Longmeadow Legal Associates, P.C.

Buying or Selling a Home?

Are you or perhaps a family member contemplating BUYING OR SELLING a home in the near future? If so, we at Longmeadow Legal Associates are in a unique position to assist you with our vast experience in representing countless Buyers and Sellers over the years. Most likely, the first document you will be presented for your signature, whether the Buyer or the Seller, is an OFFER TO PURCHASE. Unfortunately, most Buyers and Sellers do not consult an attorney until after the document is signed and when they are then presented with a proposed PURCHASE AND SALES AGREEMENT.

Pro Bono- What Does It Mean?

"Pro Bono" is a Latin phrase used quite frequently in legal circles. It is, in reality, an abbreviation for "Pro Bono Publico" which means "for the public good." When a lawyer performs work for a client without charging a fee, it is considered a Pro Bono service. At Longmeadow Legal Associates, we are proud of our record of performing "pro bono" services. Not long ago, we received a desperate request from a client who had been victimized by her prior attorney who had stolen her settlement money. She had hired the attorney to represent her on a personal injury claim where she had suffered significant injuries from a car accident. The attorney, who has since been disbarred, accepted an offer of settlement from the insurance company and then "forged" his client's signature to the Release and Settlement check. Unfortunately, the client did not become aware of it until the theft had already occurred. Our office was able to recover all of her settlement money, after spending several years, pursuing the matter through litigation and by filing a claim with the Board of Bar Overseers Client's Security Fund. We did not charge the client a fee for our services.

Should I Incorporate?

A common question we hear from our business clients is, “SHOULD I INCORPORATE?” If you are conducting business in Massachusetts, there are a number of ways for you to legally do business. The major categories of business ownership in Massachusetts are Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) and Corporation. Incorporating in Massachusetts can be further segregated into different types of corporations such as C-Corps, S-Corps, Limited Liability Corporations (LLC) and Personal Service Corp’s (P.C’s). Each and every one of these listed categories of doing business has advantages and disadvantages that can significantly affect your personal assets and liability as well as your tax liabilities. If you have no partners, conducting business as a Sole Proprietor is relatively easy. However, in doing so, you will have UNLIMITED legal liability and are subject to the full extent of self-employment taxes as well as a possible higher tax bracket based on taxable income. After paying federal income taxes, self-employment taxes and state income taxes, it is possible for a Sole Proprietor to pay more than 50% of his/her profits in taxes.

Rising Auto Insurance Rates

The Boston Globe recently published an article that was entitled, “Auto Insurance Rates Climbing for Mass Drivers”. The article stated that auto insurance bills will increase this year between 6 and 9 percent on average. Last week, my wife’s auto insurance carrier sent us our renewal for 2016-2017 and to our shock, her policy premium was increasing by 28%. When I called to inquire why such a dramatic increase, I was told that in addition to a rate increase, our carrier was eliminating previously granted discounts and the result was a significant increase in the renewal premium.

This past week, the Supreme Judicial Court, in a split decision, made it easier for customers to sue retail establishments because it extended the “mode of operation” approach in premises liability cases. The case involved a woman who fell as a result of a stone that had moved from an adjacent gravel area to the walkway of an Agway store on Cape Cod. Under historic premises liability law, the burden was on the injured party to prove that Agway knew or should have known that the stone had migrated from the adjacent gravel area to the sidewalk area and thereafter, Agway failed to take measures to make the walkway safe. The injured party was unable to prove either actual or constructive knowledge because she had no way of knowing how long the stone was there (unlike water on a grocery store floor that becomes dirty and muddy as more and more customers walk through it). The SJC found that it would be unjust for the injured party to be thrown out of court in this type of circumstance because:

1. The risk that customers would dislodge stones from the gravel area onto the walkway was reasonably foreseeable.
2. It was reasonably foreseeable that stones lying on walkway would pose a tripping hazard to customers walking on the walkway.
3. The steps that Agway took to protect customers from the potential hazard of tripping on stones were unreasonable.

Declaration of Homestead

Should I file a DECLARATION OF HOMESTEAD on my principal residence. The answer is an unequivocal YES. In Massachusetts, an owner(s) of a principal residence can and should file a Declaration of Homestead to protect against attachment, seizure, execution on judgment, levy or sale for the payment of debts to the extent of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per residence, per family. The cost of filing the Declaration is $35.00 and in most cases, can be done without the need for an attorney. In fact, our Secretary of State, William Galvin has issued a very, in depth, pamphlet on the Homestead Act and our Registrar of Probate, Donald Ashe has provided internet links to forms and Questions and Answers on filling out the forms. The information can be found at: