Drakopoulos, et al. v. U.S. Bank National Association, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-126-13)
Assignee of high-cost mortgage loan liable for origination violations; material fact disputes preclude summary judgment on predatory lending claims.
Category SJC Opinions
Commonwealth v. Smeaton (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-127-13)
Campus police officer authorized to stop vehicle for reckless driving on public way intersecting college campus; section 63 extends authority to land used by college and its environs.
Massachusetts Community College Council v. Massachusetts Board of Higher Education/Roxbury Community College (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-128-13)
Arbitration of collective bargaining dispute over denial of tenure: whether arbitrator's award was binding when contract made awards concerning tenure nonbinding.
Commonwealth v. Humphries (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-129-13)
Joint venturer charged with firearms offenses must raise license defense pretrial, but Commonwealth bears burden of proving coventurer unlicensed.
Deutsche Bank National Association v. First American Title Insurance Company (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-124-13)
Title insurer's duty to defend does not extend to claims challenging validity of underlying mortgage debt, only to defects in the mortgage lien itself.
Commonwealth v. Morris (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-125-13)
Trial judge properly instructed jury on consciousness of guilt from defendant's flight after stabbing, even where defendant asserted self-defense and claimed fear motivated his departure.
RFF Family Partnership, LP v. Burns & Levinson, LLP, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-121-13)
Law firm may assert attorney-client privilege over confidential communications with in-house counsel regarding response to client's malpractice claim, subject to four conditions protecting client interests.
Grady v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Peabody, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-122-13)
Zoning variance became effective despite late recording when variance holder substantially relied on it within statutory period and recorded within days of deadline.
Commonwealth v. Santos (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-123-13)
Warrantless police entry into defendant's home based on apparent authority; voluntariness of DNA consent; admissibility of victim's demeanor testimony.
Commonwealth v. Gonzalez (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-120-13)
Murder conviction affirmed where defendant stabbed victim; statements to police admissible despite lack of Miranda warnings; self-defense instruction properly denied.