Payal Salsburg Quoted in article: “Netflix’s ‘Varsity Blues’ Setback Puts Media On Watch”

/in , , , /by

Laredo, Smith & Kane partner, Payal Salsburg was quoted in a recent article covered by Law360. Payal discussed cases involving fair reporting privilege that were often determined at the summary judgment stage. She noted that there was no requirement that a documentary report both sides of an issue. But she did say the information Wilson provided to Netflix “can be used to show that Netflix had prior warning that maybe there wasn’t truth to this, and they proceeded anyway.” Regardless of how the Wilson suit plays out, Salsburg predicted more litigation if the hugely popular docudrama genre continues to blur or cross the line between fact and fiction.”People are really engrossed by docudramas and documentaries because of that dramatic tension. There is a fascination with dramatizing events,” Salsburg said. “I think these kinds of cases are going to come up a lot.”

We invited you to read the entire article using a Law360 subscription.

Laredo, Smith & Kane’s Matthew Kane Named to BBA’s Business and Commercial Litigation Section Steering Committee

/in , , , /by

Boston law firm Laredo & Smith & Kane announces that Partner Matthew A. Kane has been reappointed to the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) Business and Commercial Litigation Section Steering Committee for 2024-25. His one-year term began Sept. 1.

The BBA’s Business and Commercial Litigation Section brings practitioners together for dialogue and education around the wide range of issues in complex commercial and business disputes. The Section also hosts the popular BLS Year in Review, where members have the opportunity to meet the judges and familiarize themselves with the substance of significant recent cases.

Kane is a current member of the firm’s management team, and the incoming managing partner effective Jan. 1, 2025.  As a business litigation attorney, he focuses on business and commercial law. Representing banks, financial institutions, businesses, and individuals, Kane is a key member of the firm’s business litigation practice. He is known for his extensive experience in consumer finance, employment, construction, real estate, and general litigation. He is also particularly skilled in appellate advocacy, having successfully argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. His experience resolving banking and financial services litigation includes handling complex cases involving mortgage and title disputes, commercial workouts and collections, civil check fraud, and fair debt collection issues. Regularly appearing at all levels of state and federal courts across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, his firsthand advocacy experience couples with his strong appellate experience and strategic approach, making him a trusted advisor in the legal community.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Laredo, Smith & Kane’s Payal Salsburg Serves on the BBA Council for Second Consecutive Year

/in , , /by

Boston law firm Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that Partner Payal Salsburg was appointed to serve a second year of her first term on the council as a member of the Boston Bar Association (BBA) Council. Salsburg began her three-year term in September 2023.

The BBA Council serves as the board of directors of the BBA. Council members advance the association’s mission to promote the highest standards of excellence for the legal profession, facilitate access to justice, foster a diverse and inclusive professional community, and serve the community at large.

As a business and litigation attorney and member of Laredo, Smith & Kane’s management team, Salsburg focuses her practice in the areas of business litigation, corporate advice and counsel, and white-collar criminal defense. She represents corporations, small businesses, and individuals in contract and business disputes, False Claims Act matters, State Ethics Commission inquiries, and government and internal investigations. Salsburg also advises closely held businesses on corporate and employment matters. Prior to joining Laredo & Smith, Salsburg was a litigator at a large international law firm, in its Florida and Boston offices. She is a sought-after speaker on many topics, including ethics, inclusivity and lawyer well-being. Salsburg is recognized for her deep commitment to volunteerism in the community. Her pro bono experience includes several successful CORI-sealing petitions, petitions for asylum, an appeal from an inmate on Florida’s death row, litigation, and appeal to assist a not-for-profit foundation, and invoking Hague Convention protection to return a child wrongfully removed to the United States by a parent. She was also a bar advocate for criminal matters at the Boston Municipal Court (Central).

An active member of the BBA, Salsburg has also served in a number of leadership positions, including as the former co-chair of the Business and Commercial Litigation Section, a former member of the Ethics Committee. She is a current member of the Women’s Leadership and Advancement Forum Advisory Committee and BBA/BBF Joint Planning Committee.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Darshana Indira Quoted in Mass Lawyers Weekly Article Covering SJC Ruling

/in , , , , /by

Darshana Indira was quoted in a recent Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article entitled, “Bar Sees Balance in SJC’s Ruling in 7-Eleven Case” where she commented on how the case compares the franchisor-franchisee relationship to that of an employer-employee one.

