MANY SENIORS rely exclusively on family, friends and community members to provide care once they are discharged from a hospital. According to a recent study published by AARP, family caregivers …
News
Dress Codes and Discrimination – Motive the Key in Abercrombie Supreme Court Case
On June 1, the U.S. Supreme Court in an 8-1 decision ruled that Abercrombie & Fitch could be liable for religious discrimination for refusing to hire a Muslim teenager because …
NH Legal Perspective: Social Media and the Employee – From Hiring to Departure
EMPLOYEES CONTINUALLY encounter new ways that social media impacts their workplaces. Social media touches on the entire lifecycle of employment as employers more frequently turn to social media to advertise …
Attorney General Issues Final Regulations under Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law
CLIENT ALERT By Mark J. Ventola and David L. Hansen On June 19, 2015, Attorney General Maura Healey issued the final regulations (the “Regulations”) further defining the provisions of the …
Sheehan Phinney Attorneys Win Significant Bankruptcy Case
(June 19, 2015, Boston, MA) – Sheehan Phinney attorneys Charles M. Waters and Christopher M. Candon won a significant dismissal of claims asserted by a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee alleged …
What is a Farm? Zoning Laws Need Updating
A Henniker Christmas tree farmer has lost before the state Supreme Court in a case that could spell the end for some struggling New Hampshire farms. Citizens who don’t want …
Seven Deadly Sins for Design Pros
Here are some of the most important issues commonly encountered by design professionals in basic owner-design professional agreements: Read the full story here. …
NH Legal Perspectives: There’s More to Horse Ownership Than Checking Its Teeth
MANY CHILDREN view a pony as the ultimate holiday gift. They close their eyes and blow out birthday candles with the hopes that when their eyes open, they will see …
CEO on the Go: David McGrath
As the newly appointed leader of one of NH’s largest law firms, clients and employees alike look to David McGrath for help. When McGrath needs to resolve his own issues, …
Attorney General Issues Final Regulations Under Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law
CLIENT ALERT By: Mark Ventola and David Hansen On June 19, 2015, Attorney General Maura Healey issued the final regulations (the “Regulations”) further defining the provisions of the new Massachusetts …
NH Legal Perspectives: When Does the Work Day End? It Depends
WHEN IT COMES to wages, employees and employers are often at odds. Employees generally want to be compensated for all the time they are required to be at work. Employers, …
Real Property Law: Environmental Risks in Real Estate Transactions
At every step along the way and for every party involved, contamination and even potential contamination can pose significant and expensive risks Environmental contamination can pose multi-faceted risk to those …
NH Legal Perspective: Key Consideration to Using Staffing Companies to Find Temp Workers
EMPLOYERS TURN to staffing companies to locate temporary workers with increasing frequency. Staffing companies generate savings for their employer/clients by locating temporary workers to fill employers’ needs. There are, however, …
IRS Amnesty Program Available to Minimize Significant Taxes and Penalties from the Misclassification of Workers as Independent Contractors
CLIENT ALERT By Russell J. Stein Classifying a worker as an employee or an independent contractor is one of the first questions a company faces when establishing, retaining or increasing …
Marijuana Legalization Clashes with Drug Testing in the Workplace
James Reidy featured in The Guardian article. At a Society for Human Resource Management conference in Washington DC last month, a session on drug testing in the workplace was so heavily attended …
NH Legal Perspective: Planning to Sell Your Most Prized Possession
A MAJORITY of the businesses in New Hampshire are closely held, meaning these businesses are each owned by one or a few owners, sometimes by a family. Read the full …
Land Use Regulation, Codes and Business Planning
Assume for a moment that your highly successful business needs to expand. Whether looking for land on which to build, expanding up or out from your existing space, or renovating …
Employee Verification Roulette, By the Rules
In recent months, immigration has reemerged as a hotly-contested political issue. Although the ultimate resolution is difficult to predict, the potential for millions of undocumented immigrants to obtain deferred action …
NH Legal Perspective: Guide to Bankruptcy Preference Payments and Creditor’s Defenses
MOST BUSINESSES will, at one time or another, open the mail to find a demand letter or worse, a lawsuit, demanding that the business return money to a bankruptcy estate …
Sheehan Phinney Named 2015 “Best of Business”
(March 16, 2015, Manchester, NH) – The law firm of Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green PA was selected as a winner in New Hampshire Business Review’s 2015 BOB Awards, which honor …
The Newest Arrow in the Health Care Collection Quiver?: New Hampshire Legislature Introduces Bill to Allow Special Conservatorships for Medicaid
Over the past several years, New Hampshire health care facilities have lobbied the New Hampshire Legislature to pass measures to help solve the chronic problem of patients or residents who …
Ventola Prevails in Independent Medical Examination Case
(March 23, 2015, Boston, MA) – Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green shareholder Mark J. Ventola prevailed before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in favor of the firm’s client, Examworks. The SJC weighed in on the state’s personal injury protection statute, addressing, independent medical examinations (IMEs) required of parties injured in auto accidents.
