Landlord’s Foreseeable Duty: Who Is Liable When Crime Lands on the Doorstep

Joe Selvaggi talks with retired Federal Judge Frank Bailey, president of Pioneer Public Interest Law Center, about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Hill-Junious v. UTP Realty, LLC, regarding the limits of liability for a landlord when a murder occurs near her tenant’s location, and the challenges facing small entrepreneurs in high-crime communities.

The Hon. Frank J. Bailey was the United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Massachusetts (ret.). He has also served as an appellate judge on the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Judge Bailey served as judicial law clerk with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, an associate at the Boston office of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, and spent 22 years as a partner at Sherin and Lodgen LLP. Judge Bailey was elected by his peers to serve as the President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (“NCBJ”), a position that he held until October 2021. He has been active in leadership positions in the American Bar Association, including as the Judicial Member at Large on the ABA Board of Governors and as a member of the ABA Executive Committee. Judge Bailey served as the Chair of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, an ABA entity that includes over 400 federal judges. Beyond his judicial leadership positions, Judge Bailey has served as the Chair of the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden, Massachusetts, a board member of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, as President of the Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and on the Massachusetts Council of the New England Legal Foundation. Judge Bailey served as adjunct faculty at the Boston University School of Law and at New England Law School. He currently teaches Advanced Business Restructuring at Suffolk University School of Law. He has been active in international judicial training and legal education, including in Argentina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service (BSFS in economics) in 1977 and his JD from Suffolk University in 1980. Judge Bailey retired from judicial service on June 1, 2022.