Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2004

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2004

Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Flanders Jr. resigns.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Pending confirmation, well-respected Providence lawyer William P. Robinson III will become the newest member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court this summer. While the choice of Robinson is...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Assault With Dangerous Weapon - Resisting Arrest Where a defendant has appealed his convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest, we hold that the...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Hospital - Certificate Of Need Where a plaintiff neighborhood association has challenged a decision by the Rhode Island Department of Health permitting a codefendant...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks And Banking Truth In Savings Act - Disclosure Where a defendant bank did not clearly and conspicuously disclose to the plaintiff the effective date of changes to fees and minimum...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Landing Of Lobsters - Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Where the plaintiff, a fisherman who catches lobster by dragging an otter trawl behind his...

R.I. Superior Court judge denies landowner the right to challenge DEM's cleanup order.
June 7, 2004... Byline: David L. Yas A landowner could not challenge a decision by the Department of Environmental Management ordering him to remove hazardous materials from his land where he failed to raise his arguments in a prior administrative...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules insurance company is not covered for late profit payments.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright An insurance company need not indemnify its corporate policyholder -- under a mutual fund errors and omission policy -- for belated profit-sharing contributions it was required to make to its employees, the 1st U.S....

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Minor - 'Miranda' Warning A state court's determination -- that a minor, who was interrogated for two hours without his parents, was not "in custody" and therefore need not...

Commentary: Reality TV hits the courts with a thud.
June 7, 2004... Byline: David Yas News item: Fox TV is casting "newly-minted" lawyers for a reality show with the working title "The Legal Show." Troubled yet? Frightened by the possibilities? Oh, it gets worse. This reality-TV-for-lawyers project...

Rhode Island judge approves seller's cancellation of real estate sale.
June 7, 2004... Byline: David L. Yas A real-estate buyer could not compel specific performance of a purchase-and-sale agreement where he was not ready to buy at the precise closing date specified in the agreement, a Superior Court judge has found. ...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Herniated Discs - Surgery Where a trial judge (1) has found that an employee's herniated discs are the result of a work-related injury and (2) has granted the...

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly announces the results of the 2004 bar exam.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The following individuals were successful on the February 2004 Rhode Island Bar Examination and must be certified by the Committee on Character and Fitness before admission. A single asterisk...

R.I. Supreme Court rules contractor is not liable for woman's accident on stairway.
June 14, 2004... Byline: David L. Yas A woman injured on a public stairway could not sue the contractor who had acquired a permit for the construction of the stairway, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has found. A Superior Court judge had ruled that the...

Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Education Teachers - Credit For Service Time - Maternity Leave Where a school committee denied teachers credit for a year of service during which the teachers were on maternity leave, the...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Commercial Cash Dispensing Machines Where a plaintiff employer of temporary workers (1) hired them out each day to perform manual labor jobs for clients, (2) equipped its branch offices...

Rhode Island State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict Of Interest Environmental Scientist - Service On Planning Commission Where an environmental scientist is employed by the Department of Environmental Management, it is our opinion...

R.I. Supreme Court holds that an insurance policy may not be expanded.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno The car insurance policy of a Massachusetts resident who had registered his vehicle in Massachusetts -- and had not elected optional out-of-state accident liability coverage -- could not be reformed to provide...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Emergency Drying And Water Excavation Services - Summary Judgment Motion Where (1) a sprinkler system malfunctioned during a school renovation project, (2) the defendant general...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Discovery - Protective Order Where a U.S. magistrate judge granted two federal defendants a protective order from certain discovery requests made by a plaintiff health care...

