Massachusetts Law Updates

Official Blog of the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries
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Finding Your Property Records  

10/31/2023 Trial Court Law Libraries

Any property owner in Massachusetts has online access to the deed to their property and the property record card used to generate their tax bill by their local assessors. This blog post guides the reader through the process of finding these records.

Cape-style house

Uniform Laws in Massachusetts  

8/03/2023 Trial Court Law Libraries

Uniform or model laws are drafted to establish consistency and fairness across multiple jurisdictions. Learn more about the process by which uniform laws are drafted and enacted in Massachusetts and see a list of those that have been adopted in the state.

Legal research database: Lexis Digital Library  

5/31/2023 Trial Court Law Libraries

Lexis Digital Library, available through the Trial Court Law Libraries, now offers newly-expanded and easier access to its content.

Lexis Digital Library logo

Cinema of Law: 2023 Film Series  

3/06/2023 Trial Court Law Libraries

Viewings will be held every Tuesday during the month of March at the Berkshire Athenaeum Auditorium.

Cinema of Law: 2023 Film Series logo

Portraits in Massachusetts Law: Lucy Stone  

11/13/2019 Trial Court Law Libraries

Portraits in Massachusetts Law is a regular feature of Massachusetts Law Updates.

Portraits in Massachusetts Law

Do Ecosystems Have Standing?  

10/21/2019 Trial Court Law Libraries

Do ecosystems themselves have the ability to sue? Learn more about the law regarding ecosystems, how they are recognized by the courts, and their legal personhood status in other countries.

Do Animals Have Standing to Sue? Part 2: Animals filing as individuals  

10/20/2019 Trial Court Law Libraries

Can animals sue in the court of law? Read more about a dolphin named Kama, who was named as a plaintiff in the court case Citizens to End Animal Suffering & Exploitation, Kama, et al. v. New England Aquarium.

Do Animals Have Standing to Sue? Part 1: Animals filing as species  

10/19/2019 Trial Court Law Libraries

Can an animal species sue on its own behalf for its welfare and survival? Read more about the 1988 case Palila v. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and subsequent court commentary on the topic.

Do Corporations Have Standing?  

10/18/2019 Trial Court Law Libraries

“Corporations are people, my friend.”— Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, (Aug. 11. 2011).

Do Trees Have Standing?  

10/17/2019 Trial Court Law Libraries

"The sole question is, who has standing to be heard?" Do trees have the power to sue? Read more from Justice William O. Douglas’ dissent in Sierra Club v Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 741 (1972).