Litigation & Disputes
When a business relationship breaks down, you need counsel that tries cases. Chang Law Group has represented plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes in Massachusetts state and federal courts since 2006, including matters with all-Mandarin-speaking parties.
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Overview
Chang Law Group represents businesses in commercial litigation, from pre-litigation strategy through trial and appeal. Every matter is built to be tried. That preparation is what gives a client leverage in negotiation and a credible position at trial.
Having represented both plaintiffs and defendants, we understand both sides of a commercial dispute. Whether you are seeking to recover damages, defending against claims, or working through a business divorce, you get counsel that has tried cases and won on both sides.
The firm has litigated matters with all-Mandarin-speaking parties and negotiated resolutions across cultural divides, for clients on both sides of the Pacific. The firm works with each client to structure fees and litigation budgets appropriate to the matter.
The Matters We Take
The firm concentrates on commercial disputes where the amount at stake, the business relationship, or the regulatory exposure calls for senior attention: supplier and manufacturer disputes across the Pacific, ownership disputes in closely held companies with established operations, enforcement of significant judgments, and cases in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court and the federal court in Boston. Smaller matters are welcome where the issue or the relationship warrants it, and they are staffed and priced in proportion.
Areas of Practice
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Contract Disputes & Breach of Contract: Supplier, distribution, service, and purchase and sale agreements.
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Supplier & Manufacturer Disputes (China and Taiwan): Nonconforming goods, failed inspections, tooling held by a supplier, unpaid invoices, and enforcement across the Pacific.
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Business Divorce & Shareholder Disputes: Minority shareholder oppression and freeze-outs, deadlock between owners, forced buyouts and valuation disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, derivative actions, and the separation of partners in closely held companies.
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Collections & Debt Recovery: Commercial collections, judgment enforcement, domestication of foreign judgments.
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Fraud & Business Torts: Fraudulent inducement, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, unfair competition.
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Commercial Real Estate Disputes: Commercial lease disputes, purchase and sale contracts, and ownership disputes over business property.
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Employment Litigation: Non-compete enforcement, trade secret protection, and executive employment disputes.
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Cross-Border Disputes: Multi-jurisdiction litigation, international contract disputes, foreign judgment enforcement, arbitration.
Early Case Assessment
Before a dispute becomes a lawsuit, the firm assesses the company's position, exposure, and options for the people who have to decide: the owners, the board, or the parent company. The assessment covers the strength of the claims or defenses on the available records, the realistic outcomes, and what each path would cost. It is delivered in writing and sized to the matter.
Results
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Lien-Sheng Chen et al. v. Sung-Chieh Chen et al. (Suffolk County Superior Court)
Judgment exceeding $1.88 million after a four-day bench trial in a US-Taiwan cross-border real estate dispute. The court found on a resulting trust theory that the client was the intended beneficiary of her late father's investment in a Boston condominium and awarded the full capital contribution plus half the sale profits. -
Blue Fuji Bedford, Inc. v. Xie et al. (Middlesex County Superior Court)
$183,248 judgment after bench trial for a closely held business client. The court found the defendant, as President, breached his fiduciary duty by taking $150,000 for personal use without disclosure. -
Ivymedia Corporation v. Ilikebus, Inc. et al. (US District Court, District of Massachusetts)
Complete defense verdict after a federal jury trial in a copyright case over competing online bus ticketing platforms. Summary judgment first removed most claimed elements as unprotectable; the jury rejected the rest. -
Lubrizol Advanced Materials Inc. v. Duro Textiles LLC (Bristol County Superior Court)
Domesticated a foreign judgment and secured a trustee process attachment, recovering for the client through post-judgment enforcement. -
Kai Qin Chen v. Kai Cheng Chen (Middlesex County Superior Court)
Prevailed after a nine-day bench trial in a consolidated real estate and eviction dispute. The court found the client was the sole owner of the property, rejected the resulting trust and contract claims, and awarded $57,600 on counterclaims plus possession. -
Metropolitan Linen Services Corp. v. Vinny T's Restaurant Corp. (Middlesex County Superior Court)
Enforced a liquidated damages provision in a commercial contract dispute.
Additional Representative Matters:
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Represented Boston-area businesses and Taiwanese manufacturing companies in complex commercial disputes, including supplier/vendor disputes, breach of contract claims, non-delivery issues, and cross-border payment disputes.
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Litigated a complex commercial dispute in which every party spoke Mandarin, through discovery, depositions, and settlement.
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Represented landlords in commercial lease breach and eviction matters, securing judgments and possession through efficient litigation strategy.
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Collected high-value judgments through post-judgment discovery, asset identification, bank levies, and trustee process attachments.
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Defended Korean business in arbitration against employment claims, including wrongful termination.
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Prosecuted and defended fraud claims in various commercial contexts, including business broker disputes and partner misconduct allegations.
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Represented party in shareholder oppression case involving family-owned business, successfully negotiating buyout resolution that avoided trial and preserved family relationships.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each matter depends on its own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of business disputes does Chang Law Group handle? Contract disputes, business torts and Chapter 93A claims, shareholder and partner disputes in closely held companies, supplier and manufacturer disputes, and commercial collections, in Massachusetts state and federal courts since 2006, for plaintiffs and defendants.
What is Massachusetts Chapter 93A and when does it apply? Chapter 93A is the Massachusetts statute on unfair and deceptive business practices. Between businesses, it reaches conduct such as misrepresentation, interference with contracts, and certain breaches of fiduciary duty, and a prevailing claimant recovers reasonable attorney's fees. Where the violation was willful or knowing, the court awards two to three times actual damages, which changes the settlement calculus in many commercial disputes.
How does cultural understanding help in partnership disputes? Many disputes among Asian business owners start with expectations that were never written down: trust-based agreements, informal profit sharing, and assumptions about who decides. The firm works in English and Mandarin and reads Chinese-language documents in the original, which matters when the evidence is in WeChat messages and the parties' understanding differs from the paperwork.
When should a business litigate rather than settle? It is a business decision before it is a legal one: the strength of the claims or defenses, the amount at stake, the cost and time to a result, the relationship, and whether a judgment can be collected. The firm's early case assessment puts those factors in writing, with options and costs, so the decision is made with the facts in front of you.
What are partnership and shareholder disputes? Disagreements among the owners of a closely held company: majority owners excluding a minority owner from management or profits (a freeze-out), deadlock between equal owners, disputes over buyout rights and valuation, and breaches of fiduciary duty. Massachusetts law holds shareholders in closely held corporations to a duty of utmost good faith and loyalty toward one another, which gives minority owners more protection than in many other states.
How does the firm structure fees for litigation? The firm works with each client to structure fees and litigation budgets appropriate to the matter, quoted in writing after the initial consultation, with phase budgets updated as the case develops.
What is commercial collections and how does it work? Recovering money owed by customers or counterparties who will not pay: demand, suit, pre-judgment security such as attachment and trustee process where available, judgment, and post-judgment enforcement including asset discovery and domestication of out-of-state judgments. The firm has enforced liquidated damages provisions and domesticated foreign judgments in Massachusetts courts.
What are common contract disputes in business litigation? Non-payment and non-delivery, warranty and quality claims, service agreements that fail on scope or performance, lease and purchase-and-sale disputes, non-compete and commission disputes, and licensing and royalty disputes. The firm obtained a $183,248 bench-trial judgment for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty in Blue Fuji Bedford, Inc. v. Xie et al. (Middlesex County Superior Court).
Ready to discuss your matter?
Phone: (617) 307-1238 | Email: info@jchanglaw.com | WeChat: ChangLawGroupLLC
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