Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2005

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2005

R.I. Superior Court rules plane owner may be liable after fatal crash.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Melissa A. Murphy The owner of a plane should be held vicariously liable for any negligence committed by a pilot who leased the aircraft, a Superior Court judge has held. The defendant aircraft owner argued that federal law...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Contempt - Trial witnesses Where (1) the petitioners a newspaper, one of its reporters, a television station and two of its employees were charged with contempt of a...

R.I. Superior Court rules motorist's bad faith claim cannot be severed.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Jason M. Scally An insurance company could not sever a bad faith claim from a breach-of-contract claim brought by a motorist where discovery had not yet occurred, a Superior Court judge has ruled. After only the motorist's...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Board rules online lawyer-advertising is okay.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright Two things are certain: The Internet and lawyer-advertising are here to stay. The question, however, is what's permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct when the two meet. The Rhode Island Supreme...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Drug trafficking - Sentencing factor manipulation Where a drug trafficking defendant has challenged his sentence, claiming that a U.S. District Court finding that the government...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Magistrate judge's recommendation - Unsubstantiated objections Where (1) following a fire, a plaintiff property owner and its co-plaintiff insurance company sued a defendant...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Charter - Employment status Where a plaintiff, who was injured while working on a vessel, has filed suit seeking to hold the defendant vessel owner liable, a motion by the...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Bailment - Medical laser machines Where a dispute has arisen as to two medical laser machines which were in the possession of a defendant company at the time it entered into...

Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Education Physical therapists - Teacher Tenure Act Where one plaintiff was hired as a physical therapist and three other plaintiffs were hired as certified occupational therapy assistants...

Rhode Island State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: August 1, 2005.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest City councilwoman - PUC Where a member of the Pawtucket city council wishes to serve simultaneously as a member of the Public Utilities Commission, it is my opinion...

Superior Court judge says co. can't recover under prior carrier's policy.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Melissa A. Murphy A company seeking to recover under a policy issued by one of the insurance company's predecessors should not be entitled to relief, where the policy did not "drop down" to provide primary coverage, a Superior...

Trademark suit against Japanese co. not allowed, 1st Circuit Court of Appeals rules.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno An American citizen could not bring suit in the United States against a Japanese retailer for the unlicensed use of his name where there was no showing that the Japanese company's activities had a substantial effect...

Attorney sanctions on the rise, but not in R.I.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Reni Gertner Plaintiffs' employment lawyers across the country tell Lawyers Weekly they are seeing sanctions being sought against them more frequently and the attempts seem to be succeeding more often. Despite the national...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 8, 2005.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Railroads - STB Where the Surface Transportation Board upheld restrictions that a railroad placed on another railroad using the first railroad's lines, the STB's decision...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: August 8, 2005.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motion to reopen - Civil rights matter Where (1) a plaintiff filed a civil rights suit against certain corrections department defendants, (2) the suit was dismissed due to...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: August 8, 2005.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Discovery order - Failure to comply Where a plaintiff Chapter 13 debtor (1) initiated an adversary proceeding against a defendant for breach of contract, fraud and consumer...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: August 8, 2005.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motion for reconsideration - Document production Where plaintiffs have moved for reconsideration of an earlier order regarding document production, I find no persuasive...

Superior Court Case Summaries: August 8, 2005.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Labor - DOC - Staffing Where an arbitrator ruled that the Department of Corrections violated a collective bargaining agreement by not posting notice of vacancies, the...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: August 8, 2005.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Zoning board chairman - Special use permit application Where the petitioner is chairman of the Newport zoning board of review, it is our opinion that the State Code of...

R.I. Superior Court judge rules law firm not liable to corp. for lawyer's negligence.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A law firm was not liable to a corporation for the negligence of one of its attorneys where the corporation failed to prove that the lawyer's breach of duty was the proximate cause of the costs it subsequently...

Family and Medical Leave Act regulations in flux.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Reni Gertner Employment attorneys and lobbying groups are debating possible changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations and plaintiffs' and defense groups are deeply divided as to what, if any, changes are actually...

