Judge Invites Prevailing Landlord to Move for Attorneys' Fees

BOSTON - A Massachusetts trial court judge who granted a landlord's motion for summary judgment of a personal injury counterclaim arising from a water leak in 2003 opined that the tenant's counsel was attempting to "game" the system and the judge invited the landlord to submit a statutory claim for attorneys' fees for "insubstantial, frivolous or bad faith claims." AvalonBay v. Hamilton, et al., No. 04CV0636F (Mass. Super. Ct.).

Superior Court Justices Dennis J. Curran noted in his Feb. 5 order that the case has involved extensive use of court resources in the six years since it was filed as …