12GL c208 Divorce 6 Venue Actions for divorce shall be filed, heard and determined in the probate court,

held for the county where one of the parties lives, except that if either party still resides in the county where the parties last lived together, the action shall be heard and determined in a court for that county. In the event of hardship or inconvenience to either party, the court having jurisdiction may transfer such action for hearing to a court in a county in which such party resides. GL c218 District Courts 54 Civil Jurisdiciton. In addition to the jurisdiction otherwise conferred and except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the central division of the Boston municipal court department shall have jurisdiction of civil actions in which money damages are sought pursuant to sections 19 and 21 and of actions brought under chapter two hundred and forty-seven if one or more of the defendants lives or has his usual place of business in Suffolk County, excluding Chelsea and Revere, or, if in connection with the commencement of such an action the approval of trustee process is sought, one of the alleged trustees lives or has a usual place of business in Suffolk County, excluding Chelsea and Revere, or, in actions brought under chapter two hundred and twenty-seven, if an attachment of property or personal service of the complaint is made in said county. GL c223 Commencement of Actions, Service of Process
1 Transitory Actions; General A transitory action shall, except as otherwise provided, if any one of the parties thereto lives in the commonwealth, be brought in the county where one of them lives or has his usual place of business; provided, however, that if the instrument of the crime is a forged check, credit card, or other negotiable instrument, intending on its face to be presented for payment at another place in another county and the value of the money, goods or services involved is in excess of one hundred dollars, the action may be brought in the county where the instrument was presented or at the place where the instrument was presented for payment, if such place of payment is located in the commonwealth; and provided, further, that except in actions upon negotiable instruments if the plaintiff is an assignee of the cause of action, it shall be brought only in a county where it might have been brought by the assignor thereof. If neither party lives in the commonwealth, the action may be brought in any county. If an action is dismissed because the defendant has raised timely objection to venue, the defendant shall be allowed double costs. 2 Transitory Actions Distr Ct Except as provided in section twenty-one of chapter two hundred and eighteen, a transitory action in a district court shall be brought in a court in the judicial district where one of the parties lives or has his usual place of business or in a court, the judicial district of which is adjacent to the judicial district where one of the parties lives or has his usual place of business or, if in connection with the commencement of such an action the approval of trustee process is sought, that action shall be brought in a court in the judicial district where one of the parties or any person alleged to be trustee lives or has a usual place of business, or in a court the judicial district of which adjoins the judicial district where one of the parties or one of the alleged trustees lives or has a usual place of business; provided, however, that an action may be brought in the municipal court of the city of Boston as provided in section fifty-four of chapter two hundred and eighteen. Said courts shall have jurisdiction of a transitory action against a defendant who is not an inhabitant of the commonwealth, if personal service or an effectual attachment of property is made within the commonwealth; and such action may be brought in any of said courts in the county where the service or attachment was made. 2A Consolidation of pending actions arising out of same accident or transaction. Whenever cross actions between the same parties or two or more actions, including for the purposes hereof other court proceedings and actions transferred under section one hundred and two C of chapter two hundred and thirty-one, arising out of or connected with the same accident, event or transaction are pending in more than one division of the same department of the trial court, the administrative justice of such department of the trial court may, upon motion of any party to such action in such court, order the consolidation of such actions for the purpose of trial together in any division of said department of the trial court to be designated in the order. The party making such motion shall give notice thereof to the clerks, clerk magistrates or registers of probate of the divisions in which said actions are pending, to all parties to such actions, and to the administrative justice of the respective department of the trial court. Thereafter, none of said actions shall be placed on any trial list until after the disposition of said motion. This section shall apply only to actions as to which the time limit for removal to the superior court department under section one hundred and four of chapter two hundred and thirty-one has expired. 2B Actions same accident/transaction pending in both Superior and District; Transfer to Superior CT

Whenever cross actions between the same parties or two or more actions, including for the purposes hereof other court proceedings, arising out of or connected with the same accident, event or transaction are pending, one or more in the superior court and also one or more in one or more district courts, the superior court, upon motion of any party to any of such actions, may order that the action or actions pending in the district court or courts, with all the papers relating thereto, be transferred to the superior court without the payment of any entry fee, or, with the consent of all principal parties to all such actions, may order that such actions be transferred without the payment of any entry fee to a designated district court in which any of such actions is pending.