Rhode Island Lawyers in the News: August 15, 2005.(appointments and promotions)
August 15, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff New Associations Lorraine Newton Lalli has been appointed to the newly created position of director of diversity programs and associate director of academic support programs at the Roger...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 15, 2005.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Jones Act - Dredge Where a plaintiff was injured while working as an engineer on board a dredge in Boston Harbor, he must be considered a seaman for Jones Act purposes. ...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: August 15, 2005.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Motion for discovery and inspection Where a criminal defendant has moved for discovery and inspection, I find he has not demonstrated his entitlement to such relief and therefore...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: August 15, 2005.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Malpractice - Causation Where a plaintiff corporation has filed a legal malpractice action against a defendant law firm, the defendant should be awarded summary judgment on the...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules defendant cannot sue police over press leak.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Jason M. Scally A criminal defendant could not sue the police for violating his constitutional rights, even where they disseminated information about the criminal allegations against him to a newspaper reporter, the 1st U.S....

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 15, 2005.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Drug offense - Felony-murder Where two defendants were convicted of felony-murder, those convictions must be vacated on the ground that the defendants' actions did not meet the...

1st Circuit rules company VP can be charged for intercepting e-mail.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno An executive of a company who allegedly intercepted e-mail messages in temporary, transient electronic storage could be charged with violating the federal Wiretap Act, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled....

Lawyers turn to old websites for evidence.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Reni Gertner (This article orginally was published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) Like deleted e-mail and computer files, old websites never die. Using an online database called the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Lay fishermen - Wages Where plaintiffs, who served as deckhands and crew members on the defendants' fishing vessels, filed suit claiming their compensation agreements were...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Education Residency Where the Commissioner of Education has found that the plaintiffs' child resides in Massachusetts, this conclusion was amply supported by the evidence and accordingly...

RI Supreme Court rules no vicarious liability for car rental companies.(Rhode Island)
August 22, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright Parties injured or killed in automobile collisions with leased vehicles may not sue the rental company in instances where a settlement with the negligent driver who leased the vehicle had already been executed, the...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Jurisdiction Personal - Indispensable party - Patent Where defendants in a patent infringement case have moved for dismissal, the motion should be allowed on the ground that one of the...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.(Mag Jewelry Co. Inc., Style Accessories Inc.)
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Copyright Discovery - Privilege Where a defendant has moved to compel production of documents in a copyright infringement action, the motion should be allowed in part and denied in part....

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.(Rhode Island )
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Motor vehicles Settlement - Rejection of check Where a plaintiff, who was injured in a traffic accident involving a leased vehicle, brought suit against defendant lessee, the complaint was...

RI Human Rights Commission Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.(Rhode Island )(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination charge - Failure to prosecute Where a complainant has charged the respondents, her former employers, with discrimination on the basis of sex, we hold that the...

RI Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Motion to proceed in forma pauperis Where an employee-petitioner moved to proceed in forma pauperis, contending that she was unable to pay the cost of the trial...

RI Ethics Commission Case Summaries: August 22, 2005.(Rhode Island)
August 22, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Judge - Son's political campaign Where the petitioner is a part-time Providence Municipal Court judge, it is our opinion that he would be permitted by the State Code of...

Convict can be barred from challenging plea, Rhode Island Supreme Court rules.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A man convicted of kidnapping and related charges could be barred from challenging the guilty plea he entered into 28 years earlier by the doctrine of laches, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. The...

New law banning vicarious liability in Rhode Island debated.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright With recent federal legislation preempting vicarious liability in Rhode Island as it relates to leased vehicles, the burden to cover the costs of caring for individuals severely injured in car accidents could fall on...

Rhode Island Lawyers in the News: August 29, 2005.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff New Associations Jennifer Marrapese has formed Marrapese Associates in Providence. The company provides customized coaching and training services to help firms develop business and...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 29, 2005.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - 'Booker' Where the U.S. Supreme Court has remanded this appeal so that we might consider whether the defendant's sentence comports with the appropriate implementation...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 29, 2005.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Postconviction relief - Laches Where (1) an individual filed an application for postconviction relief in which he seeks to challenge the efficacy of a guilty plea he entered on...

Superior Court judge says restaurant could be evicted for mail error.
August 29, 2005... Byline: David E. Frank Owners of a fast food restaurant who failed to follow a series of provisions in a lease agreement, including a requirement that they send notice of their intent to renew the lease by certified or registered mail,...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: August 29, 2005.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motions for summary judgment and preliminary injunction Where a U.S. magistrate judge has recommended granting the various defendants' motions for summary judgment and...

Superior Court Case Summaries: August 29, 2005.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Consolidation - Discovery - Pretrial motion practice Where the plaintiffs in two separate actions have moved for consolidation, the motion should be allowed as to discovery...