Smith Kane Attorneys Serve as Faculty for MCLE’s 11th Annual Appellate Practice Conference

Smith Kane, LLP managing partner Matthew A. Kane and partner Payal Salsburg served as faculty for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education’s (MCLE) 11th Annual Appellate Practice Conference on December 11. Kane covered new developments in civil law practice. Salsburg was conference co-chair and moderated a panel of the newest judges of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, including Assoc. Justice Jennifer Allen, Assoc. Justice Gloria Tan, and Assoc. Justice Chauncey Wood. They discussed good appellate briefs and oral arguments, as well as their experiences as the newest appeals court justices.

A premier yearly event for appellate practitioners, the conference featured a full-day, concentrated focus on the appellate process. This year, the conference covered important key changes happening in appellate practice, including developments in criminal law and civil law, new judges, new clerk of court, and more. Each topic was timely and geared toward helping attorneys become better appellate litigators.

The recorded conference was rebroadcast from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on December 29 and January 6, 2026.

Kane is a member of Laredo, Smith & Kane’s management team, and has been serving as the incoming managing partner since January 1, 2025. As a business litigation attorney, he focuses on business and commercial law. Representing banks, financial institutions, businesses, and individuals, Kane is a key member of the firm’s business litigation practice. He is known for his extensive experience in consumer finance, employment, construction, real estate, and general litigation. He is also particularly skilled in appellate advocacy, having successfully argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Salsburg is also a member of the firm’s management team. As a business and litigation attorney, she focuses her practice in the areas of business litigation, corporate advice and counsel, and white-collar criminal defense. She represents corporations, small businesses, and individuals in contract and business disputes, False Claims Act matters, State Ethics Commission inquiries, and government and internal investigations. Salsburg also advises closely held businesses on corporate and employment matters.

MCLE is a non-profit corporation that aims to raise the caliber of lawyers’ professional and ethical service to their clients and communities by providing comprehensive and practical continuing legal education of the highest quality to the broadest possible audience.

About Smith Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Smith Kane, LLP has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide. The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and employment law.

Payal Salsburg Moderated MCLE 11th Annual Appellate Practice Conference Panel of Judges

Payal Salsburg co-chaired the 11th annual MCLE Appellate Practice Conference in December.

A premier yearly event for appellate practitioners, the conference featured a full-day, concentrated focus on the appellate process. This year, the conference covered exciting changes happening in appellate practice, including developments in criminal law and civil law, new judges, new clerk of court, and more. Each topic was timely and geared toward helping attorneys become better appellate litigators.

As part of the programming, Payal moderated a panel of the newest judges of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, including Assoc. Justice Jennifer Allen, Assoc. Justice Gloria Tan, and Assoc. Justice Chauncey Wood. The justices provided feedback on good appellate briefs and oral arguments, as well as their experiences as the newest justices on the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Matt Kane Quoted in a recent Legal Management Article on Partner Transition Planning

Managing Partner, Matt Kane, was quoted in a recent article, “Critical Moves to Make When a Partner Leaves” published by the ALA’s magazine, Legal Management.

The article examines the challenges law firms face when partners depart. Matt discussed the firm’s experience managing the departure of the former Managing Partner Marc Laredo, who announced in mid-2024 he would run for mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, and leave in January 2026. Kane emphasized the importance of client communication: “It’s been a lot of communicating with clients and getting everyone prepared for the transition. He’s got a number of clients who are small businesses [and] just have periodic and sporadic needs; we made a concerted effort to reach out to them. We’ve had dozens of handoff meetings.”

Kane also talked about the benefits of preparing for this kind of departure with “a long runway” referring to updating website domains, logos, signage, letterhead, and LinkedIn profiles. He also discussed the firm’s partnership agreement: “From time to time, as equity partners have come and gone, there have been discussions, revisions and tweaks. When the partnership changes, we take an opportunity to go through the agreement and make sure everyone’s comfortable and talk about anything that might need to change.”

Five Laredo, Smith & Kane Attorneys Recognized by Boston Magazine as 2025 “Top Lawyers”

Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that five of its attorneys were selected by Boston Magazine for inclusion on the 2025 Top Lawyers list. The exclusive list honors the best attorneys in the region, from corporate to family law.

The five Laredo, Smith & Kane attorneys named to the list include:

Boston Magazine’s annual Top Lawyers list is compiled through peer nominations. Attorneys are invited to nominate up to three of their peers in a select number of law specialties. Top vote-getters in each specialty are reviewed by an advisory board of select lawyers, chosen for their credentials and the high number of votes they received.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and employment law.

