Representative Matters

Antitrust & Competition
• • As a judge, managed multidistrict antitrust litigation concerning alleged reverse payments, sham litigation and product hopping in the pharmaceutical market
  • As a judge, considered the viability of claims under the Sherman Act and the Rhode Island Antitrust Act in an action brought by a Massachusetts hospital system alleging that an insurer’s refusal to accept proposed reimbursement rates and related conduct thwarted its attempted acquisition of a Rhode Island acute care hospital
Appellate Cases (Sitting by designation with U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Ninth Circuit, Authoring Judge)
• • Business and Commercial
    • Addressed contract impracticability and frustration-of-purpose defenses arising from COVID-19 restrictions in a dispute involving consulting services for residential care facilities (SMS Financial Recovery Services, LLC v. Samaritan Senior Village, Inc., 142 F.4th 39 (1st Cir. 2025))
    • Addressed contract interpretation and implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claims in a residential real estate deposit dispute (Zachar v. Lee, 363 F.3d 70 (1st Cir. 2004))
    • Decided complex commercial lending and creditor-rights disputes, including diversity jurisdiction issues following intervention in bankruptcy-related litigation (In re Olympic Mills Corp., 477 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2007))
    • Addressed enforcement of a money judgment and execution issues involving bank accounts across U.S. territories (Power Rental Op Co., LLC v. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, 142 F.4th 17 (1st Cir. 2025))
  • Labor and Employment
    • Decided claims involving temporary foreign work certifications and mootness doctrine in a labor challenge to agency action (Maine State Bldg. & Constr. Trades Council v. U.S. DOL, 359 F.3d 14 (1st Cir. 2004))
    • Decided age discrimination and constructive discharge claims arising from resignation and severance negotiations (Torrech-Hernandez v. General Elec. Co., 519 F.3d 41 (1st Cir. 2008))
    • Decided disability discrimination, reasonable accommodation and hostile work environment claims involving attendance and performance issues (Rios-Jimenez v. Principi, 520 F.3d 31 (1st Cir. 2008))
    • Addressed unfair labor practices involving employee speech and employer media policies under the NLRA (NLRB v. Maine Coast Regional Health Facilities, 999 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2021))
    • Enforced arbitration agreements in an employment dispute involving handbook revisions and notice requirements (Davis v. Nordstrom, Inc., 755 F.3d 1089 (9th Cir. 2014))
  • Insurance
    • Addressed policy interpretation and liability limits concerning coverage for interest, costs and bond obligations (Graf v. Hospitality Mut. Ins. Co., 754 F.3d 74 (1st Cir. 2014))
    • Decided claims involving insurer liquidation and statutory bars in matter against a liquidator (MRCo, Inc. v. Juarbe-Jimenez, 521 F.3d 88 (1st Cir. 2008))
  • Civil Rights/Government/Public Law
    • Addressed First Amendment retaliation claims by a state contractor concerning speech on matters of public concern (Decotiis v. Whittemore, 635 F.3d 22 (1st Cir. 2011))
    • Addressed qualified immunity and due process claims arising from land use and permitting disputes involving a mixed-use development (San Geronimo Caribe Project, Inc. v. Acevedo-Vila, 650 F.3d 826 (1st Cir. 2011))
    • Dissenting opinion in a case granting summary judgement under the Federal Tort Claims Act to the government for the negligent actions of federal probation officials who failed, over 18 years, to notice that a defendant/supervisee had kidnapped and held hostage a young woman in his backyard (Duggard v. United States, 835 F.3d 915)
Business Commercial
• • Mediated a three-way dispute between business partners and their bank regarding dissolution of their partnership and alleged wrongful withdrawal of funds
  • Mediated a dispute between a long-tenured physician and their practice group involving complicated False Claims Act and employment contract issues, including arbitration defenses
  • As a judge, in an action by a jewelry manufacturer against a buyer, addressed claims of fraudulent inducement, violation of Massachusetts Section 93A, tortious interference and fraudulent omission
  • As a judge, in a breach of contract action, interpreted complex contractual provisions governing the sale of lottery assets located across multiple states and foreign jurisdictions
  • As a judge, in an action brought by a union health fund against a national pharmaceutical company alleging fraud and deceptive practices related to pharmacy pricing programs, addressed procedural and substantive challenges to a putative class action, including heightened pleading requirements under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) and claims arising under various state consumer protection statutes
Civil Rights
• • Mediated numerous cases alleging police excessive use of force under Section 1983 involving a wide variety of contexts and involving wide array of injuries, including death and traumatic brain injury
  • As a judge, decided tort claims and jurisdictional issues arising from alleged negligent care of an immigration detainee
  • As a judge, presided over a five-week bench trial involving more than 20 expert witnesses, many subject to Daubert challenges, and issued findings of fact and conclusions of law in a constitutional challenge brought by trucking companies and the American Trucking Association under the Dormant Commerce Clause to a first-of-its-kind state tractor-trailer tolling program
  • As a judge, in a matter involving unpaid attorneys’ fees, decided issues of sovereign immunity and tribal exhaustion doctrine
  • As a judge, presided over numerous jury and bench trials involving Section 1983 excessive force claims against municipal and state defendants, addressing a broad range of alleged injuries, including wrongful death, and defenses such as qualified immunity
