DeMoura|Smith Appellate Victory Selected As One
Of 2014's Most Important Decisions
By Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
Boston, MA – January 5, 2015.
A favorable decision obtained by DeMoura|Smith for one of its clients has
been selected as one of the most important decisions for 2014 by Massachusetts
Lawyers Weekly in its January 5, 2015 issue. In
Keane v Waggoner, the Massachusetts Appellate Division reversed a judgment in favor of
a limited liability company because its members failed to disclose that
they were acting on behalf of the LLC rather than as individuals doing
business under a trade name. The decision, according to Ken DeMoura, "reinforces
the rule that individuals who act in a corporate or representative capacity
must take affirmative steps to disclose their representative capacity
or risk being held personally liable." The court recognized that
the onus is on the individual defendants to be clear about the corporate
capacity of the entity and their role as representatives of a corporate
entity when entering a contract.
The decision reversed a jury verdict in favor of the LLC for over $60,000.
DeMoura|Smith was retained by the Keanes after the trial to handle the
post-trial motions and appeal. A copy of the full opinion is available
here.