BOSTON — On March 13, 2023, Pioneer Public Interest Law Center (PPILC) filed an amicus brief in the case of Norvella Hill-Junious v. UTP Realty, LLC, including Vietnamese immigrant Uyen Phan, who owned and operated a nail salon in Randolph. To protect her successful business, she bought the shopping plaza in which it operates, which included the City Limits Saloon, a nightclub where some violent disturbances had occurred.

On February 17, 2017, about three months after Uyen purchased the shopping plaza, there was an execution-style murder in the parking lot of the City Limits Saloon. The decedent’s mother sued Uyen and UTP Realty, alleging that the murder was foreseeable and that owners of commercial real estate have a duty to implement measures to prevent such foreseeable crimes on the premises.

In August 2023, the SJC upheld the Superior Court’s grant of summary judgment for the defendants, finding that such an act was not foreseeable. The SJC determined that the plaintiff offered no precedent to support her claim that commercial landowners have a duty to inquire about any history of criminal activity on their properties.