SJC Ruling on PIP Statute Provides Needed Clarity
This article originally appeared in the March 19, 2015 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. To see the online version of the article, click here. *** The Supreme Judicial Court has …
Sheehan Phinney Attorneys Prevail in Adverse Possession Case
(March 9, 2015, Manchester, NH) – Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA attorneys Michael C. Harvell and Megan C. Carrier recently prevailed in a ‘prescriptive easement’ case, before both the New Hampshire Superior Court and the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
NH Legal Perspective: What You Need to Know About Easements and Servitudes
WITH THE BUSTLE of the holidays behind us, we can now all turn our attention to our next big projects. What will you do in 2015? Maybe this is the …
Family Enterprises: How to Build Growth, Family Control and Family Harmony
Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA shareholder Janet B. Fierman was a contributor in the book Family Enterprises: How to Build Growth, Family Control and Family Harmony. Her chapter focuses …
NH Legal Perspectives: Things Businesses Need to Know About the Consumer Protection Act
THE CONSUMER Protection Act is one of the most frequently litigated statutes in New Hampshire’s state and federal courts. Yet it remains one of the more unpredictable, and frequently changing …
DES Weighs Changes to Contaminated Site Rules
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Service regulations governing the investigation, long-term cleanup and management of contaminated sites were set to expire on Feb. 1. And while the existing rules remain …
Dividends: It’s the Least Tax-Efficient Way to Withdraw Money from a Corporation
THE LIMITIED liability company and S corporation are generally regarded as the entities of choice for closely-held businesses, in large part because the owners can access company cash tax-efficiently. However, …
Winter Weather and New Hampshire Wage Laws
There is an expression that if you don’t like New England weather, just wait a minute – it will change. We have all experienced the challenges of getting to or …
Sheehan Phinney Assists in Sale of NetProspex
(January 14, 2015, Boston, MA) – Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA successfully represented its client, NetProspex Inc., in its sale to Dun & Bradstreet. The $125 million cash transaction closed on January 5, 2014. The Sheehan Phinney attorneys assisting in the transaction were Alexander H. Pyle, Colleen Lyons, Michael J. Drooff, Peter T. Beach and Russell J. Stein
NH Legal Perspective: 2014 Top Ten List of Wage and Hour Violations
THE STAKES for noncompliance under state and federal wage and hour laws are higher than ever before. In FY 2014, inspectors from the NH Department of Labor conducted 566 workplace …
Prior Use: Viable Defense to Alleged Patient Infringement
YOU STARTED your company 10 years ago, and are now enjoying the profits. Out of the blue, you receive a cease and desist letter claiming infringement of a patent filed …
Benefit Corporations: Coming Soon to New Hampshire
Beginning Jan. 1, New Hampshire will join over two dozen other states in permitting business and professional corporations to be formed as “benefit corporations” – a hybrid form of corporate …
Massachusetts’ Mandatory Sick Time Law
CLIENT ALERT By Karen A. Whitley and Mark J. Ventola On January 7, 2015, outgoing Governor Patrick signed into law “An Act relative to parental leave” (“Parental Leave law”), which …
NH Legal Perspective: Some Basic Patent Tips for Start-Ups
If you’re involved in a technology-based start-up, chances are you have a lot on your mind. Research and development, raising capital, managing cash flow and marketing are just a few …
Licensing to Begin of New Hampshire Med Techs
In the fall of 2011 the news broke that David Kwiatkowski, a traveling medical technician, had infected more than 30 Exeter Hospital patients with Hepatitis C, using covert drug-diversion tactics …
NH Legal Perspective: Taking Your Business to the Next Level Through Franchising
YOU HAVE come up with a great business concept. Your business model has been very successful. In fact, it is so successful you can’t keep up with customer demand. You …
NH Legal Perspective: Cloudy with a Chance of Trade Secret Forfeiture
CLOUD COMPUTING has become ubiquitous. These days, every tech company seems to be promoting a cloud-based service. And it makes sense. It sells. Who doesn’t want the universal accessibility, cost-saving …
NH Legal Perspective: Understanding the Mechanics of the Mechanic’s Lein
YOU ARE a material supplier who delivered thousands of dollars’ worth of goods to a construction project, but your invoices have been ignored for months. Or you are a general …
