Filing a Lawsuit Against a Business in Massachusetts: What Happens After You File
Updated: 15 hours ago
Your demand letter went out weeks ago. The other company answered with silence, or with a promise that never turned into a wire transfer. Maybe you are a manufacturer in Shenzhen or Taichung with unpaid invoices from a Massachusetts distributor, or a local company whose supplier walked away from a contract. Either way, you are past the question of whether the other side owes you. You now need to know what happens if you file, how long it takes, and whether filing can help secure assets before a judgment.
We explain how filing can move a stalled negotiation in Settle or Sue? Why the Answer in a US Business Dispute Is Often Both. This article covers the other half: which court the case lands in, what the clock looks like, the early remedies that can secure assets while the case is pending, and what filing costs your own company.
Which court hears a lawsuit against a business in Massachusetts?
District Court or Superior Court. Massachusetts uses a procedural dollar line, currently $50,000, to sort money-damages cases. A case generally belongs in the District Court (or the Boston Municipal Court) when there is no reasonable likelihood the recovery will exceed $50,000. It generally belongs in the Superior Court when there is no reasonable likelihood the recovery will be $50,000 or less. Business disputes over unpaid product, broken supply terms, or lost profits belong in the Superior Court when the likely recovery exceeds that line.
The Business Litigation Session. Within the Superior Court, two sessions in Suffolk County, known as the BLS, were created for business and commercial disputes complex enough to benefit from individualized case management. A plaintiff files in Suffolk Superior Court with a BLS cover sheet, and the BLS Administrative Justice decides whether to accept the case. Venue in Suffolk County, or a waiver, is required. Cases not accepted go to a regular Suffolk session.
Federal court. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts can hear a case that arises under federal law, or a case between citizens of different states, or between a U.S. citizen and a foreign company, when the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. A Chinese or Taiwanese manufacturer suing a Massachusetts buyer for more than that amount may be able to choose between state and federal court. That choice has strategic consequences.
What happens in the first weeks after you file?
Filing the complaint starts the case, but the defendant is not bound to respond until it is properly served. In state court, service is generally made by a sheriff, a deputy, or another person authorized by law or appointed by the court. If service is not completed within 90 days of filing, and there is no good cause for the delay, the case can be dismissed as to that defendant.
Once served, the defendant generally has 20 days to serve an answer unless the court orders otherwise. A defendant may instead file a motion under Rule 12, such as a motion to dismiss. That motion generally pauses the answer deadline until the court rules. In those cases, the first contested issue is whether the complaint states a legal claim, before any facts are tested.
In the Superior Court, the plaintiff selects a case track on the civil action cover sheet, and the clerk then issues a tracking order. That order sets outer deadlines for each stage: service, Rule 12 motions, discovery, summary judgment, and a final pretrial conference, unless a judge modifies them. If a served defendant files neither an answer nor a motion to dismiss within the time set by the standing order, the clerk may enter a default.
For the plaintiff, the first several months may be spent getting the defendant into the case and, if the defendant files a Rule 12 motion, defending the complaint. Discovery generally follows. A case that goes through trial can take one to two years or longer, depending on the court, the case track, and the parties.
Can we freeze the other side's assets before a judgment?
Sometimes, yes, and these remedies can affect how the other side approaches the case. Massachusetts gives plaintiffs several tools to secure assets while the case is pending. Most require a motion, a hearing, and a showing to the judge. None is automatic.
Attachment of real estate and goods. A court can approve an attachment of the defendant's real estate, goods, or other property for a specified amount. To approve it, the judge must find a reasonable likelihood that you will recover judgment, including interest and costs, in an amount equal to or greater than the attachment, over and above any liability insurance the defendant shows is available. An attachment makes it difficult for the defendant to sell or refinance the property without addressing your claim.
Trustee process against bank accounts and receivables. Trustee process reaches money or property of the defendant held by a third party, called the trustee. In a business case, the trustee may be the defendant's bank, or a customer that owes the defendant money. The same "reasonable likelihood" and insurance findings apply. Wages and salary owed to an individual are protected, and certain types of claims are excluded entirely.
Reach and apply. Some assets cannot be attached in the ordinary way, such as certain interests in other companies, or property the debtor transferred to someone else to keep it from creditors. A reach and apply action asks the court to apply that property to the debt.
Memorandum of lis pendens. This is a recorded notice that a lawsuit affects title to, or the use and occupation of, a specific piece of real estate. It is available only when the claim is about the property itself, not when the claim is simply for money. If the underlying claim turns out to be frivolous, the property owner can move to dismiss it and recover its attorneys' fees. Our article on an inherited US real estate dispute shows how one works in practice.
Restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. When money damages will not fix the harm, for example misuse of your trademark, diversion of your customers, or destruction of evidence, a court can order the defendant to stop. A preliminary injunction requires notice to the other side. A temporary restraining order can issue without notice only when specific facts, sworn in an affidavit or verified complaint, show immediate and irreparable harm before the other side can be heard, and it generally lasts no more than 10 days. The court may require the applicant to post security. Our Business Partner Disputes in Massachusetts: 27 Questions Answered covers emergency orders in the ownership context.
