From the monthly archives:

February 2008

"A Million Here, A Million There, and Pretty Soon …." Judge Harrington Awards $10 Million in Attorney's Fees in Medtronic Patent Litigation

February 26, 2008

The Patent Statute states: The court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. 35 U.S.C. 285. While finding no “willfulness” in the underlying infringment, Judge Harrington has imposed attorney’s fees of $10 million based on Medtronic’s trial conduct in the long-running Medtronic/Depuy Spine patent infringement litigation. Specifically, Judge Harrington concluded

Read the full article →

It's Difficult to Get a Preliminary Injunction in a Patent Infringement Case (understatement)

February 20, 2008

When you can prove that you likely are the victim of copyright or trademark infringement, or trade secret misappropriation, you have a good shot at getting a preliminary injunction (if you can afford the bond). That’s because there is a legal “presumption” of irreparable harm associated with these types of IP claims. Prove likelihood of

Read the full article →

Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Judgment

February 11, 2008

One of the most highly respected Massachusetts Superior Court Judges, Allan van Gestel, retired on December 31, 2007, at the age of 72. A recent press release from JAMS shows that Judge van Gestel is following the time-honored practice of becoming a mediator and arbitrator for JAMS (or another large mediation/arbitration organization). A lot of

Read the full article →

The "Alliance for Open Competition" or "Noncompete Agreements Should Not Be Enforceable in Massachusetts"

February 11, 2008

In December I wrote a post title Why Has Silicon Valley Outperformed Boston/Route 128 as a High Tech Hub? The topic was whether the legality of noncompete agreements (“NCAs”) in Massachusetts has put the state at a disadvantage to California, where NCAs are not enforceable. The Alliance for Open Competition is a blog where people

Read the full article →

First Circuit Widens Door to Claims of "Hostile Work Environment"

February 8, 2008

The words “hostile work environment” get tossed around a lot by lawyers. But, just what constitutes a hostile environment that’s actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is uncertain. It’s sort of a “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it” standard. That standard may work at

Read the full article →

SJC Approves Joint Defense Agreements in Massachusetts

February 7, 2008

Lately, I’ve had a number of cases where the lawyer for a co-defendant wants to cooperate. Because this usually involves sharing attorney-client privileged information, we agree that our discussions are covered by the “joint defense privilege,” and sometimes enter into a “joint defense agreement.” Recent discussions in this area reminded me that I never mentioned

Read the full article →

After Ten Years of Proceedings, Final Decisions of Disbarment from SJC in the Demoulas Ethics Cases

February 6, 2008

I have written several times about the disciplinary proceedings against several attorneys who represented the losing party in the Demoulas cases. (see here, here and here). As I described in the first of these blog entries: The saga of how Gary Crossen (then of Foley, Hoag & Eliot and former ethics counsel to two Massachusetts

Read the full article →

Pocket Guide to Electronic Evidence, for Federal Judges

February 5, 2008

Judges need to keep learning too, and a major source of education for them is the Federal Judicial Center, an organization dedicated to judicial education. In fact, the FJC site is pretty cool. For example, here is a page that provides the biography of every federal judge (all courts, from District Court to Supreme Court),

Read the full article →