Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from July 2008

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from July 2008

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly's Most Important Opinions for the first half of 2008.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff This section contains summaries of the "important opinions" that were published in Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly in the first six months of 2008. The "important opinions" that appear each week on the...

Commentary: How to break the ice with 'cold calling'.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll The next big thing may be firms adding licensed attorneys whose job it is to perform sales. But many lawyers lack either the professional insight or the plan necessary for success with the toughest job in sales: cold...

Rhode Island Supreme Court stays out of spat in GOP.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The Rhode Island Supreme Court will not intervene in the dispute over the validity of five Republican General Assembly candidates appointed by state GOP Chairman Giovanni D. Cicione until...

R.I. Judicial Nominating Commission selects judgeship finalists.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The Judicial Nominating Commission has chosen five finalists for the Superior Court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Vincent A. Ragosta. According to The Providence Journal, the...

Kent County Superior Court convicts man of strangling murder.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report After deliberating eight hours over two days, a Kent County Superior Court jury convicted 45-year-old Brian Mlyniec of the premeditated strangling murder of Kelly Ann Anderson in June 2006....

Paint ruling by Rhode Island Supreme Court stirs cleanup concerns.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Health advocates and Rhode Island officials say it will be much harder to eliminate childhood lead poisoning after the state Supreme Court's overturning of a landmark jury verdict that could...

Rhode Island Supreme Court stays firm on social-host liability.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report A passenger injured in a drunk-driving accident cannot hold liable the social hosts who served alcohol to the driver, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. Although the plaintiff...

Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri vetoes law-related bills.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Republican Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has vetoed 36 bills, including those dealing with releasing public records, distributing medical marijuana and expunging criminal records. Carcieri sent...

Kids' booze parties targeted in new Rhode Island law.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Adults who allow underage drinking parties anywhere on their property can now be arrested, under a law signed by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. But if a party host is under 21 -- a college student...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Damages Punitive damages - Oil spill Punitive damages awarded under maritime common law should be limited to the amount of compensatory damages, and therefore a $5 billion punitive award...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Insurance Accidental death and dismem-berment policy - Drunk driving Where the widow of a man who died while driving drunk seeks accidental death and dismemberment benefits under the employee...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Tort Champerty Where a plaintiff is asserting a champerty claim against two defendants who allegedly provided information that assisted a corporation in its lawsuit against the plaintiff over...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Products liability Lead paint - Public nuisance Where a judgment has been entered in Superior Court holding liable certain defendant lead pigment manufacturers, the judgment must be reversed...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Jurisdiction Superior Court - 17-year-old defendant Where an applicant who pled nolo contendere to a criminal charge in Superior Court seeks postconviction relief, the request must be...

Rhode Island District Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Unemployment compensation Absences Where the Department of Labor and Training Board of Review has ruled an appellant ineligible for unemployment compensation, I find that the ruling must be...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Workers' compensation Rehabilitation plan Where a trial judge disapproved a rehabilitation plan for an electrician suffering from back problems, we hold that the trial judge erred and that...

Rhode Island State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Conflict of interest County prosecutor - Private clients Where the North Providence Municipal Court Prosecutor wishes to represent clients, in his private law practice, before the North...

Rhode Island Lawyers in the News: July 14, 2008.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Honors Nixon Peabody attorneys Jeffrey S. Brenner, Stacie B. Collier, Patricia J. Igoe, Andrew B. Prescott and managing partner Neal J. McNamara have been recognized for excellence in their...

1st Circuit rules calls to inmate client are admissible against lawyer, 4th Amendment not violated.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman Jail officials in Massachusetts did not violate an attorney's Fourth Amendment rights by illegally monitoring and recording a phone conversation between him and his inmate client in which he allegedly agreed to...

Commentary: How I learned to stop worrying and tolerate those Yankee fans.
July 14, 2008... Byline: David Yas I thought Red Sox fans were no longer miserable. But last week in a District Court in Massachusetts, there was Robert D. Correia, accused of using a bat to beat a man he allegedly thought was a New York Yankees fan....

Attorney recounts team effort by defense in Rhode Island lead paint case.(Interview)
July 14, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report A closely watched high-stakes battle came to an apparent close this month when the state Supreme Court unanimously overturned a Superior Court verdict that would have required manufacturers...

Commentary: The taxing matters of taxing legal services.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll In the 1960s, the Beatles were all for peace and love -- until they had to contend with Britain's then-draconian tax rates on the wealthy. The result was the nasty little song, Taxman: Be thankful I don't want it all...

'Accidental death' benefits over OUI fatality denied, rules 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan The widow of a policyholder who was killed while driving drunk was not entitled to benefits under her husband's accidental death and dismemberment policies, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The widow...

