Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from February 2003

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from February 2003

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 3, 2003.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Settlement - Summary Enforcement Proceedings Where (1) a settled case was voluntarily dismissed pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(ii) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and (2)...

Rhode Island Governor's New Legal Counsel Gets To Work.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Andrew Hodgkin, who co-founded Brown, Rudnick, Berlack, Israels' 20-lawyer Providence office and has been a partner at the international law firm for 14 years, was recently appointed by Gov. Donald...

No Interest Ordered For Money Held From Estate, Rules Rhode Island Supreme Court.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff A woman was not required to pay prejudgment interest on money that was withheld from her mother's estate but later reimbursed to the estate, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has held. The woman's...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 3, 2003.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Discipline - Disbarment - Conversion Where the Disciplinary Board has recommended a nine-month suspension of an attorney based on evidence that he converted client funds, we find...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: February 3, 2003.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict Of Interest City Councilor - Representation Of Private Clients Where the petitioner is a Cranston city councilor, he is permitted by the State Code of Ethics to represent private...

Rhode Island Superior Courts Case Summaries: February 3, 2003.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Zoning Dimensional Variance - Parking Area Where the defendant zoning board has denied the plaintiff owners of an auto dealership a dimensional variance, I find that a remand must be...

Lawyers Score $1.5M Verdict In Med-Mal Case.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Jeanne Greeley For two days in October 1996, James Boudreau called his doctor complaining of nausea, vomiting, headaches and shoulder pain, and was simply told to take an anti-nausea medication. VERDICT REPORT Normally,...

Rhode Island Supreme Court: Rules For Filing Appendices To Briefs.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Supreme Court In re proposed amendment to Article 1, Rule 17(a) of the Supreme Court Rules of Appellate Procedure ORDER Article I, Rule 17 (a) shall be amended to read as follows: ...

Mass. Lawyers Sanctioned After 'Judge Shopping' In Federal Court In Rhode Island.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Jason M. Scally Pro hac vice attorneys from Massachusetts and their local counsel should be sanctioned and fined for filing a frivolous complaint and "judge shopping" in a federal court in Rhode Island, a U.S. magistrate judge has...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: February 3, 2003.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas Corpus Attempted Extortion - Sufficiency Of Indictment - Effective Assistance - Conflict Of Interest Where a petitioner, convicted of attempted extortion under 18 U.S.C. Sect. 1951,...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: February 3, 2003.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Misrepresentation Where it appears that certain attorneys representing a defendant insurance company in the present case (1) made baseless and insupportable arguments, (2)...

Commentary: what to do with the lawyer bashers.
February 10, 2003... Byline: David L. Yas There is a school of thought out there that we must fight for the good name of lawyers. That lawyer-bashers and tort-reform schemers are out to get us. That we should hire PR consultants to fight the war. A worthy...

Default judgment against defunct company invalid, rules Rhode Island Supreme Court.
February 10, 2003... Byline: John O. Cunningham Real-estate purchasers who bought property from a corporation could not later reform the deed by way of a default judgment against the corporation, which had dissolved almost five years earlier, the Rhode Island...

1st Circuit's newest member settles in.(Judge Jeffrey R. Howard)(Interview)
February 10, 2003... Byline: Jeanne Greeley Of all the challenges Judge Jeffrey R. Howard anticipated when he joined the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last spring, getting trapped in the courthouse probably wasn't one of them. But that's exactly the...

Rhode Island Superior Courts Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Breach Of Contract - Non- Competition Clause Where a defendant, charged with terminating the plaintiff's employment contract without cause, argues that the plaintiff breached...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Standing - ADA Case Where a plaintiff (1) suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and uses a wheelchair, (2) filed suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Maine...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions - Settlement Conference Where plaintiffs have filed a motion for reconsideration following denial of their motion for summary judgment, the reconsideration motion...

Estate Auction Of Deceased 1st Circuit Judge Bailey Aldrich Draws Interest.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Going once! Going twice! Sold, to the highest bidder. If you missed the heavy hammer action at the Grogan & Co. auction house in Dedham, Mass., on Feb. 2, you also missed your chance to snag a...

U.S. District Court Rules Lawyers Should Be Sanctioned For Failure To Negotiate.
February 17, 2003... Byline: John O. Cunningham Attorneys who filed a motion for reconsideration of summary judgment immediately after a settlement conference sould be sanctioned for failing to negotiate in good faith, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled....

To A Great Degree: Rogers Williams University Offers Dual Degree Program.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Students at Rogers Williams University can get more bang for their buck the next time they make out their tuition checks. The school recently announced a dual degree program that allows...

Software Expert Did Not Breach Non-Compete, Rules R.I. Superior Court Judge.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Jason M. Scally An employee who was terminated from a computer software company did not breach a non-compete agreement by going to a software consultant company and was entitled to his full severance and stock option package, a...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Narcotics Offenses - Admission Of Hearsay Statements Where a defendant has appealed his narcotics convictions, we conclude that the appeal must fail because (1) any error resulting...

Commentary: Powerful Presentation Principles.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Paul D. Boynton Unlike many "how-to" guidebooks -- which often put the "less" in lifeless prose -- David J. Dempsey's "Legally Speaking" provides a lively blueprint for successful oral presentations anywhere from the courtroom to...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Consumer Protection Credit Report - Pecuniary Loss - Punitive Damages Where a U.S. magistrate judge has recommended that the defendant's motion for summary judgment, with respect to the...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Dispute Between Rock Music Artist And Manager Where a plaintiff manager and his co-plaintiff company have filed suit against a defendant rock music artist, I hold that a motion...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Continuing Partial Incapacity Where a trial judge has awarded an injured employee weekly workers' compensation benefits for only two periods of incapacity, we find...

Rhode Island District Court Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Motor Vehicles Speeding - Failure To Obey Traffic Signal Where the Traffic Tribunal has found a plaintiff guilty of speeding and of disobeying a traffic signal (red light), I conclude that...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative OSHA - Initial Administrative Review Where four New Hampshire companies filed suit seeking a judgment declaring that the Occupation Safety and Health Administration acted...

Civil-Rights Suit Against Investigator Nixed By 1st Circuit.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Jason M. Scally A state case worker who was investigating allegations of child abuse could not be held personally liable for violating a father's civil rights, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The father, who...

Small-Business Lawyers Must Prep For Defaults.
February 24, 2003... Byline: John O. Cunningham Increasing numbers of Rhode Island lawyers are representing lenders and borrowers in loans guaranteed or supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration -- and, as the economy shrinks, those lawyers must be...

Lawsuit For Absence Of Stop Sign Is Denied By Rhode Island Supreme Court.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Bainbridge D. Testa A car accident victim could not sue a city for failure to post a stop sign at the intersection where the accident occurred, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has decided. The plaintiff argued that a police...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Marijuana Possession - Conspiracy Where a defendant has asked this court to set aside his 1999 conviction to possess more than five kilograms of marijuana, his request must be...