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
Oct
24
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert October 24, 2022 (For the Week Ending October 23, 2022) Pierce Atwood LLP
Oct
21
2022
Love and Basketball … and Romantic Workplace Relationships? Key Takeaways for Employers from the Boston Celtics’ Recent Suspension of its Head Coach Mintz
Oct
13
2022
Massachusetts CROWN Act Goes Into Effect on October 24, 2022 Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
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12
2022
America’s Oldest Park Is About to Receive Some Much Needed TLC in a Win for Environmental Justice Mintz
Oct
11
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert October 11, 2022 (For the week ending October 9, 2022) Pierce Atwood LLP
Oct
11
2022
Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter - October 2022 Goulston & Storrs
Sep
30
2022
Massachusetts Updates Paid Family and Medical Leave Contribution Rates, Maximum Weekly Benefits for 2023 Jackson Lewis P.C.
Sep
29
2022
The 350 North Atlantic Right Whales Deserve Our Protection but So Do the Year Round Residents of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket! Mintz
Sep
29
2022
Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Update – Contribution Rate Will Decrease Effective January 1, 2023 Mintz
Sep
29
2022
No Love for the Dirty Water: EPA Proposing Expanded Stormwater Permitting in Boston Robinson & Cole LLP
Sep
27
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert September 27, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Sep
26
2022
Biogen Inc. Agrees to Pay $900 Million to Settle Allegations Related to Improper Physician Payments The U.S. Department of Justice
Sep
26
2022
Harvard Declares Class is in Session: Tells Court Zurich’s Motion for Summary Judgment Must Be Denied and Accuses Zurich of Playing Games Hunton Andrews Kurth
Sep
23
2022
Two Men Plead Guilty in $30 Million Foreign Exchange Fraud Scheme The U.S. Department of Justice
Sep
23
2022
Massachusetts Legislature Punts on Privacy for Consumer Data Pierce Atwood LLP
Sep
22
2022
Massachusetts Appeals Court Clarifies the A’s and C’s of Independent Contractor Status Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Sep
20
2022
Boston Wants to Reduce Its Designated Port Area but What's Good for the Goose Has to Be Good for the Eight Other Ganders. Mintz
Sep
19
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert (For the week ending September 18, 2022) Pierce Atwood LLP
Sep
16
2022
Congress Might Make It Easier for Us to Transition to Renewable Energy but The States Say Not so Fast Mintz
Sep
15
2022
EPA Settlement Resolves Alleged Hazardous Waste Management Violations by Hingham, Mass. Company U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Sep
14
2022
EPA is exercising Clean Water Act muscle in a way it never has before, in Massachusetts of all places! Mintz
Sep
14
2022
EPA Implements Advanced Effort to Protect Water Quality in Three Boston-area River Watersheds U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Sep
12
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: September 12, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Sep
8
2022
Retailers Have No Room to Manipulate Reviews: FTC and States Sue Rental Listing Platform Roomster for Bogus Listings Hunton Andrews Kurth
Sep
6
2022
Massachusetts Clarifies Whether Employees May “Top Off” Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Foley & Lardner LLP
Sep
6
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: Week of September 6, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Sep
4
2022
Dramatic "Shoreline Realignment" In Store For Nantucket's Eastern Shore As Intra-Governmental Dispute Continues Mintz
Sep
2
2022
EPA Awards $255,000 to Massachusetts in Beach Water Quality Monitoring Grant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Aug
31
2022
Massachusetts Contractor Retaliated Against Injured Immigrant Worker; Jury Awards $650K in Damages Norris McLaughlin P.A.
Aug
29
2022
Massachusetts Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants to be Question for Voters? Jackson Lewis P.C.
Aug
29
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert - August 29, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Aug
26
2022
No (More) Bites at the mRNA Apple: Pfizer and BioNTech Seek Declaratory Judgment of Noninfringement Relating to Their COVID-19 Vaccine in New Suit K&L Gates
Aug
23
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: August 23, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Aug
17
2022
Net-Zero by 2050? Massachusetts Passes New Climate & Clean Energy Bill Beveridge & Diamond PC
Aug
16
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: August 16, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Aug
15
2022
Massachusetts Governor Signs Law Encouraging Energy Storage and Offshore Wind Pierce Atwood LLP
Aug
15
2022
Greenwashing Lawsuits Against Major Oil and Gas Companies Are Getting the Green Light to Move Forward in Litigation Foley & Lardner LLP
Aug
11
2022
JPML Declines to Create MDL for Data Breach Cases Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP
Aug
11
2022
New Massachusetts Law Creates Expanded Definition of Racial Discrimination in Employment and Other Areas to Encompass “Natural or Protective Hairstyles” Proskauer Rose LLP
Aug
11
2022
Significant New Clean Energy and Climate Act becomes law in Massachusetts Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
Aug
10
2022
Massachusetts High Court Decides Intrastate Delivery Drivers Are Unable to Ditch Their Arbitration Agreements Hunton Andrews Kurth
Aug
9
2022
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration, Holds Grubhub Drivers Must Arbitrate Employment Claims Pierce Atwood LLP
Aug
8
2022
Law of the Land - Real Estate Litigation Newsletter (August 8, 2022) Goulston & Storrs
Aug
4
2022
Massachusetts Becomes Latest State to Ban Discrimination Based on Natural Hairstyles and Hair Texture Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Aug
4
2022
Massachusetts Legislature Passes Bill to Legalize Sports Betting in the Commonwealth Nelson Mullins
Aug
4
2022
Massachusetts Enacts CROWN Act, Prohibiting Discrimination Against Protective Hairstyles Jackson Lewis P.C.
Aug
4
2022
Postponement in the Massachusetts Patients First Act Penalties Foley & Lardner LLP
Aug
3
2022
Weekly Bankruptcy Alert: August 3, 2022 Pierce Atwood LLP
Aug
2
2022
Massachusetts Enacts Law Prohibiting Hairstyle Discrimination ArentFox Schiff LLP
Aug
2
2022
Healthcare Noncompete Laws Get a Checkup in Four States and the District of Columbia Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
 

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