How State’s New Social Media Access Law Will Work
This article was initially posted by the New Hampshire Business Review and can be found here. How State’s New Social Media Access Law Will Work Measure gives employees privacy in …
How State’s New Social Media Access Law Will Work: Measure Gives Employees Privacy in Their Personal Email and Social Media Accounts
A new state law imposing civil fines on employers who attempt to invade employees’ personal email and social media accounts – which becomes effective Sept. 30 – applies to accounts …
NH Legal Perspectives: What Prospective Real Estate Purchasers Need to Know
IN AN EFFORT to clean up contaminated property in the United States, Congress enacted a comprehensive system of laws and regulations requiring investigation and cleanup of property contaminated with hazardous …
Sheehan Phinney Attorneys Assist in $52 Million Sale of New England Wood Pellet
(May 19, 2014, Manchester, NH) – Seven Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA attorneys successfully represented the firm’s client, New England Wood Pellet, LLC (NEWP), in its sale to Rentech, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTK), a wood fibre processing, wood pellet production and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing company based in Los Angeles, CA. In the transaction, Rentech acquired all of the equity interests in NEWP for $34.5 million in cash and the assumption of $13 million of debt. The purchase agreement also calls for an earn-out payment of up to $5 million. The Sheehan Phinney attorneys assisting in the transaction were Robert P. Cheney, Michael J. Drooff, Colleen Lyons, Peter T. Beach, Margaret E. Probish, Susan A. Manchester and Daniel K. Fink.
Sheehan Phinney Attorneys Assist MRSI Systems with Purchase Agreement
(Boston, MA, April 2, 2014) – Attorneys from the law firm Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA assisted MRSI Systems, LLC, in its recent purchase of the MRSI Group of Newport Corporation (Nasdaq: NEWP). MRSI Systems was formed by three long – time managers of the division, which makes and sells precision equipment used in high technology manufacturing.
Three Doors Do Not Equal One Entrance
CLIENT ALERT By John Perten The MA Appeals Court has ruled that for purposes of handicap accessibility, all doors to a commercial establishment must comply, not just some. Hollister, a …
Attorney Charles Waters Wins $1.9 Million in Jury Trial in Which Court Finds SPBG Attorneys’ Experience and Ability “Top-Drawer”
(April 9, 2013, Boston, MA) – On April 5, 2013, Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green shareholder Charles Waters received a final judgment in the amount of $1.9 million on behalf of the firm’s clients after a 2½-week jury trial in the Business Litigation Session of the Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston.
Subleasing is Not as Simple as It Seems
Bruce Bagdasarian | April 23, 2012 Subleasing is a common tool both for tenants who are trying to downsize by becoming sublandlords and for tenants who are seeking temporary space …
Buying Debt: The Next Best Thing to Owning Property
During the last great recession, which lasted from the late 1980’s to the mid-1990’s, massive amounts of real estate loans were sold at significant discounts, and buyers of these loans …
Sheehan Phinney Attorneys Win Important Decision
(April 11, 2012, Boston, MA) – Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA attorneys Charles M. Waters and Patrick J. Hannon recently won an important decision before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in a matter of first impression regarding claims based upon misrepresentations made by insurance agents.
Sheehan Phinney Attorneys Win Against Starbucks
(January 9, 2012, Manchester, NH) – Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green PA shareholders Christopher Cole and John-Mark Turner successfully defended Black Bear Micro-Roastery, a family-owned, New Hampshire coffee purveyor, in a 14-year long, David and Goliath-like trademark dispute against Starbucks Corp. On December 23, 2011, a federal district court in New York confirmed that Black Bear’s use of the term “Charbucks Blend” did not infringe upon, or dilute the value of Starbucks’ trademark and service mark.
Sheehan Phinney Represents NetProspex In Venture Financing
(December 23, 2010, Boston, MA) – Sheehan Phinney lawyers recently represented NetProspex Inc. (www.netprospex.com), a Waltham MA based company, in its securing of $5.5 million in venture financing. This was NetProspex’s second round of financing, bringing their total investment to $7.5 million to date. The lead investor in the financing was Edison Ventures; existing investors also participated.