No Strict Liability For Residential Landlords in Massachusetts

Is a Massachusetts landlord responsible for defects in residential property notwithstanding the tenant’s comparative negligence? That is, if there is a defect in a residential unit, is the landlord responsible no matter how the tenant is injured? In a case that came down from the Courts this past month, a critical decision was made as to how these questions will be answered.

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Prom Season, Driving Safely and What You Can Do

It’s spring.  It’s prom season.  While the flowers bloom, and spring cleaning helps us get out of the winter doldrums, there is also danger in the air, especially for teenage drivers and those around them.  Considering that motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of teenage death, and 90% of motor vehicle accidents are the result of driving behavior, prom season is a good time to focus on the dangerous side of proms.

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Selfies Gone Wrong: Car Accident Leaves One Dead

In High Point, North Carolina on April 26, 2014, a 32 year old woman was in the process of posting a photograph of herself on Facebook while driving on Interstate 85. Her vehicle veered left, over the middle of the road, causing a head-on collision with a truck coming from the opposite direction. The 2005 Toyota Corolla was pushed into a ditch where it caught on fire. The driver, Courtney Ann Sanford, was killed as a result of the accident.

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Open and Obvious Danger in Cutting Down a Tree

Who is responsible if you ask a neighbor to cut down a tree on your property and, in doing so, the tree falls injuring you? In a case that was heard before the Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently, an injured man was the owner of property in need of trimming a tree. A rather large branch needed to be cut from the tree; the branch was 5 inches in diameter and approximately 10 feet long.

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Attorney Client Privilege During Depositions is Not Absolute

Anything and everything you say to your lawyer is privileged, right? No. Like any rule, there are exceptions. In this longstanding rule and principle of our legal system there are only a few general exceptions. The communication must be private; that is, if your friend is in the room when you tell your personal injury attorney how the car accident happened, the conversation is not privileged. There are exceptions regarding future intentions regarding committing a crime as well.

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Motor Vehicle Accident Resulting in Wrongful Death on Cape Cod

In a horrific accident in Harwich recently two vehicles, driven by teenage drivers were racing along Route 6.  The teenagers were local high school graduates.  18-year-old Michael Lawrence of Osterville was pronounced dead after a single car accident.  He was alone in the vehicle and didn’t even live long enough to make it to a hospital.  A graduate of Barnstable High School, Mr. Lawrence was travelling east at the time of the collision. 

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