BLS Blog

Under its recently issued Standing Order 1-22 (link here), the Massachusetts Superior Court increased the number of hearing types that it will “presumptively” conduct by videoconference. The standing order applies to Massachusetts state trial courts, including the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session.

The Superior Court, according to Chief Justice Heidi Brieger, designated the types of hearings that it will presumptively hold by videoconference or in-person “consistent with constitutional, statutory, and other applicable rights, and in the interest of justice.”

In conjunction with the Massachusetts Bar Association, the current BLS judges prepared personalized responses to practice-related questions. Those questions and answers were then turned into a practice guide, which you can link to here. The guide, presented in question-and-answer format, has a wealth of information on topics of interest to practitioners and clients alike.

The judges sitting in the BLS during calendar year 2022 recently adopted and published guidance about their preferences and practices on court proceedings and filings. These preferences and practices include:

• encouraging the active participation in court proceedings by junior attorneys;
• asking parties to include in motion papers a brief explanation of their preference between in-person versus virtual proceedings;
• promoting in-person trials and evidentiary hearings; and
• explaining the circumstances where paper or digital copies should accompany electronic filings.

The complete guidance can be found here.

Last month, the Social Law Library sponsored the Business Litigation Session 2021 Year in Review. The panel included Judge Kenneth Salinger, the BLS Administrative Justice, as well as Michael Tuteur and Andrew Yost, attorneys at Foley & Lardner LLP.

This month, Judge Karen Green is replacing Judge Mitchell Kaplan as the judge for the January - June rotation of BLS1. Governor Charlie Baker appointed Judge Green to the Superior Court in 2016. Before her appointment, Judge Green was a senior partner in Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP’s Boston office where she focused her practice on complex business litigation. During her legal career, she served in various public service positions, including as an Assistant US Attorney. More information about Judge Green can be found here.  

Michael Leard, a Nutter associate, recently interviewed Judge Brian A. Davis for a feature in the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Complex Commercial Litigation (ComCom) Quarterly. The article, Judge Brian A. Davis Discusses Business Litigation, highlights Judge Davis’s preferences and practices at various stages of litigation, including:

• circumstances where he may encourage the submission of courtesy copies;
• ways he may facilitate an expeditious and cost-effective discovery process;
• topics he may address at the final trial conference; and
• his voir dire process.

Judge Davis presides in BLS1 for the July – December rotation period. (Judge Kaplan presides in BLS1 for the January – June rotation period.)

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Judge Davis to Replace Judge Leibensperger in BLS1

It’s been a busy year at the BLS Blog. As we wrap up 2018, take a look at our top five most well-read posts:

• America’s Test Kitchen Faces Abuse of Process Claim: Judge Salinger denied
  America’s Test Kitchen’s motion to dismiss an abuse-of-process claim asserted by William Thorndike, Jr. According to Thorndike, America’s Test Kitchen brought a baseless lawsuit to hinder Christopher Kimball’s efforts, supported by Thorndike, to compete against America’s Test Kitchen. That assertion, according to Judge Salinger, was sufficient to state an abuse-of-process claim.

America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) commenced suit against Christopher Kimball, who used to work for ATK. The lawsuit arises from Kimball’s development of a competing business. ATK also sued William Thorndike, Jr. According to ATK, Thorndike misappropriated confidential information and aided and abetted Kimball’s breach of fiduciary duty.

From footnote two of Massachusetts v. Equifax:

On June 11, the Boston Bar Association hosted its annual “Business Litigation Session Year in Review.” The BLS judges, including incoming Judge Brian Davis (who is taking over for Judge Leibensperger in BLS1), shared tips and other thoughts for attorneys practicing in the BLS to consider.