Environmental Law
• • As a judge, decided hazardous waste enforcement issues involving alleged storage of liquid mercury and statutory penalty calculations
  • As a judge, addressed the impact on indemnification of insurer’s decision not to represent company subjected to CERCLA and state environmental administrative action
  • As a judge, over a 15-year period, presided over three multiweek bench trials, each involving more than 20 testifying experts, and issued comprehensive findings of fact and conclusions of law addressing CERCLA liability and allocation
Insurance
• • Mediated a dispute between a franchise owner and its insurer involving claims of bad faith and failure to notify insurer of prior litigation
  • Mediated a dispute between a home purchaser and real estate agents, inspectors and prior owners regarding failure to disclose the presence of prior oil tank and leak
  • Mediated a dispute involving a real estate transaction that broke down as a result of an error by real estate attorneys in the documentation of the sale, involving claims of breach of contract and professional negligence
  • As a judge, addressed insurer and annuity disputes involving alleged fraud, incontestability provisions and related contract and tort claims
  • As a judge, interpreted the “other contracts” termination provision in an insurance policy in a declaratory judgment and breach of contract action concerning the termination of an annuity contract
  • As a judge, addressed whether a settlement with mutual insured impacted an insurer’s duty to defend and determined the appropriate allocation of defense costs based on time-on-the-risk principles in an equitable contribution action arising from an environmental cleanup matter
  • As a judge, considered fraud in the factum, breach of contract and bad faith claims in the context of stranger initiated annuity transactions
  • As a judge, in numerous cases, ruled on motions for declaratory judgement, motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgement raising issues related to insurers’ duty to defend and indemnify under specific policy provisions, including exclusions for assault and battery, pollution conditions latent defects, failure to disclose medical history and coverage dates (claim accrual)
Intellectual Property
• • As a judge, presided over a high-stakes software patent dispute involving a Markman hearing, a five-week jury trial, post-trial motion for JNOV, damages and infringement issues
  • As a judge, presided over a six-day jury trial in a patent infringement action involving dice design and ruled on post-trial motions addressing claims of inequitable conduct, sufficiency of the evidence and damages calculations under the Georgia-Pacific factors
  • As a judge, presided over a multiweek bench trial in Los Angeles concerning the disputed invention of The Game of Life and issued detailed post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law
Labor and Employment
• • Mediated numerous cases involving wrongful termination against private and public sector employers involving various claims, including sex discrimination, disability discrimination, First Amendment claims, breach of contract and other causes of action
  • Mediated a dispute between a terminated employee and their union involving claims of cybersquatting and breach of the duty of fair representation
  • As a judge, considered enforcement of noncompete and nonsolicitation provisions in employment contracts on motions for TROs and preliminary injunctions
  • As a judge, handled numerous cases involving claims of wrongful termination of benefits, denial of benefits and claims of overpayment of benefits under disability benefit policies governed by ERISA
  • As a judge, found that an employer was required to submit to the arbitrator the question of whether an agreement to arbitrate the duty to recognize the union pursuant to a card check survived the expiration of the neutrality agreement between the employer and the union
  • As a litigator, represented both public and private sector clients, as well as universities, in labor negotiations, organizing drives and labor arbitrations involving contract interpretation, employment terminations and other matters
  • As a litigator, represented the governor, secretary of state and chief justice of Rhode Island in a wide variety of labor law matters, and litigated numerous motions to vacate labor arbitration awards in the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Maritime Admiralty
• • Mediated a dispute between an owner (and their insurer) of a multimillion-dollar sailing yacht destroyed by fire against a boat yard for negligence involving complicated questions of law and valuation issues
  • Mediated a dispute between the buyer and seller of a yacht and a boatyard regarding alleged deficiencies in the vessel
  • As a judge, considered question of admiralty jurisdiction in the context of a claim about structural water damage to a vessel
  • As a judge, addressed the issue of maintenance and cure in the context of a catastrophic brain injury to a deck hand, ordering continued payment for neurologic treatment and physical and occupational therapy
  • As a judge, considered the application of the “borrowed servant doctrine” under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act as a bar to tort liability in a negligence action by the estate of a worker killed on the job in a shipyard
Professional Liability
• • Mediated a wrongful death action involving a teenage patient against large hospital and physician with allegations of physician malpractice
  • Mediated a medical malpractice and negligence case involving traumatic brain injury to a young child occurring while in hospital care
  • As a judge, considered claims of the unauthorized practice of law in the context of a medical malpractice action against the federal government under the FTCA
  • As a judge, in a medical malpractice action, interpreted the applicability of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to urgent care facilities