News
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane Attorney Speaks on COVID-19 and Chapter 32 at the MACRS 2020 Legal Panel
Matthew Feeney, an attorney with Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, presented at the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems’ Annual Legal Panel on September 3, 2020, held via webinar. This webinar serves the primary mission of the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems, which is to preserve, strengthen and educate the 104 public retirement systems of the Commonwealth while promoting the rights and benefits of our respective members, present or future, and to uphold the public interest in the proper administration of contributory retirement systems. Speakers at the panel included: Judith A. Corrigan of PERAC, Lisa M. Maloney of Middlesex County Retirement System and Michael Sacco of Worcester Regional Retirement System.
Mr. Feeney’s presentation focused largely around COVID-19 and Chapter 32. He went into detail about procedural adjustments versus substantive application and adjustments. He also spent time discussing the impacts of COVID-19, personally and professionally, along with explaining the federal COVID-19 legislations and how they are related to Chapter 32 and furloughs.
Mr. Feeney heads up MHTL’s Chapter 32 public retirement practice and is well versed in all matters pertinent to the statute. Specifically, he provides frequent guidance to public retirement boards relative to the litany of member related issues that arise, and he frequently represents public retirement boards with litigation in varying forms.
With nearly fifteen years of experience as an Assistant District Attorney prior to joining MHTL, Mr. Feeney is one of MHTL’s most experienced litigators. In addition to his Chapter 32 work, Mr. Feeney also provides internal reviews and investigations for public entities as well as general litigation work before administrative bodies and courts upon behalf on municipal clients.
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Receives Favorable Decision for Town of Dracut
On April 11, 2023, MHTL Attorneys Peter Mello and Madison Harris-Parks represented the Town of Dracut, and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction order requiring, among other things, that the Defendant homeowners cease renting out their pool to the public. The case, Town of Dracut by and Through Its Building Inspector vs. Nason, Gilbert et al., was initiated by the Town after the Defendants failed to comply with the Town’s associated underlying zoning enforcement order. The Town requested the injunction Read More
EXTENSION OF MUNICIPAL RELIEF MEASURES - INCLUDING OPEN MEETING LAW REMOTE OPTION - SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
The option for public bodies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to hold public meetings remotely or in a hybrid fashion, which came into play at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extended by the General Court for another two years, until March 31, 2025. The Governor signed the legislation, which will be codified at Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, on March 29, 2023. Because of the inclusion of an emergency preamble, the law goes into effect immediately.
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