On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Real Estate on Friday, September 16, 2016.Property developers sometimes enter into agreements for the benefit of the development. Both the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) and the Restatement (Third) of...
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Upholds FMLA Retaliation Verdict
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Employment Law on Friday, September 16, 2016.Eligible employees may take unpaid leave for up to twelve weeks during a twelve-month period for "a serious health condition" that prevents the employee from performing...
Massachusetts Appeals Court Includes Income in Child Support Calculation Despite Mother’s Waiver of Interest
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Family Law on Friday, September 9, 2016. Child support in Massachusetts is determined using the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines. There is a rebuttable presumption that the guidelines apply to all child support...
No Right to Counsel for Massachusetts Defendant While Deciding Whether to Take a Breathalyzer Test
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Criminal Law on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. Pursuant to the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Article 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, a criminal defendant has the right to...
Massachusetts Employee Prevails in Retroactive For-Cause Termination Case
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Employment Law on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. The termination of an employee is always complicated, but it is even more complex when the employee has a high level position and an employment contract. When the...
Massachusetts Appeals Court Finds Court Doesn’t Have to Accept Stipulation of Contract’s Validity
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Real Estate on Wednesday, August 3, 2016.Breach of contract claims often involve disputes over the terms of the agreement, what occurred, and whether a party's actions constituted a breach. Sometimes, however, there...
Massachusetts Recreational Use Statute Doesn’t Bar Claim of Mother Who Bought Tickets for Her Kids
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Tort Law on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Massachusetts, like many states, has what is known as a recreational use statute. Recreational use statutes provide some amount of immunity to landowners who open their property...
Massachusetts Arbitration Required Only for Claims Covered by Arbitration Agreement
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Business Litigation on Thursday, July 7, 2016. Many businesses include alternative dispute resolution provisions as a standard part of their contracts. Sometimes, however, one party would prefer to litigate its...
Massachusetts Contractor May Be Liable for Building Code Violation at Owner’s Request
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Construction Law on Tuesday, June 21, 2016.Massachusetts law protects homeowners from contractors who violate the safety provisions of the building code. Unfortunately, meeting safety requirements can add to the...
District Court of Massachusetts Finds General Liability Policy Doesn’t Cover Injury to Sub-Subcontractor Employee
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Construction Law on Thursday, June 16, 2016. It is important for any business to be appropriately insured against loss and liability. A failure to have sufficient insurance can result in the business paying for not...
Massachusetts Employment Retaliation Claims Can Mean Treble Damages
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Employment Law on Tuesday, June 7, 2016.Employee claims, whether based on allegations of wage and hour laws or discrimination, can sour a workplace. Nevertheless, retaliation against an employee who has made a...
Unascertainable Beneficiaries in Massachusetts Trusts and IRAs
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Estate Planning and Probate on Friday, March 25, 2016. Failing to properly identify beneficiaries in accounts, trusts, or other estate documents can mean that your wishes will not be carried out. While a court may...
Boston Condo Unit Owner Didn’t Violate Affordable Housing Restrictions by Having Roommates
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Real Estate on Monday, May 16, 2016.The Boston Redevelopment Authority ("BRA") has created an affordable housing program that is intended to help create and maintain affordable housing opportunities for middle-income...
Massachusetts Appeals Court Denies Mother’s Request to Move Children to California
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Family Law on Friday, May 13, 2016.In Massachusetts, a custodial parent may not remove a minor child from the Commonwealth without the child's consent if the child is old enough to give it. If the child is too young...
Contracting with Massachusetts Resident Not Sufficient for Jurisdiction
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Business Litigation on Thursday, April 21, 2016. Businesses frequently contract with other businesses on the other side of the country, or even on the other side of the world. Although most business arrangements do...
Manufacturer’s All Risk Insurance Doesn’t Cover Loss of the Product due to “Faulty Workmanship”
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Business Litigation on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Sometimes things go wrong in the performance of a contract. A failure to meet contractual requirements may result in a significant financial loss. Before making an...
Damages for Retaliation under the Massachusetts Wage Act
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Employment Law on Thursday, March 31, 2016.The Massachusetts Wage Act protects employees' right to receive timely payment of their wages. The law requires that employers generally must pay employees weekly or...
Massachusetts Telecommuters and Jurisdiction Over Out-of-State Employers
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Business Litigation on Wednesday, March 9, 2016. Many employees now telecommute or work from home for businesses that may be down the street or across the country. When disputes arise in employment arrangements in...
Massachusetts Statute of Frauds Doesn’t Bar Promissory Estoppel
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Business Litigation on Tuesday, February 23, 2016. The Statute of Frauds, codified at Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 259 Section 1, requires that certain contracts be in writing in order to be enforceable through...
Adverse Possession And Color Of Title In Massachusetts
On behalf of Law Offices of Richard Mucci posted in Real Estate on Tuesday, January 26, 2016.Property rights are generally transferred through conveyances of deeds, but there are times when a person can obtain rights to property through certain actions without the...