Ex parte relief is the exception. Attachment, trustee process, and lis pendens can be approved without advance notice only on specific findings, such as a clear danger that the defendant will move, hide, or dissipate the property if warned. Judges look for specific facts supporting those findings. Asking for ex parte relief without a strong factual record can cost credibility with the court you will be in front of for the rest of the case.
These motions should be planned before filing, because some of them are filed with the complaint.
What does filing cost and risk our own company?
Discovery runs in both directions, so filing puts your own records in play. Your emails, WeChat conversations, price lists, and internal discussions about the deal can all be requested, and Chinese-language records may need certified translation. If your goods shipped on DDP terms, your customs and entry records can become part of the other side's defense, as we explain in Your US Buyer Won't Pay, and the Goods Shipped DDP. Informal arrangements and undocumented side deals can surface the same way, as described in From Allies to Adversaries: Asian Immigrant Business Disputes and U.S. Litigation.
Other risks to weigh before filing:
Counterclaims. The defendant can answer with claims of its own, such as defective goods, late delivery, or breach of an exclusivity promise. A collection case can become a two-way case.
The 93A tender. In a Chapter 93A business case, the defendant may tender a written offer of single damages with its answer, which can cap your recovery if the court later finds the offer reasonable. Settle or Sue? explains how that shapes strategy.
Fee exposure for weak claims. Massachusetts law also allows a court, in some cases, to award the other side's costs and fees against a party whose claims it finds frivolous and not advanced in good faith. The standard is demanding, but it is a reason to file only claims the facts support.
Depositions. Your owner or managers may be questioned under oath, sometimes through an interpreter. See The Hidden Risks of Mandarin Chinese-Language Litigation.
Cost. Litigation through trial can cost $50,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on the case.
Collectability. Collecting a judgment depends on the defendant having assets you can reach. If the money sits outside the U.S., or the buyer is near insolvency, see Disputes with US Buyers: A Practical Guide for Chinese Suppliers.
When can a filed case settle?
Settlement can happen at any stage. Pressure to settle may build at points where one side has to spend money, disclose something, or face a ruling.
Service is one of those points. A defendant that ignored a demand letter may respond after it is served, sometimes through a lawyer, because missing the response deadline now has consequences. If the defendant files a Rule 12 motion, settlement discussions may wait until the judge rules.
If you seek an attachment or trustee process, the hearing can be another. If the motion is granted, an attachment of funds in a bank account or of goods in a warehouse can put more pressure on the defendant than the complaint alone. Parties sometimes negotiate before the hearing, and in some cases agree to substitute security, such as a bond or an escrow, in place of the attachment.
Document production can add pressure as well. Both sides have to collect, review, and sometimes translate their own records, and each sees what the other side's documents say. Preparing a witness for a deposition under oath, particularly one who will testify through an interpreter, can lead both sides to reassess what the case is worth.
Massachusetts courts also offer court-connected dispute resolution, including mediation, and judges may encourage parties to use it. By the final pretrial conference, both sides should have a clearer view of the evidence, the cost of trial, and the risk of a verdict, and some cases settle at that stage.
What this means for you
Before filing, a plaintiff has to decide which court to file in, whether to seek attachment or trustee process with the complaint, how to manage its own documents, and when to make an offer. Those decisions are easier to make before the case starts than after.
Our Early Case Assessment is a written assessment of the company's position, the range of likely outcomes, and the estimated cost of each path, delivered before any decision to file. Representative matters are described under Results.
Jeff C. Chang is admitted to the Massachusetts state courts, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Court of International Trade, and has been in practice since 2006. Chang Law Group can assess where your case would be heard, whether early attachment or trustee process is realistic on your facts, and what filing would expose on your side of the ledger.
Contact Chang Law Group
Phone: (617) 307-1238
Email: info@jchanglaw.com
WeChat: ChangLawGroupLLC
Sources and Legal Authority
Mass. R. Civ. P. 4, Process - mass.gov
Mass. R. Civ. P. 4.1, Attachment - mass.gov
Mass. R. Civ. P. 4.2, Trustee Process - mass.gov
Mass. R. Civ. P. 12, Defenses and Objections - mass.gov
Mass. R. Civ. P. 65, Injunctions - mass.gov
Superior Court Standing Order 1-88, Time Standards - mass.gov
SJC Order Regarding Amount in Controversy under G.L. c. 218, s. 19 and G.L. c. 212, s. 3 - mass.gov
Business Litigation Session, Frequently Asked Questions - mass.gov
Pre-trial Security for Judgments, Trial Court Law Libraries - mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 184, Section 15, Lis Pendens - malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 93A, Section 11 - malegislature.gov
Massachusetts law about frivolous (abusive) litigation, Trial Court Law Libraries - mass.gov
28 U.S.C. 1331, Federal Question - law.cornell.edu
28 U.S.C. 1332, Diversity of Citizenship - law.cornell.edu
SJC Rule 1:18, Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution, Rule 5 - mass.gov
This article is general information as of October 23, 2026. It isn't legal advice, and reading it doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Every dispute turns on its own facts and documents. Chang Law Group LLC is licensed to practice in Massachusetts.
