Pothole Time!

The Boston Herald reports that "potholes, ordinarily the bane of Bay State drivers in the spring, are ripping up roads early this year." According to the Executive Office of Public Safety, pothole damage should be reported to "the DPW or highway department of the community where it happened. For state roads and highways, please contact MassHighway at 617-973-7500 or the MassTurnpike at 617-248-2800." To help you provide proper notice to your municipality, we've created a new webpage on potholes that provides links to the law, cases, and some sample notice of claim forms.

Jury Duty Made Easy

Massachusetts residents summoned for jury duty can now reply online. "This website will help you respond to your summons for juror service, and will also allow you to make changes or request assistance. It will help you determine if you are qualified to serve as a juror. You can:

• Confirm your service
• Request a disqualification
• Postpone your service
• Request a hardship transfer
• Update your contact information
• Find courthouse information
• Complete and print your Confidential Juror Questionnaire"

The Office of the Jury Commissioner has a great deal of additional information on their site including questions and answers for jurors, such as what to do if you are disabled, what to do in case of bad weather, how payment works and much more. A great resource.

Dwyer Forms

The SJC has released six new forms "for use in all criminal cases in which a defendant seeks pretrial inspection of records of third parties that may be statutorily privileged" pursuant to Commonwealth v. Dwyer, 448 Mass. 122 (2006).
These forms supersede and replace the forms originally included in the Dwyer order:

• Notice of a Hearing Regarding the Release of Records
• Notice Accompanying Court-Ordered Summons for Non-Privileged Records
• Notice Accompanying Court-Ordered Summons for Presumptively Privileged Records
• Protective Order for Defense Counsel
• Order Allowing Access to Privileged Records by Persons Other Than Counsel
• Protective Order for Prosecuting Attorney

You can find these forms and others at Criminal Procedure Forms on our site.

Adoptees' Birth Certificates

Beginning tomorrow, certain adoptees and their parents can request a copy of their original birth certificates under St.2007, c.109 . You can get a copy of your original birth certificate only if you are an "adopted person 18 years of age or older who was born in the commonwealth on or before July 17, 1974 or on or after January 1, 2008 or ... an adoptive parent of an adopted person under 18 years of age and born in the commonwealth on or after January 1, 2008." We've updated our Law About Adoption page to include a link to great information from the Registry of Vital Records about how to proceed and what to expect. We also have a link to the required form under Adoption Forms.