Deciding to file for bankruptcy in Massachusetts is an important step with various consequences. Although you may be able to discharge many of your debts, your credit rating will take a substantial hit and you may find it more difficult to obtain future loans or even to find appropriate rental housing. Also, potential employers can look at the federal records and see if you have filed for bankruptcy.
Read MoreLegal malpractice, or legal negligence, requires that a plaintiff or person bringing a claim against his or her prior attorney has the burden of proving all elements of a negligence claim. These elements are:
Read MorePurchasing or selling real estate is typically the largest transaction anyone will ever undertake in his or her life. It can be your main residence or in many instances, a vacation home or an investment that you can flip or retain to rent out. For any real estate matter, you should expect competent legal representation given the expenditure at stake and the future benefits of the asset. Unfortunately, attorneys make mistakes or fail to live up to the appropriate and accepted standard of competence.
Read MoreIn early August, a 55-year old woman in Brockton, Massachusetts was crossing Centre Street near the entrance to Brockton Hospital around 9:00 p.m. when she was struck and killed by a man driving a Chevy Tahoe. The suspect left the scene only to turn himself in to police about an hour later.
Read MoreThe Massachusetts law firm of Keches Law Group has been sued by Attorney General Maura Healey for receiving over $90,000 in illegal kickbacks from the Injured Workers Pharmacy in exchanged for referring Keches clients to the pharmacy. According to the Attorney General, in 2017 Ketches had an agreement with the pharmacy in which Keches would receive $4,000 per month in exchange for linking their websites. The AG says that recovered emails between the parties indicate that the website link was in exchange for referring 40 clients per month to the pharmacy. The various “deals” yielded more than $1.2 million in revenue for the pharmacy.
Read MoreIn a horrific accident last October, a Massachusetts state police officer was killed when a motorist lost control of his vehicle on I-90 in Charlton, sped across several lanes of traffic, and struck the officer’s parked police cruiser, causing him fatal injuries. The driver was suspected of being high on marijuana since officers reported that the defendant had been seen leaving a medical marijuana dispensary earlier that day and presumably exhibited signs of being under the influence.
Read MoreIn late July of this year, a rollover accident at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Center Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, left one motorist with serious injuries. The accident occurred around 10:00 am when a Lincoln MKZ proceeding east down Columbus Avenue collided with a Hyundai Elantra that was traveling north on Center Street. The Lincoln struck a secondary curb after the collision and rolled over on its side, pinning the driver and his passenger inside. First responders had to use mechanical means to extricate the driver who was transported to Berkshire Medical Center with serious but stable injuries. His passenger and the driver of the Hyundai suffered only minor injuries. Police were still investigating and had not determined the cause of the accident.
Read MoreIn another effort to alert Massachusetts motorists of the need to buckle up, the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division recently launched a new safety campaign called “Love Clicks. Buckle Up.” For some reason, Massachusetts has lagged far behind the rest of the nation in wearing seatbelts. The national average for wearing seat belts has been around 90% for several years. Massachusetts is one of the worst states when it comes to motorists buckling up and currently has a 81.6% rate for wearing a seat belt. Our sister state, New Hampshire, is dead last at 73% as it is the only state in the nation that does not require adults 18 and over to wear seat belts.
Read MoreEvery large urban area has certain intersections that are notorious for car crashes or are hazardous to pedestrians and bicyclists. These are due to faulty road design, inadequate road maintenance, poor planning for increased traffic and pedestrians, lack of traffic calming measures, crazy configurations that have befuddled highway road designers, or an omission of signage or road markings that only causes confusion. Boston is not alone in having a number of dangerous roadways and intersections where large numbers of accidents occur for these and other reasons. If you were injured as a motorist, passenger, or pedestrian by the negligent driving or conduct of another person, call a car accident lawyer at Burns and Jain.
Read MoreIn April of this year, a grad student at UMass-Amherst was killed by a motorist while apparently in a crosswalk at North Pleasant Street near the Crestview Apartments. It occurred around 10:40 p.m. The motorist did stop at the scene and was cooperative with police. No citations were issued at the time and police did not indicate how the accident occurred or if any one party, or both, were at fault in some way. No witnesses to the accident were identified. Police did say that accident reconstruction experts were being used to determine how the accident occurred.
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