News Release

May 2007

BR&G Lawyers Obtain SJC Affirmance of Summary Judgment for Bank Client.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion on May 11, 2007 in the case of Lambert v. Fleet National Bank affirming a Superior Court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant bank (a predecessor of Bank of America). BR&G partners Donn Randall and Mike Scully represented the bank at the trial court level and on appeal. The principal issue in the case involved whether oral communications were sufficiently specific to constitute an enforceable agreement to renew a mortgage loan. The SJC held that the oral communications in this case were not. The Court also held that a claim that the bank violated the Massachusetts consumer protection and unfair business practices statute, G.L. c. 93A, by allegedly "stringing along" the plaintiff was time-barred and deficient on its merits. A copy of the SJC's decision is here.