Recent Articles

Tortious interference with advantageous customer relations

Stephen A. Evans
April 17, 2007 19:44

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently reversed a jury finding of tortious interference with advantageous customer relations on the grounds that it was not supported by the evidence. A distributor (Brewster) of wallpaper products brought a breach of contract suit against its supplier (Blue...

What is the cost to form a Massachusetts corporation?

Stephen A. Evans
February 13, 2007 17:51

I often get asked by people, how much does it cost to incorporate? Here is a quick overview of the various filing fees that you can expect to pay to get your business up and running:I often get asked by people, how much does it cost to incorporate? Here is a quick overview of the various filing...

Parties to an illegal contract should not expect much help from the courts

Stephen A. Evans
January 24, 2007 15:30

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently considered a case involving the attempt by one party to recover amounts paid under a contract that was later determined to be illegal. The facts of the case involved a one page contract that the National Association of Government Employees, Inc....

Noncompete Agreements: frequently asked questions

Stephen A. Evans
January 22, 2007 15:03

The Sunday New York Times business section has a good roundup of the various issues that arise in signing non-compete agreements.  In Massachusetts it is common, particularly among high tech companies, to require all employees to sign some form of non-competition agreement (along with other...

Panera: Burrito = Sandwich; Judge: No

Stephen A. Evans
November 13, 2006 15:42

The AP reported on a case in Massachusetts in which the Panera Bread Company attempted to enforce a provision in its shopping mall lease that bans rival sandwich shops to stop a mexcican fast food chain from moving into the same mall. Here is the short AP write up on the case:The AP reported on a...

Management Rights Agreement as alternative to board representation

Stephen A. Evans
November 03, 2006 20:33

Minority investors in a closely held business often find that they have little control over the direction of the company, with most corporate action often requiring only a majority vote at the shareholder or board level. That is why venture capital investors typically create a separate class of...

Arbitration Panel: MassMutal CEO did not breach of fiduciary duty; questions board conduct

Stephen A. Evans
October 25, 2006 14:43

A three-person arbitration panel ruled against Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance finding that the company’s former CEO, Robert O’Connell , did not breach his fiduciary duty as was alleged by the board of directors and could be entitled to benefits totaling $50 million. The decision...

MA: Covenant of fair dealing and contractual termination clause

Stephen A. Evans
October 02, 2006 21:32

A federal district court in Massachusetts upheld a jury verdict against Computer Associates finding that its compensation policy, which denied payment of sales commission to terminated employees on deals where payment was not received within 30 days of that employee’s termination, violated...

Employee handbooks and personal email

Stephen A. Evans
September 06, 2006 23:25

In a case reported by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, a Massachusetts trial court held that, despite warnings in an employee manual that Internet activity would be monitored, an employee’s email communication to his lawyer via a Yahoo personal email account was “made in confidence”...

$1.35 million jury verdict for failure to accommodate bipolar disorder

Stephen A. Evans
August 30, 2006 22:14

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reports on a case involving an employee who was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. The employee had worked for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in a sales role for 37 years (including 11 years after being diagnosed with the disorder) and was terminated for failure to...