On October 23, 2018, New England Legal Foundation held its fifth annual John G.L. Cabot Award Dinner at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.  The evening’s guest of honor was Mark T. Beaudouin, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Waters Corporation.​

The report for 2017 details another year of solid accomplishments both in our traditional litigation work
and in our other activities.

The descriptions of our work and initiatives last year highlight NELF’s continued
importance as the only nonpartisan, nonprofit, public interest law firm in New England
dedicated full-time to advocating a balanced economic approach that recognizes the
central values of our free enterprise system.

To View Full Report Click Here

Benjamin Robbins, senior staff attorney at NELF, will be a panelist at the ABA Roundtable Conference on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. The roundtable will disscuss whether the conspiracy theory of personal jurisdiction should be struck down as violative of due process. ​To the extent the theory remains viable, the panel will address the pleading and evidentiary standards that are or should be required of plaintiffs to establish personal jurisdiction based on alleged conspiratorial acts. 

On May 2, the New England Legal Foundation partnered with McDermott Will & Emery LLP to welcome over 50 attorneys to McDermott’s offices for a timely breakfast panel discussion about what, in the #MeToo era, company management, board members, and in-house counsel can and should do to prevent harassment in the workplace, protect employees involved in such incidents, and protect their companies from missteps that can lead to liability.   

The panel discussion was introduced by NELF’s President, Martin J. Newhouse, and moderated by the Honorable Robert J. Cordy, partner at McDermott and Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (2001-2016). The morning panelists were Melissa Brennan, Legal Counsel, Partners Healthcare, Krista Pratt, Employment Counsel, Biogen, as well as two other leading McDermott partners Maria Rodriguez and Sarah Walters. 

The increased focus on issues of harassment and abuse is putting corporate America under a microscope. Business executives and board members—regardless of whether the entity they serve is private, public or charitable—must adjust the way they approach the issue of harassment in the workplace and actively respond to allegations of misconduct. Recent examples demonstrate that no industry sector is immune to the problem. This is no longer just a matter for the HR department—it requires focus and corporate action at the General Counsel and Board levels. The tone must be set at the top. The adequacy of compliance programs and the corporate response to allegations of harassment both past and present has become critical in the marketplace as well as in the courts. Indeed, in addition to high profile examples of media reports alone destroying corporate reputations, a recent decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court (Gyulakian v. Lexus of Watertown, Inc. [2016]), has made it clear that a corporate failure to take sufficient remedial action (including a thorough investigation) after having been notified of potentially harassing conduct in the workplace can subject the company to punitive, as well as compensatory, damages.
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The panel on May 2 addressed these issues in the context of the latest developments in response to the #MeToo movement, with a particular focus on how a combination of experienced employment, white collar and SEC practitioners can save a company time, money, resources, and most importantly its reputation in the marketplace. The panelists provided practical advice and guidance with regard to, first, preventing workplace harassment and abuse and, second, how best to deal with such incidents so as to protect both the employees involved and their employer. 

Cocktail Reception ($20,000)
Ernst & Young LLP
Gold Sponsor ($15,000)
Goodwin Procter LLP
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP
Waters Corporation
Silver Sponsorship ($10,000)
Peabody Arnold 
Bronze Sponsorship ($5,000)
Boston Red Sox
Choate Hall & Stewart LP
Conn Kavanaugh Rosenthal Peisch & Ford LLP
Donoghue Barett & Signal PC
Eversource Service Co.
Faber Daeufer & Itrato PC
Foley Hoag LLP
Grant Thornton
Hamel Marcin Dunn Reardon & Shea, PC
Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP
Hogan Lovells US LLP
Holtz & Reed LLP
Jones Day
Littler Mendelson, P.C.
Manion, Gaynor & Manning
Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morrison Mahoney LLP
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
Prince Lobel Tye LLP
Raytheon Company
Robins Kaplan LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
Sloane and Walsh, LLP
Staples, Inc.
Verrill Dana LLP
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Centerpieces ($2,500)
​Upland Advisory LLC
Half Table ($2,500)
Fidelity Foundation
Goulston & Storrs
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Pierce Atwood LLP
Other Attendees
Biogen Idec, Inc.
Bowditch & Dewey LLP
Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP
Charles River Associates
DiCicco, Gulam & Company
First Republic Bank
Fish & Richardson
Foley & Lardner, LLP
Hemenway & Barnes LLP
Holland & Knight LLP
Fisher & Phillips LLP
Locke Lord LLP
Massachusetts Medical Society
Santamarina y Steta, S.C.
Serafini, Darling & Correnti, LLP
Sherin and Lodgen LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Jay Stephens
Donations
Brown Rudnick LLP​

 NEW ENGLAND LEGAL FOUNDATION and
ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES OF MASSACHUSETTS
invite you to attend their
Spring Breakfast Program
Wednesday, May 3, 2017; 7:30-9:30 A.M.
Boston College Club, 100 Federal Street, Boston, Massachusetts
THE IMPACT OF THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT’S MARCH 6, 2017, DECISION IN IBEW LOCAL NO. 129 V. TUCCI
 
About the Program
 
In its seminal decision on March 6, 2017, regarding EMC’s merger with Dell, IBEW Local No. 129 v. Tucci, the Supreme Judicial Court clarified the question of directors’ fiduciary duty under Massachusetts corporate law and resolutely distinguished the law of Massachusetts in this area from the law of Delaware. At the heart of the case was the legal question whether directors of a Massachusetts publicly traded corporation, in addition to the duty they owed to the corporation, also owed a separate fiduciary duty directly to the shareholders.  In its decision, the Court affirmed that directors of a publicly traded corporation owe a single fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the corporation, and in doing so may consider its various constituents’ interests, but have no separate duty to act solely in the interest of its shareholders. The Court, for the first time, also clearly distinguished the fiduciary duty owed by directors in that context from shareholder-based duties owed in close corporations and in majority shareholder controlled corporations.   Our panelists will discuss the decision itself, its impact upon the development of Massachusetts’ distinct body of corporate law, and whether, in light of this decision, companies currently doing business or starting up in Massachusetts should consider incorporating or re-incorporating under Massachusetts law.
  
Moderator and Panelist:
 

• Thomas J. Dougherty, Esq., Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

 
Panelists:

• Ian D. Roffman, Esq., Partner, Nutter McClennan & Fish, LLP
• Kurt Wm Hemr, Esq., Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
• John Pagliaro, Esq., Staff Attorney, New England Legal Foundation
• Elizabeth M. McCarron, Esq., Senior Vice President, Business Litigation, Dell Technologies
• Paul T. Dacier, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Indigo Agriculture; former Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EMC Corporation

Details:

• 7:30-8:00 a.m. Buffet Breakfast
• 8:00-9:30 a.m. Panel Discussion

 
There is no cost to attend this program, but seating is limited, so please reserve your place as soon as possible. 
 
To Register:
 
Please RSVP by return email (info@nelfonline.org) or by calling NELF at (617) 695-3660.