Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is well-known for lobster, the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox. The state falls in the First Federal Circuit Court System. More than 80% of the New England residents live in the greater-Boston metro, making it the most populous and a highly influential city in the state’s history, industry, and academia. Both Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are in the Boston area and are ranked as two of the top universities nationally and worldwide.

The government of Massachusetts is laid out in the Constitution of the Commonwealth.  The state government, like the federal government, consists of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is controlled by the governor and consists of over 150 state agencies. The governor also has a cabinet consisting of ten secretaries.  The legislative branch consists of the General Court, broken into two branches the Massachusetts Senate, which has 40 members, and the Massachusetts House of Representatives with has 160 members, and all members in both houses are up for election every two years.  Although a few remain, most county governments were dissolved in the 1990s and 2000s.

The judiciary of Massachusetts consists of the court of last resort, the Superior Court which is the court of last resort.  The Massachusetts District Court, also known as the District Court Department of the Trial Court hears a wide range of criminal, civil, housing, juvenile, mental health, and other types of cases.  The Land Court has limited subject-matter jurisdiction related to real property. Massachusetts also has a Housing Court, Probate and Family Court, Juvenile Court and Boston’s Municipal Court.

Massachusetts is also known for its liberal legislation. On May 17, 2004 it became the first US state to legalize Same-sex marriage, after a state court determined that exclusion of same-sex couples right to a civil marriage was unconstitutional. On November 8, 2016, the state also legalized marijuana under the Marijuana Legalization Initiative.  Massachusetts has progressive laws related to employment and has passed an Equal Pay Ordinance and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and legal analysis of both pieces of legislation are available on the National Law Review.

Custom text Title Organization
Jul
17
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert - Week of July 17, 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Jul
17
2023
Remote Workers and the Massachusetts Wage Act — Proceed With Caution Foley & Lardner LLP
Jul
6
2023
Massachusetts DPU Approves Zoning Bylaw Exemptions for Two Energy Storage Projects Pierce Atwood LLP
Jul
5
2023
Supreme Court Reaffirms Registering to Do Business May Subject You to Lawsuits Bracewell LLP
Jun
30
2023
Regulatory Changes: Massachusetts Wetlands Permitting Goulston & Storrs
Jun
30
2023
US Supreme Court Holds Business Registration Subjects out Of State Companies to General Personal Jurisdiction K&L Gates
Jun
30
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: June 26, 2023 (For the week ending June 25, 2023) Pierce Atwood LLP
Jun
28
2023
Law of the Land - Real Estate Litigation Newsletter (June 28, 2023) Goulston & Storrs
Jun
21
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: June 21, 2023 (For the week ending June 18, 2023) Pierce Atwood LLP
Jun
20
2023
Marengi on Remand: Massachusetts Court Applies Bond Provision of the Zoning Act Beveridge & Diamond PC
Jun
12
2023
Massachusetts SJC rules in favor of Hume Lake Christian Camp zoning appeal under the Dover Amendment Sherin and Lodgen LLP
Jun
2
2023
Court Declines to Halt Vineyard Wind Project Jones Walker LLP
May
30
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert May 30, 2023 (For the week ending May 28, 2023) Pierce Atwood LLP
May
25
2023
Boston US Attorney Likely to Face Bar Probe, Ethicists Say Goulston & Storrs
May
24
2023
Federal Judge Rules for Vineyard Wind in First of Four Pending Actions Hunton Andrews Kurth
May
23
2023
Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Denies Challenge to Major Offshore Wind Project Bracewell LLP
May
23
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: May 22, 2023 (For the week ending May 21, 2023) Pierce Atwood LLP
May
21
2023
Vineyard Wind Has Almost Succeeded in Ending One of The Three Nimby Lawsuits Against It but That's Beside the Point. Mintz
May
17
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert May 17, 2023 for the week ending May 14, 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
May
16
2023
Enforcing U.S. Consumer Data Privacy Laws Part 2: State Attorney General Enforcement Pierce Atwood LLP
May
13
2023
Buehler Doesn’t Get a Day Off from Double Taxation McDermott Will & Emery
May
4
2023
New England and First Circuit Class Action Filing Trends Pierce Atwood LLP
May
3
2023
Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter - May 2023 Goulston & Storrs
May
1
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert May 1 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Apr
24
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: April 24 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Apr
21
2023
Does the 9th Circuit’s Rejection of Berkeley, CA’s Municipal Gas Ban Spell Doom For Massachusetts’ Own Gas-Banning “Demonstration Program”? Pierce Atwood LLP
Apr
20
2023
Massachusetts Enacts New Law to Allow For 100% Remote Notarization Sherin and Lodgen LLP
Apr
18
2023
New Mass. AG continues hard line against local bylaws that hinder battery energy storage systems Pierce Atwood LLP
Apr
17
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: April 17 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Apr
14
2023
Massachusetts House Approves Tax Reform Bill with Significant Individual, Corporate Tax Changes Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Apr
14
2023
Law of the Land - Real Estate Litigation Newsletter (April 13, 2023) Goulston & Storrs
Apr
11
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: April 11, 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Apr
7
2023
Texas Lab Settles Unnecessary Drug Testing Allegations for $6 Million ArentFox Schiff LLP
Mar
28
2023
Massachusetts Department of Revenue Releases Guidance on a De Minimis Exception for Use Tax on Rolling Stock McDermott Will & Emery
Mar
27
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: March 27 Pierce Atwood LLP
Mar
23
2023
Massachusetts to End Public Health Emergency Mintz
Mar
20
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: March 20, 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Mar
16
2023
Another NIMBY challenge in Nantucket, this one challenging public waterfront access Mintz
Mar
16
2023
Bonnie Heiple Named New Commissioner of MassDEP Beveridge & Diamond PC
Mar
13
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: March 13, 2023 (For the week ending March 12, 2023) Pierce Atwood LLP
Mar
13
2023
Proposed Massachusetts Legislation Would Phase Out PFAS and Create Remediation Fund Beveridge & Diamond PC
Mar
11
2023
Frequently Asked Questions – Silicon Valley Bank Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
Mar
10
2023
Proposed Changes to Dsh Payment Calculation Regulations Could Impact 340B Hospitals McDermott Will & Emery
Mar
3
2023
As EPA continues to move toward identifying PFAS as Hazardous Substances, we continue to put them in the environment. Does that make sense? Mintz
Mar
2
2023
Mass. AG Clamps Down on Local Solar and Battery Storage Moratoria Pierce Atwood LLP
Mar
2
2023
Massachusetts AG Settles Enforcement Action Against Auto Lender Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Feb
28
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert February 28, 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
Feb
25
2023
Is Pay Transparency and Reporting Coming to Massachusetts? Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Feb
20
2023
Federal Judge Rules Grocery Store Did Not Retaliate Over Facemask Dress Code Policy Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Feb
20
2023
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: February 20, 2023 Pierce Atwood LLP
 

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