An otherwise-normal adverse possession case took an interesting turn when, in a recent decision, the Land Court judge declined to quiet title to the plaintiff’s property after denying the defendants’ counterclaim for adverse possession. In Borawski v. Gralinski (Land...
Year: 2018
Massachusetts Rule Confirmed, No Legal Remedy for Damage Caused by Neighbor’s Healthy Tree
Frank Lloyd Wright said “the best friend on earth of man is the tree,” but perhaps the epigram is less true if the tree is on your neighbor’s property and causing damage to your property. In Massachusetts, it has long been the rule that a property owner may not hold a...
Johnson & Borenstein win subdivision appeal against Town of Lunenburg in Land Court
Johnson & Borenstein partner Donald F. Borenstein represented developer O’Brien Homes, Inc. in a long-running dispute between O’Brien and the Town of Lunenburg over the subdivision of a former egg farm and other adjacent property in Lunenburg, MA, totaling 135...
Appeals Court Affirms Anti-SLAPP Relief Not Available in Land Court Try Title Action Where Defendants Named Based on Claim of Property Rights, Not Petitioning Activity
In 1994, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a so-called “anti-SLAPP” statute, G.L. c. 231, § 59H, to provide a procedural remedy for early dismissal of suits which seek to use litigation to intimidate opponents into foregoing the valid exercise of their...
Lack of Standing Leads to Dismissal of Zoning Appeal
Johnson & Borenstein has successfully challenged a zoning appeal on standing grounds as well as the merits. In Zuk v. Pairseau, 2018 Mass. LCR LEXIS 15 (Land Ct. Feb. 8, 2018), an abutter appealed a decision of the Town of Danvers Board of Appeals approving a...