Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from December 2005

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from December 2005

U.S. magistrate judge rules prisoner not allowed to preach to other inmates.(Wesley Spratt v. A.T. Wall and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections)
December 5, 2005... Byline: David E. Frank An inmate could not lead religious services and preach to other prisoners where security interests at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections outweighed his right to religious freedom, a U.S. magistrate judge has...

.S. District Court judge bars postal worker's suit for retaliation.(Pope v. Potter)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Jason M. Scally A fired postal worker could not sustain her suit for retaliatory discharge where she failed to address her retaliation claim in her opposition to the U.S. Postal Service's summary judgment motion, a U.S. District...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 5, 2005.(Maryland v. Blake)(Bradshaw v. Richey)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Interrogation - Miranda The Court will not decide if an officer's comment to a defendant about talking to the police after he invoked his right to counsel constituted...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 5, 2005.(Skinner v. Cunningham)(Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers v. Gwadoski)(United States v. Buttrick )
December 5, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil rights Prisoner - Due process Where a plaintiff filed a civil rights action against defendant New Hampshire prison officials, a judge acted permissibly in awarding the defendants...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: December 5, 2005.(Pope v. Potter )
December 5, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Retaliation - Discrimination Where a plaintiff alleges that the defendant employer retaliated against her for filing equal employment opportunity complaints, the defendant must...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: December 5, 2005.(Touret v. National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Spratt v. Wall)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice NASA decision - Motion to compel Where plaintiffs (1) have filed suit challenging a decision by the defendant National Aeronautics and Space Administration and codefendant...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries:.(State v. Mendoza )(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Narcotics offenses - Resisting arrest Where a defendant has appealed his convictions for delivery of a controlled substance, conspiracy to violate the Rhode Island Controlled...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: December 5, 2005.(Re: Napolitano, Michael T.)(Re: Croll, Howard R. )(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Municipal court judge - Mayoral candidacy Where the petitioner is a Cranston municipal judge, it is our opinion that he would not be required by the State Code of...

R.I. Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(Cabral v. Crystal Brands)(Fernandes v. Technic Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Partial incapacity benefits - 'Material hindrance' Where an employee, who received partial incapacity benefits and whose condition was found to have reached maximum...

R.I. Superior Court judge rules insurance co. must defend wrongful adoption claim.(Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Children's Friend and Service Inc.)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson An insurance company had a duty to defend a wrongful adoption claim where the alleged negligent misrepresentation by the adoption agency fell within the insurance policy's definition of "accident," a Superior...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules arbitration award okay though docs not produced.(National Casualty Co. v. First State Insurance Group)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright A defendant insurance carrier should not have its arbitration award vacated even though it failed to produce documents requested by the opposing party during the arbitration proceeding, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of...

Commentary: E-Mail: Career opportunities and pitfalls.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Stephen Seckler and Rob Toomey (This article originally ran in MA Lawyers Weekly, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) Communication has changed dramatically in the workplace in the past two decades. In a span of less...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Issues Opinions: Dec. 12, 2005.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Opinion No. 2005-09 Request No. 903 Issued November 10, 2005 Facts: The inquiring attorney intends to run for city council. He/she...

U.S. District Court of R.I. Notice of Proposed Amendments to Alternative Dispute Resolution Plan.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT District of Rhode Island NOTICE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PLAN The United States District Court for the District of Rhode...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(Lincoln Property Co. v. Roche)(Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation )
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Jurisdiction Diversity - Removal When a defendant validly removes a case to federal court, it is not required to negate the existence of a potential codefendant whose presence in the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(National Casualty Co. v. First State Insurance Group)(Whitfield v. Melendez-Rivera)(Vistamar Inc. v. Fagundo-Fagundo)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Discovery violation Where an appellant sought to have an arbitration award vacated, a U.S. District Court decision denying that request should be affirmed, as the appellee's...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(Wheelock v. State)(Toro v. Regine)(United States v. Nickerson )
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Injunction request - Urine sample Where (1) a plaintiff filed a civil rights action against the defendants, alleging a deprivation of Fourth Amendment rights, (2) judgment...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(State v. Briggs)(State v. Maciorski)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal First-degree murder - Cross-examination of witnesses Where a defendant has appealed his conviction for first-degree murder, we conclude that the conviction may stand, as (1) the...

R.I. Superior Court Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(Rhode Island)
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Request for further argument Where (1) defendants Jeffrey and Michael A. Derderian have requested "a further opportunity to argue before the Court additional points raised...

R.I. Commissioner of Education Case Summaries: December 12, 2005.(Rhode Island )
December 12, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Education Home instruction - Rescission of approval Where the defendant West Warwick School Committee has rescinded its approval of a plaintiff's home instruction program for four of her...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules class in stock fraud case cannot be certified.(Bowe v. Polymedica Corp.)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright A class of stock purchasers should not have been certified where no standard had been defined for determining whether a market was "efficient" when applying the "fraud on the market" presumption of investor reliance,...

