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16 April 2021
Michael Fee was quoted in a Lawyers Weekly article entitled Abutters can’t block private school construction dated April 14, 2021. The article discusses a recent Appeals Court decision finding that a 50-foot wide easement that connects a cul-de-sac to a site the owners planned to develop for a private school would not be overburdened by the proposed project.
21 September 2020
Michael C. Fee was recently quoted in the August 31, 2020 edition of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. The article, entitled: “State’s Eviction Ban Does Not Preclude Attachment of Assets”, explores recent court decisions regarding how commercial landlords and tenants are navigating the Covid-19 environment. You can reach Michael C. Fee at mfee@piercemandell.com
5 May 2020
On April 27th, in response to the COVID-19 public health crisis, Governor Baker signed into law Section 71 of the Acts of 2020 entitled “An Act for Providing Virtual Notarization to Address Challenges related to COVID-19” (the “Act”). The Act allows notary publics to perform remote ink notarizations via video conferencing (such as Zoom or FaceTime) pursuant to certain requirements....
28 February 2020
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court continues to alter the standard by which G. L. c. 231, § 59H anti-SLAPP motions are decided by trial courts. The anti-SLAPP statute authorizes a party sued because of its petitioning activity to file a special motion to dismiss within 60 days of service of the complaint. Petitioning activity may range from testifying before a...
23 January 2019
You’ve done everything you thought you were supposed to do to secure local approval for your project. You’ve spoken with all of the neighbors. You’ve hosted community meetings. You’ve met with the building commissioner. You’ve hired your architect, your engineer, and your general contractor. In some instances, you have already been through site plan review and the local planning board....
21 November 2018
By: Michael C. Fee The ruling in The McLean Hospital Corporation v. The Town of Lincoln and others et al., concerns an appeal from a Lincoln ZBA determination that McLean’s proposed use of residential property is not exempt from zoning under the Dover Amendment, G.L. c. 40A, § 3. Pierce & Mandell shareholder Michael C. Fee represented a group of...
20 November 2018
By: Scott M. Zanolli Last week the Cape Cod town of Truro became the first Massachusetts municipality to enact a zoning bylaw that allows cannabis cultivation in a residential district. The by-law was a product of intense public debate over the past several months as the Truro Planning Board attempted to craft a proposal that balanced the concerns of residential...
31 October 2018
By: Scott M. Zanolli After a three year investigation, the FAA has concluded the Norwood Airport Commission unreasonably denied Pierce & Mandell client Boston Executive Helicopters access to the Norwood Airport, and improperly granted the existing fixed based operator exclusive rights in violation of Federal Grant Assurances 22 and 23. By way of background, in 2008 the FAA determined that...
30 July 2018
Pierce & Mandell shareholder Michael C. Fee has authored the recently published LexisNexis® Practice Guide to Massachusetts Real Estate Litigation (2018 Edition). The book is intended to offer practical guidance on some of the most significant real estate issues currently being litigated in Massachusetts, and contains nearly 400 practice tips, forms and checklists. Designed to be useful to both new...
17 May 2018
By: Scott M. Zanolli The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recent ruling in Boelter v. Board of Selectmen of Wayland (SJC-12353, April 5, 2018) interprets and clarifies, for the first time, the meaning of the term “deliberation,” which was added to the Open Meeting Law in July 2010. The Open Meeting Law requires that, with the exception of executive sessions, “all...
30 April 2018
By: Scott M. Zanolli Petitions to Partition, often brought in the Land or Probate Courts, allow the division of land owned by two or more individuals. The right to partition is absolute, and does not require the consent of other co-owners. For an excellent overview of general partition principles and practice, see Jeff Angley’s primer entitled "Partition of Land". The...
16 March 2018
By: Scott M. Zanolli The Appeals Court’s recent decision in Cedar-Fieldstone Marketplace, LP v. T.S. Fitness, Inc., 17-P-791, 2018 Mass. App. LEXIS 30, serves as a stark reminder to commercial tenants and their counsel of potential guarantor liabilities that live on even after settlement of an underlying lease debt. The facts in Cedar-Fieldstone are familiar and common. The defendant tenant,...
12 August 2016
Pierce & Mandell, P.C. partner, Michael C. Fee, a member of the Council of the Boston Bar Association, recently participated in the BBA's efforts to pass a zoning reform measure that the organization has championed since 1995. House Bill 3611 was signed into law by Governor Baker on August 5, 2016 and provides much needed clarification to the Massachusetts Zoning...
1 June 2016
Michael Fee is a member of the Land Court’s Alternative Litigation Options Working Group, which assisted the Land Court in drafting proposed rule changes designed to make trial practice in that forum more speedy and cost-effective. The proposed rule changes have proven somewhat controversial, however, and the editorial board of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly recently took issue with some of them...
16 May 2016
Michael C. Fee recently assisted the Boston Bar Association’s lobbying efforts in support of House and Senate Bills designed to clarify the scope of General Laws Chapter 40A, § 7, and codify the principle that non-compliant structures and uses that survive applicable statutes of limitations should be granted the status of a pre-existing, non-conforming structure or use, subject to the...
5 May 2016
Michael Fee served as a Boston Bar Association representative to the land Court’s Alternative Litigation Options Working Group. The Group has recently proposed rule changes designed to make litigation in that court more speedy, efficient and less costly.
5 October 2015
By Scott M. Zanolli, Esq. Pierce & Mandell, P.C. recently obtained the dismissal of a Superior Court action brought by an equipment rental subcontractor to enforce a mechanic’s lien against our property developer client. The dispute arose when the general contractor hired by the developer failed to pay for equipment furnished for the project. As a result, the equipment rental...
29 June 2015
In May, Michael Fee testified at the State House on behalf of the Boston Bar Association in support of BBA bill H3611 (formerly H1284). H3611 passed the House this week. The bill helps to protect consumers and other owners of improved real estate that is nonconforming when the applicable statute of limitations for zoning enforcement by a municipality has passed. ...
10 June 2014
Michael C. Fee was quoted in this week’s Lawyers Weekly article entitled: “Choice of remedies after P&S breached”.
15 August 2013
Michael C. Fee was quoted in this week’s Lawyers Weekly article entitled: “Broker gets fee despite no lease”.
11 April 2013
By: Scott M. Zanolli The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recently posted its draft regulations regarding the use of medical marijuana. They can be viewed online using this link: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/legal/med-marijuana/med-marijuana-propose-reg.pdf Public comments on the draft regulations will be received until April 20, 2013, and the Department of Public Health will hold three concurrent public hearings on April 19th in...
5 March 2013
By: Scott M. Zanolli A spike in recent client inquiries to evaluate proposed estoppel certificates may signal brighter times ahead for the commercial real estate market. Hope springs eternal, and now seems an opportune time to review the basic principles, and potential pitfalls, associated with estoppel certificates. First, an estoppel certificate is a written form generally requested from tenants when...
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