Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley with Marc Redlich

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

     Now that the autumn has returned, I hope you and your family are well, and enjoying the Fall.  Over the past six months, we have been involved in a number of successful matters that I thought might be of interest to you.

     In a previous newsletter, I reported to you on a very favorable decision by a Hearing Officer of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), for a claimant I represent.  The case was for age discrimination against a golf course on Cape Cod owned by Paul Fireman, the former CEO of Reebok.  At that time, my client was awarded substantial damages, including five years of lost salary and commissions, as well as a sizeable sum for emotional distress. Now, the Full Commission has not only affirmed that earlier decision but added our attorney’s fees and costs.  By our calculation, the award, including interest to date, exceeds $1.4 Million.  Needless to say, we and our client are very pleased by this affirmation of our earlier success.  This decision points up the danger and costs of firing older employees for discriminatory reasons.  Copies of recent articles in the press about the case are attached.

     In another matter, we represented a client in his efforts to recover insurance proceeds from a substantial property loss, where the insurer was dragging its heels.  Briefly after we got involved, the matter was resolved,  and my client has successfully recovered most of the proceeds that were due, with some further payments in process. This result has allowed our client to continue to cure the results of the loss, without having to commence litigation.

     We also worked with an employee of a major bioresearch company in his efforts to obtain severance benefits after his company was acquired by a larger one.  We were successful in those efforts, and our client has now moved on to new employment.
Recently we were consulted by a parent in a dispute involving a private school which had not been responsive to the parent’s concerns about the student.  These included the school’s failure to be forthcoming on important matters pertaining to the child’s health and performance while boarding at the school.  We are now working with the parent and school authorities in an effort to resolve the problems that have arisen, and are monitoring the situation.

     As you may recall, I am a member of ij International Jurists, an international law group with member firms around the world.  I attended the annual meeting of the group this past Spring in Prague.  This was a informative and interesting opportunity to both meet and work with my legal colleagues from numerous other countries on several continents, and to discuss how to fashion solutions to clients’ legal problems around the world. As some of you know, I have long enjoyed working with foreign entities and organizations on resolving or avoiding legal problems that arise here, as well as assisting U.S. companies with business activities overseas, including putting together favorable business transactions.  In the past, these have included assisting the Swiss Government in establishing its Consulate in Cambridge, Swissnex, and in establishing a Sister State Agreement between Massachusetts and the Canton of Basel-Stadt.

     Friends of Switzerland held its Annual Stratton Prize Dinner this past May, and the award recipient this year was Joseph H. von Rickenbach, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PAREXEL International, a leading global biopharmaceutical services provider. Mr. von Rickenbach, who came here from Switzerland for his MBA and who went on to found this very successful company, spoke about the continuing need to welcome young, talented students, researchers and professionals from other countries, who make substantial contributions to the growth and prosperity of the U.S. economy.  Given the current debates on immigration, I think Mr. Von Rickenbach’s point is worth careful consideration.  Cross-cultural exchange has been, and continues to be, a principal tenet of FOSI since its founding in 1964.  A photo from that gala event is attached. 

     In addition, I also participated in activities at Swissnex, the Swiss Consulate in Cambridge, including a visit by Ambassador Dora Rapold, Assistant Secretary for the Americas in the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, who led a forum on Swiss-American relations.  The American Council on Germany also had a number of speaker programs in Boston and Cambridge over the past year, some in cooperation with Harvard University’s Center for European Studies and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.  Harvard also hosts a German Conference each year in February, at which German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth addressed the group of policy experts, academics and students.  I have also been involved in some political contests, including the recent re-election campaign of Martha Coakley for Attorney General of Massachusetts.  Some photos from these events are enclosed.

     FOSI, ACG and Swissnex have interesting programs scheduled for this year.  If you’d like to learn more about these organizations, you can contact me or go to our firm’s web site, www.redlichlaw.net, where you will find links to these organizations’ sites.

    We have had a productive six months in very difficult economic times locally, nationally and in the world at large.  As always, we are grateful for the opportunity to represent our clients and to have been successful on their behalf.

We continue to practice in a wide range of legal areas, including corporate, business and commercial law, trials and appeals, real estate issues, employment, discrimination, divorce and university law.  If you have any questions about these cases or about any legal matters where we can be of assistance to you or someone you know, please do not hesitate to call on me.


                                                    Sincerely,
                                                    Marc Redlich