New England Real Estate Journal
by Seth M. Bonneau

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Practice Area
Banking, Finance & Lending

Seth Bonneau was featured in the article entitled Legal Interest: From maritime to museums, area lawyers carve unique niches for themselves, written by Mary K. Pratt:

Gaining his sea legs

Dartmouth native Seth M. Bonneau grew up on Buzzards Bay and has long had a love of sailing.

So it’s not too surprising he is building a specialty in maritime law, even if he himself didn’t expect to.

Chris Litterio quoted in the article entitled Law firms shake the bushes to stir up new business written by Lisa Van Der Pool:

Recently Ruberto, Israel & Weiner PC enlisted the help of sales expert Jay Wallus, who gave a talk to most of the firm's 30 attorneys. The discussion largely centered on different sales techniques. One suggestion: bring or send an object to the client that will give him or her an idea of what the law firm is all about.

A lawyer at the firm recently tested the strategy by sending over a pair of binoculars with a letter discussions the firm's vision.  The firm ended up getting the business.

"Clients are looking at different legal alternatives," said Chris Litterio, managing shareholder of Ruberto, Israel & Weiner. "To try to stand out a bit without being trite or cute is very important."

The article talked about how law firms are looking to new innovative ideas for business developmen. It was published in the July 17, 2009 issue of the Boston Business Journal.

Dave Robinson was quoted in the article entitled Social Media: Watch Your Step:

Many of the rules and guidelines companies should apply to social media already are in place for email, telephone, and face-to-face communications, according to attorney David Robinson, an associate with Boston law firm, Ruberto, Israel & Weiner P.C.

He shares his key tips for employers:

• Make sure you have well thought out policy on the use of social media. Employers need to be aware that employees are using these outlets both personally and for business. The policy should plainly set forth which activities are permitted
• Make sure employees are aware that sensitive information should not be disseminated through social media. If you value your customer list as a trade secret, employees should not be listing these contacts on Facebook or LinkedIn.
• Using social media for pre-offer employment screening gathers a lot of information, but could also give an employer information that legally they are not entitled to, such as age, religion or marital status.
• Social media is a great tool for disseminating information, but you need to be careful of what you are posting. What could seem as an innocuous post could provide your competitors with valuable insight on what your company is doing. 

Amy Mastrobattista, Russ Stein and Gene Landy all appeared in various articles in the May 29, 2009 Special How-To Section of Boston Business Journal

Gene K. Landy and Amy J. Mastrobattista, Authors

Practice Area
Technology Business Group

For more information about The IT/Digital Legal Companion

Managing Shareholder, Chris Litterio, was featured in the May 15, 2009 issue of the Boston Business Journal.

The article, entitled Staying On Par: Chris Litterio, was written by Lisa van der Pool and touches on Chris' Litigation practice and contemporary law firm management.

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Lou Katz was quoted in the article entitled Smart Ways to Pass on Wealth:

If you're so inclined, you can convert the loan into a gift over time, using the annual gift tax exclusion to forgive some principal each year. Each individual can give $13,000 a year to anyone else without gift tax consequences-- meaning a couple could forgive up to $26,000 a year in principal lent to a child. Alternatively, you can leave the borrower assets in your will with which to pay off the loan. Just don't put into your will that the loan is forgiven at your death, warns Boston lawyer Louis Katz. That could turn a nontaxable inheritance left to your child into taxable "debt forgiveness" income.

 The article addresses the "right ways for parents to loan money to their adult children."It appeared on Forbes.com on May 5, 2009 and will appear in Forbes Magazine - May 25, 2009.

Stacey Friends was quoted in the special article entitled Attorneys share entrepreneur's IP mistakes. The article addresses what happens when entrepreneurs don't turn to professional help with intellectual property law. It appeared in the Inside IP Law section on April 17, 2009:

New England Real Estate Journal
by Brad Croft
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Practice Area
Construction Law
Litigation