Trial tested.
Results driven.

Legal Developments

As a part of our dedication to litigation, we provide current and topical developments in the laws of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, and New York.

MAINE LAW UPDATE  |  Topics: (premises liability, proximate causation)

This lawsuit arose out of an incident that took place when the plaintiff and his wife traveled to Maine to attend an event at which they were to be honored. The couple made arrangements to stay at the Maine Farmhouse, a guesthouse owned and operated by the defendant in Bryant Pond, Maine.  During their stay, the plaintiff awoke one morning to the sound of a loud crash.  He ran out of his room to find his wife lying on a landing of the staircase near their bedroom.  His wife was transported to the hospital and died the next day from her injuries.  The plaintiff sued the defendant for negligence and wrongful death under 18-A M.R.S. § 2-804 (2015), alleging that the guesthouse was “unreasonably dangerous, in part because the staircase in the bedroom did not conform to applicable safety standards, and that the defects were the proximate cause of [his wife’s] fatal injuries.” 

Results

Jurisdiction: Suffolk Superior Court – Boston, Massachusetts

Aaron R. White and Michael P. Johnson of Boyle | Shaughnessy Law represented former Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, his chief-of-staff, John Towle, and civilian investigator, Michael Roberts, in this case involving claims of retaliation, tortious interference with contractual relations, and violations of the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act. The firm also represented the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office against Plaintiff’s claims for alleged violations of the Massachusetts Whistleblower Protection Act, the Massachusetts Wage Act, and wrongful termination claims which were bifurcated on the eve of trial, but the court included as a special question for the jury.

Our Firm

Boyle | Shaughnessy employees partnered with Boston Cares to build beds for children transtioning from shelters into permanent homes.  Children under 18 make up 60% of the 13,000 people experiencing family homelessness here in Massachusetts.

The Bed Project engages teams of volunteers to assemble bed frames and prepare them for distribution to our more than 30 partners across New England – organizations who are directly serving low-income families in need or transitioning out of homelessness.