Rhode Island lawyer immerses herself in marine affairs.
June 14, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham The first full-time director of the Roger Williams University School of Law Marine Affairs Institute is already swimming in legal work in her first year on the job. Kristen M. Fletcher participates in...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Medicaid Overpayments - Automatic Stay Where a Chapter 11 debtor claims that the Health Care Financing Administration violated the automatic stay by collecting Medicaid...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 14, 2004.
June 14, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff ERISA 'Anti- Cutback' Rule A pension plan amendment violates ERISA's "anti-cutback" rule where it expands the categories of post-retirement employment that trigger suspension of payment of...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 21, 2004.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Antitrust Sherman Act - Vitamin Purchasers The Sherman Act does not apply to a claim by vitamin purchasers that manufacturers engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy where the adverse foreign...

Rhode Island lawyer's research helps bolster $85K settlement.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Jason M. Scally A Rhode Island teenager who suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound after discovering a loaded handgun was recently awarded an $85,000 settlement in what his attorney says is indicative of a growing trend to hold...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 21, 2004.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative DEM Penalty Where a Superior Court judge vacated an administrative penalty assessed by the Department of Environmental Management, the judge erred, as the penalty was...

U.S. magistrate judge approves insurance claim for 'fortuitous' loss.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright Companies that shipped materials to a refining company should be entitled to reimbursement under their all-risk insurance policies where the materials were sold in the refining company's subsequent bankruptcy sale, a...

R.I. Supreme Court denies injured woman underinsurance motorists benefits under her own insurance.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A woman who was injured while a passenger on her husband's motorcycle could not collect underinsurance motorist benefits under her own automobile insurance policy, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. The...

Rhode Island District Court Case Summaries: June 21, 2004.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional First Amendment - Pledge Of Allegiance A father lacks standing to claim that requiring his daughter to recite the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance violates the...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: June 21, 2004.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Social Services Medical Assistance - Severity Where a plaintiff's application for Medical Assistance benefits was denied, the decision must be vacated and the case remanded, as the...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Court Case Summaries: June 21, 2004.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Property Loss - Bankruptcy Where (1) two plaintiff policyholders sent precious metals to a refining company to be processed and (2) because of the refining company's declaration...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 21, 2004.
June 21, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Qualified Immunity - Wrongful Convictions Where plaintiffs filed suit alleging that the defendants (a detective and an FBI agent) assisted in wrongfully convicting the...

R.I. Superior Court judge approves car dealer's excessive fees.
June 28, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham A car dealer could not be held liable for charging "excessive" fees where the Rhode Island Department of Transportation regulations that limited fees had expired, a Superior Court judge has ruled. In so...

R.I. Supreme Court rules attorney general cannot prosecute seller for lead paint.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Ariana L. Johnson State prosecutors may not enforce a civil investigative demand issued against a defendant who failed to disclose the existence of lead-based paint in a residential property sale, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: June 28, 2004.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation End Of Incapacity - Back Surgery Where a trial judge ruled (1) that an employee's work-related incapacity had ended and (2) that the employee was not entitled to...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: June 28, 2004.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Commercial Auto Dealer - Fees - Emergency Rule Where a plaintiff alleges that the defendant auto dealer violated a state regulation by charging the plaintiff, in connection with his...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 28, 2004.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Document Production - Foreign Tribunal A U.S. District Court has the discretion to order the production of materials for use in a foreign or international tribunal. ...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 28, 2004.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Mootness - Ferry Rates Where appeals have been filed concerning an August 2002 order by the Public Utilities Commission permitting the operation of a high-speed ferry at a...

Jametta O. Alston is Rhode Island Bar Association's first African-American leader.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright Jametta O. Alston, Cranston Born: Oct. 31, 1956; Philadelphia Education: Howard University School of Law, 1987; Temple University, 1978 Bar admission: 1988 Professional experience: Cranston city...

Rhode Island State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: June 28, 2004.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict Of Interest Fire District Tax Collector - Spouse As Firefighter Where a woman is married to a firefighter, she is not barred by the State Code of Ethics from serving as tax...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 28, 2004.
June 28, 2004... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Supervised Release - Drug Testing Where a judgment in a criminal case requires the defendant to undergo at least three drug tests, the judgment should be construed to require a...