Seven Laredo, Smith & Kane Attorneys Recognized in the 2025 Edition of Massachusetts Super Lawyers

Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that seven of its attorneys have been recognized in the 2025 edition of Massachusetts Super Lawyers, with six included on the Super Lawyers list and one on the Rising Stars list. With these rankings, nearly all of the attorneys at the firm were recognized on the 2025 list.

The Laredo, Smith & Kane attorneys on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list and their corresponding category/practice area are:

Senior counsel Darshana Indira was recognized as a Massachusetts Rising Star in Employment & Labor.

In addition, Laredo, Smith & Kane is one of only a few Boston law firms of similar size to have three partners – Kane, Laredo, and Salsburg – named to the Super Lawyers Top 100 list. Salsburg was also included on the Top 50 Women list, recognizing Massachusetts’ top 50 women attorneys.

Super Lawyers is a research-driven, peer-influenced rating service of lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The mission of Super Lawyers is to bring visibility to those attorneys who exhibit excellence in practice.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Laredo, Smith & Kane’s Darshana Indira Appointed Vice Chair of the MBA’s 2025 Business Law Section Council

Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that Senior Counsel Darshana Indira has been appointed Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s (MBA) Business Law Section Council. In this role, Indira and fellow council members will plan educational seminars, practice forums, legislation and committee activities in a variety of areas, such as high technology, small business, bankruptcy, banking and commercial law, to help improve the practice of in-house counsel and outside business counsel. Her term begins September 1.

Indira is an active MBA member and leader. Over the years, she has shown a strong commitment to the MBA and the legal profession as a member of the Business Litigation Council and the Nominating Committee.

As an accomplished employment and business lawyer, Indira advises company owners, organizational leaders, and C-suite executives across a broad spectrum of employment and commercial litigation matters. With a deep understanding of various industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotech, healthcare, and retail, her expertise spans both transactional and litigation work. Indira provides strategic counsel to businesses on the complexities of employer-employee relationships. She assists management and senior executives in navigating executive compensation, employment agreements, non-compete clauses, and severance negotiations.

In addition to her employment law expertise, Indira is a trusted advisor in business law. She works with startups and emerging companies in Massachusetts and other states, helping them form their entities, draft foundational documents, and establish employment agreements. As these businesses grow, she remains a key legal resource, assisting with any potential litigation or disputes they may face. Indira was named a 2025 Excellence in the Law: Up & Coming Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Six Laredo, Smith & Kane Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2026

Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that six of its attorneys were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 edition. Published by Woodward/White, Inc., Best Lawyers is considered by many to be the oldest and most respected peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession.

The six Laredo, Smith & Kane attorneys listed in Best Lawyers are:

Inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America is based on an extensive peer-review process designed to capture the aggregate opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical and legal practice area. Best Lawyers has been published since 1983 and highlights the top 5% of practicing attorneys in each practice area. Its 2026 selections will be featured in the 32nd edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Laredo, Smith & Kane’s Darshana Indira Presents on BBA Webinar, “MA Pay Transparency Law – Policies & Practice”

Laredo, Smith & Kane announces that Senior Counsel Darshana Indira served as a panelist on the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) webinar, MA Pay Transparency Law – Policies & Practice, on May 21. Indira and fellow panelists provided an overview of the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Statute’s salary-range disclosure rules, new wage-data reporting duties, and the enforcement and claim risks for employers. Additionally, they discussed practical tips to stay ahead of the curve.

As an accomplished employment and business lawyer, Indira advises company owners, organizational leaders, and C-suite executives across a broad spectrum of employment and commercial litigation matters. With a deep understanding of various industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotech, healthcare, and retail, her expertise spans both transactional and litigation work. Indira provides strategic counsel to businesses on the complexities of employer-employee relationships. She assists management and senior executives in navigating executive compensation, employment agreements, non-compete clauses, and severance negotiations.

In addition to her employment law expertise, Indira is a trusted advisor in business law. She works with startups and emerging companies in Massachusetts and other states, helping them form their entities, draft foundational documents, and establish employment agreements. As these businesses grow, she remains a key legal resource, assisting with any potential litigation or disputes they may face. Indira was named a 2025 Excellence in the Law: Up & Coming Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. An active BBA member and leader, Indira currently serves on the 2025 Employment Law Conference Steering Committee.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Laredo, Smith & Kane’s Matthew A. Kane Presents on BBA Webinar, “State and Federal Interlocutory Appeals In Massachusetts”

Laredo & Smith & Kane announces that on March 25th Partner Matthew A. Kane presented on the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) webinar, “State and Federal Interlocutory Appeals In Massachusetts: What You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know.”

