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| Practices Attorneys FAQ Resources Cases | ||
A selection of interesting cases
Building Renovation Determined Not A Condo Conversion Easement Across a Private Way to the Shoreline Fast Food License Not Required to Open Coffee Shop Installation of Wind Turbine in Residential Area Defeated Real Estate Partnership Dispute |
To discuss these cases please contact Attorney David J. Paliotti at GNF&P. |
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Building Renovation Determined Not A Condo Conversion This case arose out of the acquisition of a residential building with a plan to demolish the entire interior and create either two high end luxury condominiums or a luxury single family dwelling. Six of the seven tenants vacated voluntarily and the seventh claimed that the plan gave him a series of rights under both the state and Boston condominium laws. After a series of hearings and legal submissions the Judge in the Boston Housing Court determined that this plan was not a condominium conversion as defined by law and therefore the tenant had no right to hold over. The decision is important because no court in Massachusetts has addressed this issue previously and we expect that it will be useful to many real estate developers who seek to create new housing Easement Across a Private Way to the Shoreline Partner David Paliotti was retained by a family who owned a waterfront property to take over a long-running land court matter in post-judgment proceedings regarding abutters’ claimed rights to access the beach area directly in front of the clients’ home. He was able to persuade the judge to allow his clients to erect a gate across the private way and to restrict the abutters’ use of the private way pending a final judgment after exhaustion of various appeals. Attorney Paliotti subsequently negotiated the sale of the clients’ property at a significant profit to the clients. Fast Food License Not Required to Open Coffee Shop Partner David Paliotti represented a company in a lawsuit against the City of Quincy regarding his client’s long-term dispute with Quincy relative to obtaining a license to open a drive-through coffee shop. Attorney Paliotti obtained an injunction against the City preventing the City from refusing to let our client open the coffee drive-through and later obtained a judgment after trial ordering the City to pay damages and attorney’s fees to our client in excess of $200,000.00, including interest. Installation of Wind Turbine in Residential Area Defeated After a nine-month battle, Partner David Paliotti was able to persuade the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeal, with assistance from expert witnesses and fact witnesses, to deny an application by a large local business chain to site a large wind turbine within 600 feet of our client’s large apartment complex. Real Estate Partnership Dispute We were approached by a person who entered into a verbal agreement with another person relative to them acquiring a two-family home, performing a gut rehab and then converting the property into two condominium units, one of which would be retained by the client and the other sold. Needless to say, a dispute arose between the two individuals relative to a number of issues, resulting in a lawsuit being brought against our client and a real estate attachment being granted against the property. Partner David Paliotti, after taking over the case from an attorney at a different firm, was able to get the attachment lifted and negotiate a refinance of the loan taken out to acquire the property, which permitted the sale of one of the condominium units to take place and avoided a threatened foreclosure. The matter was subsequently settled, with our client retaining ownership of the other condominium unit. This case illustrates the importance of having a detailed written partnership agreement whenever pursuing any type of joint business venture. School District Settles Negligence Suit Brought By Student Attorney David Paliotti represented a high school student in a lawsuit against a Regional School District arising from the School District’s failure, and that of a chemistry teacher, department head and principal, to take any action to prevent the student from continuing to be exposed in chemistry class to a substance that was causing a severe allergic reaction, resulting in the student developing brittle asthma. The School District vigorously defended the suit, denying all of the allegations. The case ultimately settled for a significant sum at mediation prior to a two week scheduled jury trial. Dispute Between Commercial Landlord and Tenant Partner David Paliotti was hired to defend a commercial landlord in a lawsuit filed against the landlord by a former tenant, claiming that the landlord interfered with the tenant’s sale of its business. Attorney Paliotti brought counterclaims against the tenant based upon removal of certain equipment from the leased premises and damage caused by the tenant to the premises. After conducting discovery and some limited motion practice, the parties participated in a full day mediation, which resulted in the former tenant effectively making a six figure payment to our client, which included all of our client’s attorney’s fees and costs.
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