An employment lawyer, Darshana told Mass Lawyers weekly:  “Boston employment and business lawyer Darshana Indira said she had been surprised to learn that the Patel case was heading back to the SJC, calling it a “stretch” on the facts of the case to construe the franchisor-franchisee relationship as an employer-employee relationship. Other models live more clearly in the “gray area.” Every time the SJC speaks on an issue like this, the court helpfully resolves lingering ambiguity around the independent contractor statute, she added. “It definitely informs our decisions on how we draft contracts, how we are going to treat employees, [and] how we treat our consultants,” Indira said.

Payal Salsburg quoted in Bloomberg Law Article on Massachusetts Simplified Anti-SLAPP Protocol for Retaliatory Suits

/in , , , , /by

Bloomberg Law turned to our partner Payal Salsburg as a resource regarding the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s latest overhaul of the process for defeating a retaliatory lawsuit.

The justices revised a process for dismissing cases under the state’s anti-SLAPP law, a law meant to create a quick pathway for courts to throw out meritless lawsuits.

Payal comments on the new framework as “a welcome return to the legislature’s original intent with the law.” She continues, “it was only supposed to be for those very rare, narrow cases where there was no doubt whatsoever that the lawsuit has been brought because you exercised your petitioning activity and solely because of that.”

To read the entire article: Lawyers Hail New Massachusetts Retaliatory Suit Protocol

The Rights to Assembly and Free Speech Prevail Over Civility in Public Forums Barron v. Kolenda, 491 Mass. 408 (2023)

/in , , /by

Which is more important – the rights to assembly and free speech or civility?  That question was the subject of Marc Laredo’s Case Comment in the November 2023 edition of the Massachusetts Law Review on the Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) recent decision in Barron v. Kolenda.  In his Case Comment, Marc reviews the SJC’s ruling that the rights to assembly and free speech must prevail and examines its implications for public officials and residents throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

To read Marc’s thoughts, please turn to page 79 of this month’s Massachusetts Law Review.

 

The Wedding is Off, and Who is at Fault? Let the Court Decide!

/in , , /by

In the case of a broken engagement, who gets to keep the rings? This was the question the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently addressed in Johnson v. Settino, 103 Mass. App. Ct. 291 (2023).

In Johnson, the plaintiff had given his fiancé a $70,000 engagement ring and purchased two wedding bands. After he broke off the engagement, and his now ex-fiancé refused to return the rings, he filed a lawsuit to get them back.

Fall 2023 Newsletter

Payal Salsburg Featured in The Magazine of Saint Elizabeth University

/in , , /by

Saint Elizabeth University ran a featured article about alumna and Laredo & Smith Partner, Payal Salsburg in a recent edition of the school’s magazine.

In the article, Payal talks about her journey from when she arrived in the United States from India to her work as a lawyer. She shares important insights about helping people who may not be able to obtain legal representation on their own. Sharing her thoughts about how her support as a pro bono lawyer can impact others and how her undergraduate experience helped shape who she is today, Payal tells us “being a student of Saint Elizabeth was a critical part of my development. To be in an environment that supported and nourished my need to serve others and to help me find ways to do that was really instrumental and made me realize those were my values too.”

Jessica Conklin Publishes Boston Bar Journal Article on Practice Tips for Title IX

/in , , /by

Jessica Conklin co-authored an article for the Boston Bar Journal entitled, “Practice Tips for Representing Students in Title IX Proceedings.”  Title IX is a federal statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment and it applies to virtually every educational institution that receives federal financial assistance. This article covers the unique challenges of these proceedings as well as processes associated with starting proceedings and managing cases as well as hearings and appeals. Jessica has broad experience working with students and their families in connection with disciplinary proceedings and Title IX investigations.

Payal Salsburg Co-Authors Boston Bar Journal Article on Standards for Duty to Preserve

/in , , /by

Payal Salsburg co-authored a recent Boston Bar Journal article entitled, “JFF Cecilia LLC v. Weiner Ventures LLC: Is There Finally Clarity on the Legal Standard for When the Duty to Preserve Evidence Begins and When Spoliation Sanctions May Be Imposed?” In this article, Payal and her co-author discuss the JFF Cecilia case and the resulting clarification for lawyers about a party’s duty to preserve relevant evidence early, even if there is just a possibility of a lawsuit.