The webinar covered the procedural differences of interlocutory appeals, which are governed by an array of rules, statutes, and common-law doctrines. Kane and fellow panelists discussed the potential mechanisms, applicable rules, practice tips, dos and don’ts, and common pitfalls, for securing appellate review of civil decisions before a full judgment on the merits. Designed for Massachusetts litigants, the program covered both state and federal interlocutory appellate rules and practice – highlighting key similarities and differences between the two.

Kane is Laredo’s managing partner and a member of the firm’s management team. As a business litigation attorney, he focuses on business and commercial law. Representing banks, financial institutions, businesses, and individuals, Kane is a key member of the firm’s business litigation practice. He is known for his extensive experience in consumer finance, employment, construction, real estate, and general litigation. He is also particularly skilled in appellate advocacy, having successfully argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. His experience resolving banking and financial services litigation includes handling complex cases involving mortgage and title disputes, commercial workouts and collections, civil check fraud, and fair debt collection issues. Regularly appearing at all levels of state and federal courts across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, his firsthand advocacy experience couples with his strong appellate experience and strategic approach, making him a trusted advisor in the legal community. Kane serves on the BBA’s Business and Commercial Litigation Section Steering Committee.

About Laredo, Smith & Kane, LLP

For nearly 30 years, Laredo, Smith & Kane has helped clients grow their businesses and resolve legal matters–offering clients big-firm expertise with the client-centered strategy that only a small firm can provide.  The firm’s attorneys successfully combine a strategic approach to running a business with thoughtful, thorough, and protective legal representation. The firm represents clients in matters related to business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, employment law, and school disciplinary and Title IX matters.

Independent Contractor Label Notwithstanding, MCAD Holds Small Business Liable For Employment Discrimination

Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) confirmed that small businesses may be subject to the anti-discrimination provision of Chapter 151B, even if the business claims to only hire independent contractors because it is the nature of the employment relationship that determines the MCAD’s jurisdiction and not the label chosen by the business. The commission confirmed that the anti-discrimination law applies to all businesses in Massachusetts with six or more employees even if the business happens to call them independent contractors.

In MCAD and Pavlov v. Happy Floors, Inc., a female worker alleged that her employer discriminated against her on the basis of sex and pregnancy in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 151B, § 4(1). The flooring company maintained that it was not subject to MCAD’s jurisdiction because its workers were independent contractors, not employees. The Hearing Commissioner took evidence at a public hearing and determined, basedon an in-depth analysis of the nature of employment relationship, that the workers were in fact employees and not independent contractors.

In making that determination, the Hearing Commissioner focused on “the extent to which the employer has the right to exercise control over the employee’s work, not only to specify the final result, but also to supervise and direct the details and the means by which the result is achieved.” The Commissioner also considered (a) whether the work is of a type done under supervision or by a specialist working independently; (b) the skill required; (c) whether the employer furnishes the equipment and workplace, and bears the costs of operation; (d) whether payment is wages or salary for the time worked rather than profit or a set contractual fee on production of a final product or service; and (e) whether the parties have an ongoing relationship which may be terminated without notice or explanation by either party.

On appeal, the full commission also considered the independent contractor statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 148B, which states that a worker is an employee unless all the following factors are met: (1) the worker is free from control and direction in connection with performing services; (2) the worker’s services are performed outside of the usual course of business of the recipient of the services; and (3) the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business of the same nature as that involved in the service performed. Under the second prong of this test, for example, a drywall installer working for a drywall company performing drywall installations cannot be properly classified as an independent contractor.

Construing the law liberally, the Hearing Commissioner found that Happy Floors employed flooring installers to do flooring installations, the company had a right to control the workers’ individual performance, the company provided tools and materials to the workers if they did not have their own tools, and the company required workers to wear company-branded tee shirts while on the job. On appeal, the full commission recognized that the Hearing Commissioner weighed the credibility of the testifying witnesses and conducted an in-depth analysis of the evidence, and thus affirmed the findings in their entirety.

This opinion from the MCAD is particularly instructive for small businesses in Massachusetts that employ six or fewer workers because they may be subject to employment-related claims before the MCAD despite only hiring (what they consider are) independent contractors.

Spring 2025 Newsletter