The recent insider trading conviction of billionaire Raj Rajaratnam shows that federal prosecutors will increasingly be using wiretaps to build fraud cases involving Wall Street executives. It also signals the growing acceptance by federal judges that, despite the extraordinary cost and invasiveness of such procedures (agents are directed to stop listening when talk turns from business to private--yes, stop the laughter), wiretaps have reached a kind of critical mass of acceptance in the surveillance nation we now inhabit.

In a related matter, Massachusetts law enforcement officials are pushing for a change to antiquated state wiretap laws. An interesting side note is that if the law is changed, it should signal the end to a large number of frivolous wiretapping charges brought against Mass. citizens who are documenting police activity. The Boston Police Dept. is being sued in a major case on that exact issue. The case is Glik v. Cunniffe et al., Civil Action No. 10-10150.
The story and video from the arrest is available here.

Tags: Rajaratnam, wirertaps, massachusetts, wiretap law, glik

A Massachusetts court in Zona Corp. v McKinnon upheld a 1 year non-compete signed by a hair dresser who had been fired from the salon. The fact that the hair dresser employment came to end involuntarily did not affect the enforcement of the clause. At stake was the usual scenario that investigators are called upon to prove: the former employee was using confidential information to make contact with former customers. Some memorable situations at this firm have involved men who are violating a non-competition agreements and can't help bragging at the hotel bar to the lovely and attentive brunette--who is, of course, a private investigator.

Tags: massachusetts, ZONA v McKinnon, enforcement, non-compete, employment law

At the State House last week, several Massachusetts district attorneys tried to convince a skeptical crowd that their budget, in which they left out a $1.4 billion dollar investigative item (ie., the police who investigate their cases) was underfunded compared to the budget for public defenders. They did not make the same mistake when presenting the CPCS/public defender budget.

Judge for yourself when the DAs try Fuzzy Math 101 again at the Indigent Defense program at Suffolk Law School at 7:30 AM on Monday, November 22, 2010.

Tags: massachusetts, budget, CPCS, district attorney

The SJC in Papadopoulos v. Target Corp abandoned the bizarre Mass. distinction between "natural and unnatural accumulations of snow and ice" which had constituted an exception to the general rule of premises liability that a property owner owes a duty to all lawful visitors to use reasonable care.

The new standard: "We now will apply to hazards arising from snow and ice the same obligation that a property owner owes to lawful visitors as to all other hazards: a duty to act as a reasonable person under all of the circumstances including the likelihood of injury to others, the probable seriousness of such injuries, and the burden of reducing or avoiding the risk. … If a property owner knows or reasonably should know of a dangerous condition on its property, whether arising from an accumulation of snow or ice, or rust on a railing, or a discarded banana peel, the property owner owes a duty to lawful visitors to make reasonable efforts to protect lawful visitors against the danger.

Bottom line: start shoveling.

Tags: massachusetts, snow, slip and fall, premises liability

The new Criminal Offender Record Information law (CORI) prohibits employers from asking on an “initial written application form” about an applicant’s “criminal offender record information,” which includes information about criminal charges, arrests, and incarcerations. The term “initial written application" in the new text may allow employers to continue to question applicants about felony and certain misdemeanor convictions later in the process. Moreover, the law does not address classic court docket research conducted by investigators.

Tags: background check, CORI, criminal records, massachusetts

A Massachusetts Superior Court judge ruled in In Heffernan v. Hashampour that the state Wiretap Act applies when a party outside of Massachusetts secretly records a telephone call to a party in this state. Thus Massachusetts continues to provide its citizens with protection (some say over-protection) from secretive audio recordings. The flip side of this protection can be seen in the case of Simon Glik, who was arrested for video recording police officers making an arrest near Boston Common in 2007. The criminal charges were dropped and Glik has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Boston and three Boston police officers, arguing that public space is not covered by the wiretap law (ie. there is no expectation of privacy in a public place).

Tags: massachusetts, privacy, wiretapping, audio recordings

The big problem facing HR people is balancing costs with coverage. For example, some firms offer a "statewide criminal check" or even "national criminal check". Often times they are simply checking a database of convictions only -- a small universe of people compared to those who are charged. So if your guy has a record of being charged with sexual assaults against women in the workplace, but somehow pled out to misdemeanors or had the cases dismissed, a statewide convictions database would give you no reason to pause.

By searching the lower district courts for any cases filed, your background due diligence would allow you to find the cases and make your own evaluation. This is especially true in certain states such as Massachusetts, where the lower courts hear some felony cases, assaults, and various other serious crimes.

Tags: massachusetts, background check, criminal records

The Massachusetts Bar Association hosts a good summary of privacy laws and surveillance in Massachusetts. written by lawyers Joseph M. Desmond & David Viens. One of the leading cases in Mass. is DiGirolamo v. D.P. Anderson & Associates, Inc., The court wrote that investigators may generally observe, or photograph a person in public places. A gray area arises when a person enters the privacy of their own home. The court looked at 4 scenarios as to whether a private investigator violates a person's statutory right to privacy:

~ the investigator looks through a window into an apartment with the naked eye;
~ the investigator looks with the naked eye when a person walks out onto a balcony;
~ the investigator photographs, or looks at the person on a balcony with enhanced vision
~ the investigator photographs or looks at a person inside the home with enhanced vision.
 
The Mass. court concluded that only the fourth scenario would constitute an unreasonable and substantial interference with the plaintiff’s right to privacy. The court adopted the United States Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment analysis from Oliver v. United States. It also quoted a Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ case United States v. Taborda: “Observation of objects and activities inside a person’s home by unenhanced vision from a location where the observer may properly be does not impair a legitimate expectation of privacy. However, any enhanced viewing of the interior of a home does impair a legitimate expectation of privacy.”

Tags: surveillance, privacy, massachusetts, private investigator

Mass Lawyers Weekly reported an increase in patent cases filed in Massachusetts after streamlined procedures and rules were implemented. Top venues for filing cases continue to be headed by the usual suspects: Northern California, Eastern Texas, and Delaware (which has long had a reputation for sophisticated handling of complex business cases).

Tags: intellectual property, massachusetts, patent infringement