Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from December 2004

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from December 2004

R.I. Supreme Court rules a town is responsible for cost of civil rights lawsuit.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A town was entitled to indemnification under a general liability policy for payments made in settlement of a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has held. The defendant...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: December 6, 2004.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Environmental DEM - Remediation Where the defendant Department of Environmental Management ordered a plaintiff landowner to remediate gasoline contamination on the plaintiff's property and...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Court Case Summaries: December 6, 2004.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas Corpus Second Or Successive Petition Where an individual filed a petition for habeas corpus in 2004, I find that the petition constituted a second or successive one within the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 6, 2004.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Abandonment - Railroad Where a railroad's Chapter 11 trustee sought a court order abandoning a non-debtor's easement and trackage rights over rail lines owned by the debtor at...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summary: December 6, 2004.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Petition To Review - Return Of Incapacity Where an employee filed a petition for review, alleging that she had sustained a return of incapacity due to the effects of a...

Commentary: 'The Wall of Separation' and what it really means.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Edward F. Harrington When a member of the clergy or a spokesman for a religious denomination forcefully expresses an opinion on a matter of public import -- such as just war and just peace, public welfare and private charity, civil...

Rhode Island retired justices to be honored for mediation efforts.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jason M. Scally Retired Rhode Island Supreme Court justices Joseph R. Weisberger and Donald F. Shea will be honored this week for their efforts on the state's Appellate Mediation Program. The awards will be presented on Monday,...

Superior Court judge rules patient can sue hospital for management of nurses.
December 6, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham A patient could sue a hospital on the theory that she suffered injuries because of substandard hiring or supervising of independent nurse anesthetists, a Superior Court judge has ruled. The defendant hospital...

Rhode Island Human Rights Commission Case Summaries: December 6, 2004.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Landlord And Tenant Sex Discrimination - Hearsay Where a plaintiff tenant filed a sex discrimination claim alleging that the defendant landlord rented an apartment to a man at a lower rent...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 6, 2004.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Theft Of State Worker's Car Where (1) an arbitrator found that, pursuant to the language of a collective bargaining agreement, the state was required to pay for damages not...

U.S. magistrate judge rules Rhode Island would-be heirs can't sue for interference.
December 13, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham Plaintiffs who expected to inherit real property interests could not sue the co-executors of their uncle's estate for his alleged interference with their inheritance, a U.S. magistrate judge has found. The...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 13, 2004.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Police Officer - Termination A police officer who was fired for making sexually explicit videos while off duty and selling them on an online auction site cannot sue his former...

Rhode Island lawyer at the center of high-profile legal battles.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno For the first time, Lawyers Weekly has selected three Rhode Island attorneys to honor who stood out from the crowd in 2004 -- by winning important decisions, being involved in cases that raise challenging legal...

Rhode Island Superior Court judge rules state employee may be fired after fraud charge.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright An employee of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp. who was terminated following a criminal indictment of work-related fraud was not entitled to reinstatement or indemnification -- even though he was acquitted of...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Court Case Summaries: December 13, 2004.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Wills And Trusts Tortious Interference With Expectancy Of Inheritance - Undue Influence Where plaintiffs have filed suit alleging tortious interference with expectancy of inheritance, the...

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly announces bar exam passers.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The following individuals were successful on the July 2004 Rhode Island Bar Examination and must be certified by the Committee on Character and Fitness before admission. A single asterisk (*)...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 13, 2004.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Mandamus - Counsel Fees Where, following a ruling that the defendant city of Providence had made tax assessments that were selective, arbitrary and illegal, a Superior Court...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: December 13, 2004.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Service Executive High Sheriff - Termination Where the Personnel Appeal Board struck down the state's decision to terminate the Executive High Sheriff, the Board's ruling was...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 13, 2004.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Fracas - Qualified Immunity Where, following a fracas which occurred during an election week in Puerto Rico, (1) a plaintiff filed claims alleging violations of his civil...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: December 13, 2004.
December 13, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Denial Of Promotion - National Origin Discrimination Where (1) a plaintiff teacher, who was denied promotion to an administrative position within the Providence School...

R.I.'s State Ethics Commission prohibits restaurant employee from reviewing company's liquor license.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict Of Interest Town Council Member - Review Of Liquor And Entertainment Licenses Where an individual (1) is a member of the New Shoreham town council and (2) is privately employed at...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: December 20, 2004.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Zoning Retail Business - Nonconforming Use Where defendant abutting neighbors objected to a plaintiff's use of his Exeter property as a retail business selling seasonal merchandise year...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 20, 2004.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Qualified Immunity - Excessive Force - Shooting At Fleeing Suspect Shooting a fleeing suspect whose flight may harm others is not a clearly established use of excessive force....

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: December 20, 2004.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Length Of Disability - Surgery Where a trial judge ruled than an employee suffered a work-related injury to his back and right leg on May 6, 1997 and that the employee...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 20, 2004.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Stock Options - 'Accord And Satisfaction' Where a defendant company was awarded summary judgment on a plaintiff former employee's lawsuit concerning stock options, judgment was...

Record settlement put a Rhode Island lawyer's name on the map.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright Mark B. Decof Providence Born: Dec. 14, 1953; Providence Education: Suffolk University Law School, 1979; Georgetown University, 1976 Bar admission: 1979 Professional experience: Decof & Decof...

Rhode Island Supreme Court rules contractor not liable for faulty wall plans.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A general contractor that built a retaining wall in accordance with architectural plans should not be held liable for injuries suffered by a person who fell off the wall where it had not been equipped with guardrails,...

Rhode Island Supreme Court rules no age bias found in company's hiring practice.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright An unsuccessful job applicant could not maintain an age-discrimination claim against a potential employer that hired two younger candidates where the company articulated a legitimate subjective reason for not hiring...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 20, 2004.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative NRC - Reactor Licensing Proceedings Where new rules governing nuclear reactor licensing hearings have been challenged, the challenge must be rejected on the ground that the...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 27, 2004.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal Malpractice Claim - Statute Of Limitations Where (1) a plaintiff filed a legal malpractice action against several defendants and (2) a judge awarded the defendants summary...

1st. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 27, 2004.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections Puerto Rico - Preliminary Injunction Where a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction regarding disputed ballots in a Puerto Rico election, that order should be...

Rhode Island Human Rights Commission Case Summaries: December 27, 2004.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination - Pain And Suffering Where a plaintiff has filed suit charging the defendant with discrimination on the basis of race, color and ancestral origin, judgment should...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: December 27, 2004.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Liability Coverage - Medical Malpractice Where a dispute has arisen regarding the amount of liability coverage available in the present medical malpractice case, I find that two...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: December 27, 2004.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Fall - Head Injury Where a trial judge denied an employee's claim for workers' compensation benefits, the judge erred as the medical evidence showed that the...

Rhode Island Supreme Court rejects suit against emergency rescue workers.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright Parents of a child who died after a seizure could not sue emergency rescue workers for negligence under the so-called "loss of chance" doctrine, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. The parents argued that the...

Lawyer helps bring 'Housing Justice' to Rhode Island.
December 27, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham For the first time, Lawyers Weekly has selected three Rhode Island attorneys to honor who stood out from the crowd in 2004 -- by winning important decisions, being involved in cases that raise challenging legal...

Rhode Island Supreme Court rules 'late' legal-mal suit may proceed against a law firm.
December 27, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A client could sue a law firm for malpractice stemming from a motor vehicle claim -- even though his claim was filed more than six years after the actions in question, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. The...