing, the court held that while the Massachusetts statute legalizing medical marijuana does not authorize private lawsuits to enforce the right to use the drug, prescribed marijuana users who suffer adverse employment actions as a result of their use of the drug can file suit under the state’s antidiscrimination law, Massachusetts General Laws chapter 151B. The plaintiff, Cristina Barbuto, had a valid prescription to use marijuana as treatment for her Crohn’s disease. When Barbuto was hired to an entry-level position by Advance Sales and Marketing (ASM) and told that she would have to take a drug test, Barbuto explained to her supervisor that she would test…
Last week the cities of San Francisco and Oakland followed three other coastal California communities in filing lawsuits against the largest investor-owned fossil fuel companies, seeking to force them to create an “abatement fund” to pay for infrastructure costs—allegedly in the billions of dollars—the cities say they will incur to respond to sea level rise, storm surges and other effects of global warming. The lawsuits, which follow suits recently filed by Imperial Beach and by San Mateo and Marin counties, name as defendants BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell, among others. The suits allege that the companies have long understood that the use of the fossil fuels they extract, refine, market, and deliver would drastically change the earth’s climate. With Massachusetts’ coastal communities also facing billions of dollars in infrastructure, adaptation, and resiliency costs, are similar lawsuits in the Bay State soon to follow? The main legal theory in the California…
Sugarman Rogers has decades of experience representing stakeholders in complex real estate litigation. The breadth of our practice encompasses disputes involving commercial leases, local zoning, development-related permitting, facility siting, condominium issues, design and construction claims, brokerage claims, tittle issues, valuation disputes, and a broad range of other issues arising out of real estate transactions, property development, and land use regulation. Our clients include developers, owners, managers, investors, buyers, and sellers of commercial, industrial, mixed use, and residential properties. In addition to representing a range of business clients, we handle complex real estate disputes for public authorities, municipalities, schools and universities, land conservation groups, and other non-profit organizations. We are recognized as trial and appellate lawyers of the highest caliber. But our clients also value our ability to understand their objectives and, where appropriate, resolve disputes outside the courtroom. In each case, we collaborate with our clients to develop strategies tailored to achieve…
Lisa C. Goodheart has been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. The induction ceremony took place on September 29, 2018, at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the College, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, and attended by over 1,000 people. Lisa’s litigation practice spans a broad range of complex environmental, energy, land use, real estate, insurance, and business matters. On behalf of private and public sector clients, she has practiced for more than 30 years in state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels. Lisa chairs the Environmental and Energy Law and Real Estate Litigation Practice Groups at Sugarman Rogers, and has been consistently recognized by The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Who’s Who Legal, and Super Lawyers. She is a past President of the Boston Bar Association and has served…
Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2014 has recognized Sugarman Rogers partners Lisa Goodheart and Jean Musiker as leaders in their fields. In the 2014 directory, Lisa is described as “absolutely one of the top environmental litigators” and is recognized in the areas of Environmental Law (Band 1) and General Commercial Litigation (Band 3). Jean is named a leader in Labor & Employment (Band 4) and is regarded by her clients as “the ace in the hole.” Chambers USA is an annual publication distributed to general counsel of leading global and national businesses. Chambers researchers conduct in-depth interviews with in-house counsel and law firms, in an effort to systematically rank reliable and capable business lawyers. Full rankings and editorial commentary are available at http://www.chambersandpartners.com/.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court has reinstated a lawsuit brought by minority shareholders in a closely held medical-technology company against lawyers for the company at WilmerHale and another firm, holding that even though the shareholders had no contact with the lawyers and never relied on their advice or services, they could still sue the lawyers for their role in a scheme to alter the company’s structure. In the July 21 decision (Baker v. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP), the Appeals Court rejected—at least preliminarily—the lower court’s application of a number of established principles that normally limit the scope of an organizational lawyer’s duties to non-clients, suggesting that under the particular circumstances alleged in this case, the limiting principles may not apply. In simple outline, Robert Allison and Elof Eriksson formed a company to market and sell wound-healing technology that Eriksson had invented. Allison had a 25% interest in the…
A federal judge has ruled in favor of an energy company that seeks to build a natural-gas compressor station in Weymouth, Massachusetts as part of an interstate pipeline construction project. The ruling, in Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC v. Weymouth Conservation Commission, concluded that a ruling by the Weymouth conservation commission blocking the station under a local wetlands-protection ordinance conflicted with the exclusive authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and was therefore preempted. This ruling is an important development in an increasingly hard-fought area of litigation over expansion of natural-gas pipelines in the Northeast and nationally. The Weymouth compressor station at issue in the case was proposed by Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC, a recently acquired subsidiary of Enbridge, Inc., as part of its “Atlantic Bridge Project,” a plan to expand natural-gas pipelines and related facilities serving the Northeast and Canada. (Enbridge’s marketing page for the Atlantic Bridge Project is here.)…
