Stephen Riden in The Boston Globe on Supreme Court’s First Amendment Ruling
Stephen Riden is featured in a June 28, 2011, Boston Globe story about the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. EMA striking down California's law banning violent video games. The article is by the Globe's technology correspondent, Hiawatha Bray. The article focuses on the impact of the Court's June 27, 2011, ruling on...
Russell Beck On Noncompete Agreements in Mass. Lawyers Weekly
Russell Beck was quoted in a recent Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article about a lawsuit concerning the enforcement of a noncompete agreement. The article was written by Eric T. Berkman. A copy of the article is available here. In the article, Russell speaks about the challenges judges face in deciding whether to enfo...
Beck Reed Riden’s Guide for Improving Noncompete Agreements
The current issue of New England In-House Counsel features Stephen Riden's guide for improving non-compete agreements, called "Taking your non-compete agreement from good to great." A PDF version of the article can be downloaded here. The guide is tailored to assist in-house counsel in crafting robust non-compete agre...
Chambers USA Ranks Russell Beck
Russell Beck was honored in the June 2011 Chambers USA Guide for his litigation and labor & employment experience. Chambers included Russell in its “Notable Practitioners” section, adding that "Russell Beck of Beck Reed Riden LLP is regarded as 'something of a leader in the noncompetition arena' by peers” and “Clien...
BRR Celebrates its One Year Anniversary
One year ago today, we started Beck Reed Riden LLP. We are thankful for the support of our clients, colleagues, friends, and families over the past year. We look forward to many more years of being Boston's innovative litigation boutique. Sincerely, Russell Beck, Stephen Reed, and Stephen Riden About Us Beck Reed...
Recent Court Decisions Instruct Companies How To Protect Trade Secrets
Two recent cases in Massachusetts, one at the federal and one at the state level, address a key issue in the analysis of trade secret claims: the steps employers can and should undertake in order to protect information for which they seek trade secret protection. Taken together, these cases provide valuable instruction t...
Boston College Law School: Law Day
Beck Reed Riden LLP is proud to sponsor BC Law's 2011 Law Day dinner. The event was held on April 26, 2011, at the Seaport Hotel, Boston. Beck Reed Riden LLP congratulates the following Law Day 2011 Honorees for their service as lawyers and dedication to Boston College Law School. St. Thomas More Award Mary K. Ryan '7...
Riden quoted in New England In-House on E-discovery
Stephen Riden was quoted in the recent issue of New England In-House in an article about an important electronic discovery decision from the Southern District of New York. The article was written by Correy E. Stephenson. In the article, which also appears in the recent issue of Lawyers USA, Stephen spoke about a decisi...
Public Trade Secrets?
Today’s headlines provided an interesting twist on the intersection between trade secret law and sunshine (or “freedom of information”) laws. See UConn Fights to Keep Donor List Secret. Typically, the issue of what confidential information in the hands of government bodies is available to the public arises from the pote...
Supreme Court Upholds Third Party Retaliation Claims Under Title VII
In one of several employment-law decisions expected to be handed down this term, the United States Supreme Court on Monday issued its decision in Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP, 562 U.S. ___ (2011), upholding the right of third parties to bring retaliation claims under Title VII without actually engaging in pro...
Massachusetts SJC Strikes Down Employer’s Wage Deduction Policy
A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court holds that an employer may not deduct money from an employee’s paycheck to compensate it for damage the employee has done to its property without running afoul of the Massachusetts Wage Act, G.L. c. 149, § 148. In Camara v. Attorney General (SJC-10693) (Janua...
Superior Court Expands Wage Act to Include Severance Pay
In a departure from established precedent, a Massachusetts Superior Court has ruled for the first time that severance pay qualifies as “wages” under the Massachusetts Wage Act, G.L. c. 149, § 148. In Juergens v. MicroGroup, Inc. (Docket No. 10-CV-2379-D), the plaintiff Albert Juergens successfully negotiated a six-month...
Riden Quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on E-discovery
This week's issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly features a story on the rise of sanctions issued for e-discovery violations. In Christina Pazzanese's article, Stephen Riden comments on a recent study published in the Duke Law Journal that documents the increase of sanctions awards involving e-discovery matters. Of the...
Boston Globe Endorses Tax Incentives for Video Game Companies
In today’s Boston Globe, its editors endorse a plan to offer tax incentives to video game companies. Recognizing that this sector offers significant growth potential and jobs, the Globe editorial characterizes incentives as a long-term investment: Incentives for video game developers … could serve as an invaluable long-t...
New Bill to Modernize Noncompete Agreements Filed
Today Representative Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead) and Representative William Brownsberger (D-Belmont) filed a bill to codify, clarify, and modernize Massachusetts law relative to employee noncompetition agreements. In-depth analysis of the bill can be found here. Noncompete agreements are frequently used by employers to...
BBA’s IP Year in Review
Russell Beck will be covering trade secrets and noncompetes in this year's Boston Bar Association's Intellectual Property Year in Review. The event will be on January 19, 2011, from 2:00 to 5:30, with a reception to follow. More information is available here. >> Follow-up: Photos from the event can be found here...