Commentary: In 'Freedom', Anthony Lewis talks persuasively of speech, role of press.
July 14, 2008... Byline: John Taylor Williams Reviewers often withhold their opinion until the last paragraph, but that seems senseless when the author, in this case Anthony Lewis, has provided lawyers and laymen alike with a tour de force review of the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 21, 2008.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.rilawyersweekly.com Environmental Consent decree Where a private company, a state and a city...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: July 21, 2008.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Sale - Disclosure - Historic district Where (1) a plaintiff landowner brought suit to enforce a contract by which the defendants agreed to purchase three parcels of land and (2) the...

Rhode Island Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Case Summaries: July 21, 2008.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Bankruptcy Credit card - Successor Where debtors objected to an appellant's proof of claim with respect to an unpaid credit card balance, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge acted correctly by sustaining the...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Opinions: July 21, 2008.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Jurisdiction 'Gap kids' Where a Superior Court judge ordered that an indictment against a 17-year-old, charging him with murder in the second degree, be held in abeyance pending a waiver of jurisdiction...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: July 21, 2008.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Corporate Termination by board chairperson Where the plaintiff was appointed as managing director of the defendant public corporation by the chairperson of the board of directors, I find that the...

U.S. District Court judge rules buyers who signed P&S can walk away from sale.(purchase of property)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A seller's failure to disclose that real estate was located within a historic district was grounds for the buyers to terminate their agreement to purchase the property, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. Though...

Rhode Island Superior Court rules Family Court retains 'gap kids' jurisdiction.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman The Family Court retained original jurisdiction over a case involving a 17-year-old gap kid indicted for second-degree murder during a four-month period when a statutory amendment was in effect purporting to confer...

Rhode Island environmental lawyer tilts at legislative windmills.(Interview)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Late last month, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri dealt a blow to an environmental measure that not only had the strong backing of both chambers of the General Assembly but also had the support of an unlikely alliance of...

Rhode Island Lawyers in the News: July 21, 2008.(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Appointments Roger Williams University School of Law has announced that Andrew Horwitz will serve as the distinguished service professor of law, and Colleen P. Murphy will serve as the distinguished...

Commentary: Coach's Corner: Facing reality when a firm's survival is at stake.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll In times like these, the old cliche about the economy hits home: If other people lose their jobs, it's a recession; if I lose my job, it's a depression. In a recent column I discussed how law firms can deal with...

Rhode Island Supreme Court adopts rules on unauthorized practice of law.
July 28, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report ORDER Upon careful consideration thereof, the attached rules adopted by the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee are hereby approved by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Entered as an Order...

Commentary: With 'Second Chances,' novelist Sheehan is mostly first-rate.(The Law of Second Chances; James Sheehan )
July 28, 2008... Byline: Bridgette Baldwin It is only weeks before bad guy Henry Wilson is to be executed for the murder of drug dealer Clarence Waterman. He has spent the past 17 years of his life on death row. In the final minutes of Wilson's life, as he...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 28, 2008.
July 28, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Retirement ERISA - Standing - 'Participants' Where the plaintiffs, former employees who have received lump-sum distributions of the entire balance in their employer's defined contribution...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: July 28, 2008.(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Attorneys Conflict - Pro hac vice admission Where a defendant has moved for admission pro hac vice of two attorneys, the motion must be denied because of a conflict of interest. Defendant...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: July 28, 2008.
July 28, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Employment Administrative fees - Excessive transportation fee deductions Where the Department of Labor and Training, Division of Labor Standards, has awarded an individual administrative fees...

Rhode Island District Court Case Summaries: July 28, 2008.(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Unemployment compensation Voluntary departure -Medical leave Where a claimant was denied unemployment benefits, the benefit denial order should be affirmed based on evidence that the claimant...

Commentary: To retain or not to retain: that's the question for clients.(Column)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll My perspective in these columns is that of the legal practitioner, but every so often it's useful to raise issues from the client's perspective. One such example recently came to me in the form of a question: From the...

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Legal Briefs: July 28, 2008.
July 28, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Town councilman charged with assault The acting president of Charlestown's Town Council has been charged with simple assault for allegedly batting a resident's hand-held video camera,...

U.S. magistrate judge finds client not bound by 'advance conflict wavier'.
July 28, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A broad advance conflict waiver -- contained in a single paragraph within a multi-page letter from a law firm to a client's agent -- did not preclude the client from blocking the firm's representation of an opposing...

1st Circuit grants retirees ERISA standing to sue fiduciaries.(United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit; Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman Retirees who received lump-sum distributions of the entire balance in their employer's defined contribution plan could sue to recover for alleged fiduciary breaches that diminished the value of their accounts, the...

Identify-theft conviction is vacated by 1st Circuit.
July 28, 2008... Byline: David E. Frank Even though a criminal defendant admitted she was guilty of Social Security fraud, her aggravated identity-theft conviction could not stand where the government failed to satisfy the statute's mens rea requirement,...