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

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.

Seven Laredo, Smith & Kane Attorneys Recognized in the 2024 Edition of Massachusetts Super Lawyers

Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that seven of its attorneys have been recognized in the 2024 edition of Massachusetts Super Lawyers , with five included on the Super Lawyers list and two on the Rising Stars list.

The Laredo, Smith & Kane attorneys on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list and their corresponding category/practice area are:

In addition, Super Lawyers named Kane, Laredo, and Salsburg to the Top 100 list, recognizing the top 100 attorneys in Massachusetts. Further, Salsburg was included on the Top 50 women list, recognizing Massachusetts’s top 50 women attorneys.

The Laredo, Kane & Smith attorneys on the Massachusetts Rising Starts list and their corresponding category/practice area are:

Super Lawyers is a research-driven, peer-influenced rating service of lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The mission of Super Lawyers is to bring visibility to those attorneys who exhibit excellence in practice.

 

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 Matthew Kane Named to BBA’s Business and Commercial Litigation Section Steering Committee

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.

Six Laredo, Smith & Kane Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025

Boston law firm Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that six of its attorneys were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 edition. Published by Woodward/White, Inc. since 1982, Best Lawyers is considered by many to be the oldest and most respected peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession.

The six Laredo, Smith & Kane attorneys listed in Best Lawyers are:

●      Marc C. Laredo: Commercial Litigation; Employment Law, Management

●      Mark D. Smith: Closely Held Companies and Family; Business Law; Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense, White-CollarLared

●      Matthew A. Kane: Litigation, Labor & Employment

●      Payal Salsburg: Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense, White-Collar

●      William G. Cosmas, Jr.: Commercial Litigation

●      Jessica L. Conklin: Criminal Defense, White-Collar

Inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America is based on an extensive peer-review process designed to capture the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical and legal practice area. Best Lawyers highlights the top 5% of practicing attorneys in each practice area. Its 2025 selections are featured in the 31st edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

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 Attorneys Selected for Inclusion in 2025 Best Lawyers

Laredo, Smith & Kane attorneys Marc Laredo, Mark Smith, Matthew Kane, Payal Salsburg, William Cosmas and Jessica Conklin are all selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.

Marc Laredo is selected for his work in both Commercial Litigation and Employment Law/Management. Marc represents clients in disputes among owners of closely held businesses and a wide array of other business litigation matters including commercial contract cases, business torts, employment and non-competition litigation, government investigations and construction cases. Additionally, Marc serves as counsel to closely held businesses, advising them on issues such as the initial formation and maintenance of the business entity, contract and employment matters, crisis situations and exit strategies.

Mark Smith is selected for his work in Criminal Defense/White-Collar, Commercial Litigation, Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law. Mark is retained by businesses and individuals during all stages of criminal and other government enforcement actions. National law firms also choose Mark to handle a wide range of Massachusetts-specific litigation and regulation matters as outside counsel on behalf of their clients.

Matthew Kane is selected for his work in Litigation/Labor & Employment. Matt represents banks and other financial institutions, businesses and individuals in an array of business law matters and disputes concerning consumer finance, employment, construction, real estate and general litigation as part of the firm’s business litigation practice.

Payal Salsburg is selected for her work in Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White Collar. She 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 connection with an array of matters including contract and business disputes, False Claims Act litigation, and government and internal investigations.

William Cosmas is selected for his work in Commercial Litigation. He handles complex business disputes across many industries including finance, banking, technology, and life sciences, among others. His experience spans business litigation and arbitration, both domestic and international; government investigations and white-collar criminal defense; and real estate matters.

Jessica Conklin is selected for her work in Criminal Defense/White-Collar. She counsels clients on a variety of matters ranging from healthcare compliance and audits to government investigations. She also represents students and their families who attending secondary schools, colleges and universities in connection with disciplinary proceedings and title IX investigations.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Over 110,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and they received millions of evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. Lawyers are not allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

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

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

Laredo & Smith Named to 2024 Edition of Best Law Firms

Laredo & Smith is pleased to be named to the 2024 edition of “Best Law Firms” in the following categories:

  • National Tier 3 firm for Commercial Litigation
  • Metropolitan Tier 1 firm in Boston for Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law, Commercial Litigation, and Criminal Defense-White Collar.
  • Metropolitan Tier 2 firm in Boston for Employment Law-Management

Laredo & Smith is proud to be highly ranked in this year’s publication. Firms included in the “Best Law Firms” rankings are recognized for professional excellence and have impressive ratings from clients and peers. The Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process.

 

Marc Laredo & Payal Salsburg Named 2023 Top Lawyers for Super Lawyers

Marc Laredo and Payal Salsburg are on the top of the Super Lawyers Lists!  Marc and Payal were both named to the 2023 Top 100 list and Payal is also named to the 2023 Top 50 Women list.

Marc is recognized for his work in Business Litigation and Closely-Held Businesses.  Payal is recognized on both lists for her work in Business Litigation and White Collar Crime.

Laredo & Smith Attorneys Named to 2023 Super Lawyers List

Laredo & Smith is pleased to announce that many of the firm’s attorneys are named to Super Lawyers for 2023, including:

  • Marc Laredo is recognized in the areas of Business Litigation and Closely Held Businesses
  • Mark Smith is recognized for White Collar Crime
  • Matt Kane is recognized for Business Litigation, Banking, and Appellate
  • Payal Salsburg is recognized for Business Litigation and White Collar Crime
  • William Cosmas is recognized for Business Litigation and General Litigation
  • Jessica Conklin is recognized as a Rising Star in White Collar Crime, Schools & Education, and Business Litigation
  • Darshana Indira is recognized as a Rising Star in Employment & Labor

Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country.

Laredo & Smith Expands Litigation Group: Adds William Cosmas as Partner

Laredo & Smith announces that William G. Cosmas, Jr. joins the firm as a Partner this fall.

Representing sophisticated corporate and individual clients, Will resolves complex business disputes across many industries including finance, banking, technology, and life sciences. He handles business litigation and arbitration, both domestic and international; government investigations and white-collar criminal defense; and real estate matters. Will also serves as local counsel for out-of-state law firms seeking assistance in Massachusetts state or federal courts.

“Will Cosmas is a tremendous advocate and pragmatic litigator. We are very excited to welcome his practice to our firm and look forward to working with him,” says Managing Partner, Marc Laredo.

Prior to joining Laredo & Smith, Will ran his own private practice, Cosmas Law LLC, representing individuals and corporations in sophisticated business disputes and real estate litigation. Will remarks, “I am thrilled to be joining Laredo & Smith. The firm provides my clients a fantastic platform for providing top-level legal representation while retaining very personalized service.”

About the Firm
Based in Boston, Laredo & Smith helps clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters. 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, criminal and governmental investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX.