As many of you know, the Massachusetts Legislature amended the long standing alimony laws pursuant to the Massachusetts Alimony Reform Act of 2011, effective March 1, 2012 (“Alimony Reform Act”). Formerly known as the Massachusetts Alimony and Property Statute, M.G.L.Ch. 208§34 now addresses only the division of the marital estate. Separate statutes, pursuant to the Alimony Reform Act, M.G.L.Ch. 208§§48-55, address alimony.
Apr
07
Tis But a Breach – Looking for the Unfairness to Support a 93A Claim
I frequently represent small businesses and individuals in litigation. One of the first topics I bring up is the cost associated with litigation. For smaller cases, the unfortunate reality is that litigation costs can easily dwarf the amount in dispute. And while a properly designed budget and strategy for a case should always consider the amount in dispute, there is only so much you can do to limit costs. So the discussion inevitably turns to whether the client can recover any of those fees and costs from the other side. I love this question. I am always looking for ways that a client can potentially recover their attorney’s fees and costs, not only so the client has the possibility of actually recovering those fees, but for the increased leverage a claim for fees can bring to a case. Just the possibility that a party will be able to recover their costs and fees can drastically change the dynamic of a case.
Apr
07
Be Prepared: Protect Your Estate from the High Cost of Nursing Home Care
Odds are high that someone in your family will need a nursing home at some point. A majority of people over age 65 will require some type of long term care services during their lifetime, and for many, nursing home care is unavoidable. With the cost of private nursing home care now exceeding $100,000 per year, that’s an expense very few of us can afford. But there are steps you can take with careful estate planning to protect your estate and minimize the financial burden.
Mar
07
Etiquette
Many of you may know that I went to law school to get pregnant. Suffice it to say, I did not accomplish my goal. That resulted in me building my family through adoption and leaving the door to my house and heart open.
How one builds a family is an intimate story. Some pieces are only for the child to tell, if and when he chooses to, because that is his story.
Due respect and care must be shown to all members of the adoption triad. For example, the woman who is pregnant and working with an adoption agency is commonly called a birth mother. But, she can’t be a birth mother until she gives birth. Likewise, the father should not be called a birth father because he never gives birth. Etiquette demands for the woman to be referred to as pregnant, the expectant mother, or expecting a child, and the father, the expectant father.
Another one of my pet peeves, which surely everyone should know better by now: A woman, who gives birth to a child and allows someone to adopt her child, has not given her baby away. There is no such thing. No one can give a baby away. Rather, the child’s mother made an adoption plan for her child, knowing and understanding that she was in no position to raise the child. This is an extremely selfless act.
The mother of the child should not be referred as the birth mother. Rather, she is the woman who gave the child life and allowed him to grow in her to become a child. And the birth father, again, we all need to remember, if not for him, regardless of the circumstances, there would have been no child who found her way into the heart(s) of her parents who love her and nurture her.
A child who made his way into his family through a different route other than the “old fashioned way” should NEVER be referred to as an adopted child. A child is a child is a child, regardless of the path she took to find her forever family.
I always told my children, they did not grow in my belly, but they grew in my heart.
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Mar
17
Preparing to Try Your Case…at Mediation
I think of myself as a trial attorney. Someone who can look at the facts of your case and figure out the best way to win in front of a jury. What evidence do we need to look favorable to a jury? How can we make the other side look bad? What evidentiary issues will we face? These are the types of questions I ask throughout a case. But the reality is that most cases do not go to trial. In fact, the average litigator rarely tries cases. And many younger attorneys never get the chance to appear before a jury. Avoiding trial makes sense. Trials, in particular jury trials, are unpredictable. Having both tried cases in front of juries, and sat on a jury, I know this firsthand. I often tell my clients of one of my first jury trials as an example of this unpredictability. I had just finished clerking and was second-chairing a trial with a more experienced attorney. While the jury was deliberating they asked a question. Convinced that the question meant we would likely lose, we quickly tried to settle. Plaintiff’s counsel, bolstered by the question, refused to even consider a settlement offer. The jury came back in our favor, awarding the plaintiff nothing. Given the rarity of actual trials you might think that preparing each case as if it will eventually be tried would be a waste of resources. You would be wrong.
Mar
14
Lawyers and Litigants: Beware of Frivolous Lawsuits
There is a statute in Massachusetts, G.L. c.231, section 6F, that authorizes an award of reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in litigation when “all or substantially all” of the opposing party’s claims are “wholly insubstantial, frivolous and not advanced in good faith.” If a judge finds that the claims meet that standard, the statute mandates the award of reasonable counsel fees and expenses. A claim is considered to be frivolous if there is an absence of legal or factual basis for the claim. Although the statute is frequently invoked by attorneys, either at the onset of a case or at the conclusion of a hearing or trial, judges rarely find a plaintiff’s claims are so devoid of merit as to be considered ”wholly insubstantial, frivolous and not advanced in good faith.”
Mar
13
Successful Planning for a Successful Future
The more I work with companies as a partner, and the more I think about their business goals and apply my many years of experience to provide advice based on principled thinking that not only has their back, but their future, too, the more I realize that many practitioners never urge their clients to review and renew their succession plans.
Great, first step – you have a succession plan, which should be viewed as a long-term investment in the future health of your company! You are already ahead of the vast majority of business owners; however, just because you drafted it, does not mean that it is applicable to what is going on today. Plans are about the future – and nobody gets the future right very often, as two examples below illustrate:
Mar
12
Post Divorce – Take Hold and Let Go
Take hold and let go. Think about those words, what do they really mean? What does that have to do with the post divorce climate? And, how can we all put those words into our daily actions?
One of the major sources of angst post divorce is misbehavior, characterized by power struggles with the children as the rope. Many modification and contempt actions are grounded in the unwillingness to compromise on matters which should be of no consequence or one of the parents is not acting as a responsible parent or in other words, being an obstructionist. The why, is because the parties to the divorce continue to do the same “dance” or carry on the same tantrums they did as when they were married. They have yet to take hold of that behavior, examine it and let it go.
It does not take much to realize that at least one of the parties to this dance is not happy.
Aug
23
There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave Your Partners
Let me tell you about two different groups that went into business together: group one—3 College Buddies, group two—3 Neighborhood Friends.
Among the College Buddies, there were no agreements. The business relationship flourished, and there was no reason for them to keep detailed records. Why should they? They were buddies! Their various enterprises either flourished (as did their bank accounts) or dissolved, and there was more than enough activity for any of them to be worrying about the details. Meanwhile, among the second group of Neighborhood Friends, there were agreements and disagreements, from the get go.
Aug
23
The Supreme Court’s Landmark DOMA Decision
In a historic ruling on June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defined marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife for the purpose of all federal laws. DOMA prohibited married same-sex couples from taking advantage of over one thousand federal rights, responsibilities and benefits including laws regulating Social Security benefits, health insurance, medical leave, veterans and military benefits, and federal income tax.
About Our Law Firm
Proactive Consultation and Advice
Konowitz & Greenberg, P.C. is not your average law firm. Our unique approach to law both protects individual and corporate clients in the event of law disputes, as well as provides proactive consultation and advice to clients as they plan for success in their business and personal lives.