13 Change of Venue: If the supreme judicial or superior court finds that a party to an action or proceeding pending therein cannot, by reason of local prejudice or other cause, have an impartial trial in the county where the action or proceeding was commenced, it may, upon the application of either party, order it to be removed for trial to another county. Upon the entry of such order, the clerk of the court in which the action or proceeding is pending shall forthwith transmit all the papers in the case and a certified copy of said order to the clerk of the court for the county to which it has been ordered to be removed. The clerk who receives such papers and order shall forthwith enter them on his docket, and the case shall thereupon proceed as if it had been originally commenced in the county to which it has been removed. 15 Erroneous Venue: procedure: If an error in venue is discovered at any stage of the proceedings of a civil action in the supreme judicial or superior court, the court may, upon motion of either party, order the action, with all papers relating thereto, to be removed to the proper county upon terms to the defendant; and it shall thereupon be entered and prosecuted in the same court for that county as if it had been originally commenced therein, and all prior proceedings otherwise regularly taken shall be valid. GL c260A 32: Dismissal of action or reversal or vacation of judgment; commencement of new action (1) an action duly commenced within the time limited in this chapter is dismissed for insufficient service of process by reason of an unavoidable accident or of a default or neglect of the officer to whom such process is committed or is dismissed because of the death of a party or for any matter of form, or if, after judgment for the plaintiff, the judgment of any court is vacated or reversed, (2) the plaintiff or any person claiming under him may commence a new action for the same cause within one year after the dismissal or other determination of the original action, or after the reversal of the judgment; and if the cause of action by law survives the executor or administrator or the heir or devisee of the plaintiff may commence such new action within said year. GL c260A 36: Application & Computation The provisions of law relative to limitations of actions shall apply to a counterclaim by the defendant. The time of such limitation shall be computed as if an action had been commenced therefor at the time the plaintiffs action was commenced. Notwithstanding the provisions of the first paragraph of this section, a counterclaim arising out of the same transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the plaintiffs claim, to the extent of the plaintiffs claim, may be asserted without regard to the provisions of law relative to limitations of actions. This section shall apply to actions brought by the commonwealth or for its benefit. G.L. c 258 4: Instituting claims; final denial; limitation of actions
A civil action shall not be instituted against a public employer on a claim for damages under this chapter unless the claimant shall have first presented his claim in writing to the executive officer of such public employer within two years after the date upon which the cause of action arose, and such claim shall have been finally denied by such executive officer in writing and sent by certified or registered mail, or as otherwise provided by this section. The failure of the executive officer to deny such claim in writing within six months after the date upon which it is presented, or the failure to reach final arbitration, settlement or compromise of such claim according to the provisions of section five, shall be deemed a final denial of such claim. No civil action shall be brought more than three years after the date upon which such

cause of action accrued. Disposition of any claim by the executive officer of a public employer shall not be competent evidence of liability or amount of damages. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, in the case of a city or town, presentment of a claim pursuant to this section shall be deemed sufficient if presented to any of the following: mayor, city manager, town manager, corporation counsel, city solicitor, town counsel, city clerk, town clerk, chairman of the board of selectmen, or executive secretary of the board of selectmen; provided, however, that in the case of the commonwealth, or any department, office, commission, committee, council, board, division, bureau, institution, agency or authority thereof, presentment of a claim pursuant to this section shall be deemed sufficient if presented to the attorney general. The provisions of this section shall not apply to such claims as may be asserted by third-party complaint, cross claim, or counter-claim, or to small claims brought against housing authorities pursuant to sections twenty-one to twenty-five, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and eighteen; provided however, that no small claim shall be brought against a housing authority more than three years after the date upon which the cause of action arose.

MASS Rule Civ Pro Rule 4 (j) Summons: Time Limit for Service. If a service of the summons and complaint is not made upon a defendant within 90 days after the filing of the complaint and the party on whose behalf such service was required cannot show good cause why such service was not made within that period, the action shall be dismissed as to that defendant without prejudice upon the court's own initiative with notice to such party or upon motion.