Complex Commercial Litigation

In this webinar, Jacob Hupart and co-host, David Leone of GZA GeoEnvironmental, explore the legal and practical challenges associated with climate change and how companies can learn to navigate its impact on their businesses. The presentation focuses on how to prepare for a new regulatory environment under the Biden Administration, practical steps companies can take to improve their resiliency in the future and how to identify and manage risks.

COVID-19 has flipped the landlord-tenant relationship on its head. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between landlords and tenants—and the payment of rent—was governed by the terms of the lease.

As parties to merger or acquisition agreements carefully review their agreements to see what, if any, impacts the COVID-19 pandemic may have, the recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Newmont Mining Corp. v. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. provides meaningful guidance for the interpretation of Material Adverse Effect (“MAE”) provisions in agreements governed by New York law.

Read about how price gouging statutes and enforcement, by NY state and city, Mass., and the federal government, may affect businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As America enters its second month of social distancing and travel restrictions, COVID-19-related lawsuits have begun to spread, with parties variously portraying the pandemic to suit their respective positions, dissecting the often clumsy prose of Force Majeure clauses or, absent such provisions, dusting off common-law doctrines of impossibility, impracticability, and frustration of purpose to excuse contractual performance.

This alert reviews executive orders by New York Governor Cuomo and administrative orders by the New York State courts that have stayed residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures in New York.

Read about what the World Health Organization’s declaration that COVID-19 is a pandemic means for force majeure provisions in contracts.

With the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”), the disease caused by the novel coronavirus (“SARS-CoV-2”), companies across various industries are taking precautions, some of which already have, and inevitably will result in nonperformance of their contracts.

Litigation financing has quickly grown from a fledging concept into a robust industry. The concept is simple: in exchange for a share of any proceeds, a financing firm agrees to pay all or a portion of the plaintiff’s legal fees.

In a boon for public company shareholder plaintiffs this week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state courts’ concurrent jurisdiction over securities class actions alleging violations of certain federal securities laws.

Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made an important ruling concerning innovator liability with respect to pharmaceuticals. Though precluding negligence and traditional product liability claims against brand-name manufacturers, Chief Justice Gants held that claims alleging intentional, reckless conduct are permitted.