When Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP first opened our doors in New Bedford in 2003, our lawyers had a vested-interest in helping to build an economic and cultural renaissance in the Southcoast region. The area was only just starting to recover from the 1990-1991 recession, where unemployment rates in some of our cities were reported...
By now, almost all Americans are aware that, as expected, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rolled back the net neutrality rules put in place in 2015. On Thursday, after almost a year of debate that escalated into heated exchanges, protests and the alleged hacking and manipulation of the public comment process, the FCC adopted a declaratory...
It has been a very exciting year for the marijuana industry in Massachusetts. A voter referendum in November 2016 approving the recreational use of marijuana culminated in legislation in July 2017. Various cities and towns are now determining whether to embrace the new economic development opportunities that are presented by the expansion of recreational marijuana...
October is “National Cyber Security Awareness Month.” How can anyone not be aware of cyber security? Reports of large-scale data breaches, hacking and cyberattacks appear in the media almost daily. The recent Equifax breach alone has exposed sensitive personal information of over 143 million Americans. Phishing and ransomware attacks are also on the rise. Phishing...
Since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act (the ACA), the use of S corporations has seen a steady increase in popularity among tax advisers, despite the fact that conventional wisdom provides that S corporations offer less operational flexibility than partnerships. Now that the ACA’s tax provisions are being targeted by both the Trump...
The enactment of medicinal marijuana laws in 2013 and the recent enactment of laws permitting the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts commencing in July 2018 have created great opportunities for owners and developers of warehouse and industrial real estate in the commonwealth. However, these opportunities come with particular legal and business risks...
Construction may be the most cyclical of all the major industries. Each cycle (i.e., recessionary, emerging, prime, and mature) presents benefits and challenges. We are currently in a “mature” construction cycle. Construction success hinges on identifying the current cycle and leveraging the benefits of that cycle. This article details tools to leverage those benefits. To...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli Marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and the use, sale and possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In recent years, however, a majority of states (at last count, 29 states and Washington, D.C.) have passed measures that decriminalize medical...
Lawyers say a recent Superior Court decision finding an employee’s non-compete agreement not assignable to a purchasing business entity is a cue for practitioners to take a closer look at their clients’ employment contracts. The plaintiff business in the case purchased the assets of a salon and spa in October 2014. When one of its...
A prime source of capital for real estate developers since the Great Recession has been EB-5 money. The EB-5 program provides a method for foreign nationals investing money in the United States to obtain a green card by investing $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (defined as an area of high unemployment or a rural...
