On November 9, 2011, I argued at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.  I represented a developer whose special permit to expand his pre-existing nonconforming use was denied by a town Board of Appeals. On February 7, 2012, the SJC ruled in my client's favor. Click to view arguments, materials and the decision.  The decision was covered by the Associated Press, the Lowell Sun and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

The Supreme Judicial Court handed down a decision on March 1, 2011, that holds that the statutory duty of a landlord under M.G.L. c. 186, § 19, to exercise reasonable care to correct an unsafe condition described in a written notice from a tenant applies to commercial leases.  Previously, the courts had only applied the section to residential premises, and if you were a commercial tenant without a provision in your lease that obligates the landlord to repair and maintain the premises, you were held responsible.  The case, Bishop v. TES Realty Trust, SJC-10696, expands the protection of the section to commercial tenants.