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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 344 FILED ON: 1/8/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1806 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Hannah Kane |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to expedite the transfer of cases to the permit session of land court. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Hannah Kane11th Worcester1/8/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/31/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 344 FILED ON: 1/8/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1806 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Kane of Shrewsbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1806) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Hannah Kane and Patrick Joseph Kearney for legislation to expedite the transfer of cases to the |
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| 20 | 20 | | permit session of land court. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to expedite the transfer of cases to the permit session of land court. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 3A of chapter 185 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the fourth paragraph in its entirety and inserting |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3in place thereof the following: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, any action not |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5commenced in the permit session and not claiming a valid right to a jury trial, but within the |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6jurisdiction of the permit session as provided in this section, shall be transferred to the permit |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7session upon the filing by any party of a notice demonstrating compliance with the jurisdictional |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8requirements of this section filed with the court where the action was originally commenced with |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9a copy to the permit session, both within 30 days after the date of service of the complaint on the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10last served defendant. Such notice of transfer shall be signed pursuant to Rule 11 of the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure, shall contain a short and plain statement of (1) the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12grounds for permit session jurisdiction and (2) the absence of a valid claim for a jury trial. 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13Copies of all process, pleadings, and orders appearing in the case file as of the filing of the notice |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14of transfer shall be attached to the copy of the notice given to the permit session. The party filing |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15the notice of transfer shall within seven days send a copy of the notice by certified mail to all |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16other parties and file with both the court where the action was originally commenced and the |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17permit session an affidavit that such copy was sent to all other parties. Upon the filing of such |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18notice of transfer with the court where the action was originally commenced, all times for filing |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19responsive pleadings shall be automatically suspended, and the court where the action was |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20originally commenced shall proceed no further with the action unless and until the case is |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21remanded to it, and the matter shall be heard and decided in the Land Court permit session, |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22subject to a remand order. Within 30 days of the filing of the notice of transfer or unless the court |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23for good cause allows a longer time, a party may file a motion with the Land Court to remand the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24matter back to the original court, such motion setting forth the grounds for remand with |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25particularity. Alternatively, a judge of the Land Court may sua sponte issue an order to show |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26cause why such matter should not be remanded back to the original court. An order of remand |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27may be issued only upon good cause and for reasons articulated in a ruling by a Land Court |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28judge. If a party to an action commenced in or transferred to the permit session claims a valid |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29right to a jury trial, then the action shall be transferred to the superior court for a jury trial. |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30Nothing herein shall be interpreted to abrogate any of the supervisory powers of the Chief Justice |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31of the Trial Court under Section 9 of Chapter 211B of the General Laws. |
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