Interview with Rhode Island attorney John Tarantino.(Interview)
December 19, 2005... Byline: David E. Frank Born: Feb. 23, 1955; Providence Education: Boston College Law School, 1981; Dartmouth College, 1976 Bar admission: 1981 Professional experience: Adler, Pollock & Sheehan, partner, litigation group...

U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island, updates Local Rules.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF LOCAL RULES The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island is pleased to announce that it...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(Martin v. Franklin Capital Corporation)(Lockhart v. United States )(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil procedure Wrongful removal - Counsel fees Absent unusual circumstances, counsel fees should not be awarded for a case wrongfully removed to federal court and subsequently remanded to...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(Medeiros v. Vincent)(Taylor v. United States Department of Labor)(Gorfinkle v. U.S. Airways Inc.)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Rhode Island regulation - Lobster harvesting Where a plaintiff has challenged the constitutionality of a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management regulation...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(New Hampshire Insurance Co. v. Dagnone v. Hinckley Yacht Services)(Gray v. Derderian)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Rule 54(b) - Separate and final judgment Where (1) a plaintiff insurance company brought suit seeking a judgment declaring that a policy it had issued to the defendant did not...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(In Re: Rodriguez, Raul Ramos)(In Re: Olympic Mills Corp.)(In Re: De Jounghe, Ted Read Lloyd)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Eviction of debtor - Puerto Rico Where a judge allowed a motion for leave to evict a Chapter 13 debtor from his home in Puerto Rico, the order must be reversed, as the home was...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(Femino v. NFA Corp.)(Hatch v. Pitney Bowes Inc.)(United States v. Hatch )
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Deposition - Protective order - Amendment to complaint Where a plaintiff in an ERISA action has requested a protective order preventing the defendant from questioning her on...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(State v. Mann )
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Receiving stolen property - Hearsay - 'Story' Where a defendant has been convicted of receiving stolen property, the conviction should be affirmed because the defendant has...

MA Superior Court Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(Kershaw v. Rhode Island Department of Human Services)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Social services Medical Assistance - 'Stage three' Where the Rhode Island Department of Human Services denied a plaintiff's application for Medical Assistance, a remand must be ordered...

Rhode Island Human Rights Commission Case Summaries: December 19, 2005.(Bagnall v. UPN 28 TV, WLWC, Paramount Pictures )
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Age discrimination - Harassment Where the complainant, a respondent television station's account executive, alleges employment discrimination and harassment, the complaint must...

U.S. magistrate judge rules disabled employee can use for benefits bias.(Hatch v. Pitney Bowes Inc.)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson An employee could bring a discrimination and retaliation claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act against his employer in a dispute over long-term disability benefits even where he could no longer perform...

Verdicts & Settlements December 19, 2005: Rider thrown from motorbike sustains wrist injury.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff $680,000 Verdict On Sept. 24, 2003, the plaintiff sustained severe and permanent injuries as a result of the alleged negligence of the defendant. The defendant allegedly drove into the...

R.I Lawyers in the News: December 26, 2005.(Rhode Island)(Jodi Nourse Bourque joins Nixon Peabody)(Jason P. Marshall of Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge has been selected as one of top lawyers)(Brief Article)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff New Associations Jodi Nourse Bourque has joined the Providence office of Nixon Peabody as an associate in the firm's health services practice group. She focuses her practice on health care and...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: December 26, 2005.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Sovereign immunity - Emotional distress Where a debtor was awarded emotional distress damages on a claim that the IRS violated a discharge injunction, the award must be vacated...

Supreme Court announces winter judicial conference.(Brief Article)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPREME COURT No. 2005-05 EXECUTIVE ORDER Pursuant to the authority granted to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Section 8-15-2 of the General Laws of the State of Rhode...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: December 26, 2005.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Pro hac vice admission - Misconduct Where plaintiffs have moved for pro hac vice admission of an out-of-state attorney, the motion should be denied based upon the attorney's...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: December 26, 2005.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Lease rejection - Liquor license Where a bankruptcy judge ordered the debtor, which rejected its lease of restaurant space in Pennsylvania, to return a liquor license to the...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 26, 2005.(Rhode Island )
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Dismissal - Failure to prosecute Where a judge dismissed a plaintiff's complaint for lack of prosecution under Rule 41(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure,...

Superior Court Case Summaries: December 26, 2005.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Retirement Police officers Where several retired Smithfield police officers allege that their retirement health benefits have been wrongfully altered by an interest arbitration decision, I...

Bid by doctors to reduce recovery for estate fails.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson Doctors who failed to diagnose a woman's Hodgkins Lymphoma could not have the amount her estate recovered reduced by Medicaid payments, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. The defendant doctors argued...

Worker who was injured can't halt comp pay.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright A former municipal worker who was injured on the job by a third party could not have her workers' compensation benefits discontinued where there was no evidence that she had regained her earning capacity, the Rhode...

Lawyers of the Year: Peter N. Wasylyk.(Interview)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Tony Wright Lawyers Weekly has selected three Rhode Island attorneys to honor who stood out from the crowd in 2005 by winning important decisions, being involved in cases that raise challenging legal issues, and otherwise...