A Lawsuit That Won't Die

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals has revived North American Expositions' lawsuit against the owner of Boston's Bayside Expo & Conference Center by reversing an earlier dismissal of the case.

The latest turn in the litigation involving Boston consumer shows occurred Oct. 5.

Until 2006, organizers were prohibited from holding consumer shows at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, which opened in 2004. But after some legal maneuvering, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a law allowing shows, such as North American Exhibitions' New England Boat Show , to move from the privately owned Bayside to the larger, publicly owned BCEC. North American Exhibitions had sued Corcoran Jennison, Bayside's owner, before the legislation was passed, for allegedly unfairly preventing it from moving its shows at the same time it refused to extend NAE's contract to hold shows at Bayside. However, a Superior Court judge dismissed NAE's suit and ruled that NAE be required to pay $80,150 in legal costs. That dismissal has now been reversed.

Jim Rooney, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority executive director, said the unanimous ruling is relatively insignificant, because the 2006 legislation allowed consumer shows into BCEC.

“In fact, we already had a boat show last winter and will have an auto show in a few weeks,” Rooney said. “My understanding of the significance of the ruling from NAE's perspective is that they will no longer be required to pay Bayside legal fees.”