Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2007

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2007

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Disparate pay claim - Title VII The statute of limitations on a disparate pay claim begins to run when the original decision on salary is made -- there is no new violation each...

R.I. Lawyers in the News: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Community groups Benjamin G. Paster, a principal at Paster & Harpootian in Providence, has been named a member of The Rhode Island Foundation's board of directors for a five-year term.

Commentary: Profit 'manipulation' just part of 'big business'.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Lawyer compensation remains a hot topic. The furor over $160,000 average annual pay for new associates (which we considered in a recent column) had barely died down before one of the nation's ten largest firms...

TechnoLAWgically speaking.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Henry B. Chace TechnoLAWgically Speaking discusses how advances in office technology can best be used in the management of a law practice. We work surrounded by technology. Every law office has computers, e-mail accounts,...

Commentary: Civility lost; will it prevail another day?
June 4, 2007... Byline: Brooks R. Magratten Imagine the scene: Local attorneys enter the courtroom exchanging warm greetings and discussing matters of the day in a professional and amiable manner. Even hardened adversaries give each other a respectful nod...

You can play, too: Who would you sue?
June 4, 2007... Byline: David Yas Who would you like to sue? Just for kicks, I posed this question to people in my office last week. I told them to let their imagination run wild. If they could correct any injustice imaginable, who would be the victim...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules 'private' dealings won't stop loss of trade secret.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Jason M. Scally A plastics manufacturer could not recover for misappropriation of a trade secret even where its customer shared the manufacturer's watch-packaging design with a foreign competitor, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of...

Real estate transactions in New England hold steady despite housing slump.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Noah Schaffer A study commissioned by a title insurance underwriter finds that despite the well-publicized slump in new housing sales in New England, many real estate attorneys have been able to maintain their volume of...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules employee's 'silence' is grounds for suspension.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A government employee's failure to cooperate with an internal investigation justified his suspension and demotion, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. The employee argued that his refusal to answer...

R.I. Supreme Court Court Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Parent and child Termination of parental rights - Abuse Where a couple's parental rights were terminated based on a finding that their abuse had caused the death of a nephew in their...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Court Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Newport Trust and Investment Commission - Private employment Where the petitioner is a member of the Newport Trust and Investment Commission, she may continue in that...

R.I. Superior Court Court Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Licenses and permits Liquor stores Where the Department of Business Regulation has ruled that a number of liquor stores have violated state law by using essentially the same business name,...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Court Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil rights Political discrimination - Puerto Rico Where plaintiff employees brought political discrimination claims, a judgment for the defendants must be affirmed, as salary deductions...

Bar exam passers.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The following individuals were successful on the February 2007 Rhode Island Bar Examination and must be certified by the Committee on Character and Fitness before admission. A single asterisk (*)...

Superior Court issues judge assignments.(List)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS SUPERIOR COURT PROVIDENCE, SC. ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2007-8 RE: ASSIGNMENTS — FOURTH PERIOD July 1, 2007 through...

Rhode Island Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic relations Divorce - Disability pension Where a divorced man has appealed claiming an erroneous property division in the divorce judgment, the appeal must fail, as the judge did...

Superior Court Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Social services Disability - Duration Where a plaintiff's application for medical assistance benefits was denied, that decision should be affirmed based on the evidence being insufficient...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and banking Sale of 'gift certificates' - Preemption Where New Hampshire passed a statute restricting the sale of "gift certificates," including stored value giftcards issued by...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Effective assistance Where a petitioner, whose conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, has filed a motion to vacate, set aside and/or correct his sentence, the motion...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Damages Communications Act - Pay-per-view filters Where defendants have been found liable for selling digital cable filters allowing free viewing of pay-per-view television transmissions,...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Fees - Preliminary victory A plaintiff who won a preliminary court order but ultimately lost her First Amendment claim isn't entitled to attorney fees for the initial victory....

Don't get buried by everyday disasters.(Column)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll When I began these columns in the fall of 2005, the Hurricane Katrina disaster was still uppermost in our minds. One of my first efforts was on disaster recovery, and carried this message: "Disaster for any law firm...

How To ...strike a balance between work, life.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff How To... offers advice on a variety of subjects related to the management of a law practice. At the Massachusetts Bar Association's headquarters, Cambridge, Mass., attorney Peter A. Hahn...

The writer who hesitates need not be lost.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Julie A. Baker Everyone struggles with writer's block — the inability to get all the brilliant and persuasive words and ideas that you have in your head out and onto the computer screen (or the piece of paper). Most of...

Rhode Island Supreme Court says ex-wife's pension isn't subject to property split.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A divorced man could not claim a share of his former wife's disability pension where he had made a binding oral promise to waive his interest in the pension benefits, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has found. ...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says school not liable for harassment of student.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A public school district that failed to prevent one student from sexually harassing another was not liable under Title IX, even where there had been a long history of incidents involving the two students, the 1st...

The odd couple: Merged New England law firms Palmer & Dodge and Edwards & Angell.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz The November 2005 merger of old-line New England law firms Palmer & Dodge and Edwards & Angell may have been billed as a merger of equals, but 18 months later some are wondering if it was more a mismatch of...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal 'Substantial and injurious' standard A federal appellate court evaluating a constitutional error at a defendant's trial should use a "substantial and injurious" standard, whether...

Shutter to think: avoid lawyer-portrait pitfalls.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Seller's Market offers practitioners information about marketing their skills and services as attorneys. This week, Jason Scally, managing editor and "unofficial" staff photographer, offers some...

Do you enjoy the 'hamster model' of management?
June 18, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Hamsters are energetic creatures, as anyone who has watched one running in its exercise wheel will attest. In fact, hamsters may be unsurpassed for amount of effort expended in inverse proportion to results...

Superior Court judge says evidence seized from personal computer must be suppressed.(Judge Edwin J. Gale)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Thomas E. Egan Evidence taken from a mentally limited probationer's computer must be suppressed at trial where his consent to a police seizure of the computer was not voluntary, a Superior Court judge has ruled. The state...

Utility co. can cancel gas service to debtor.(Boston Gas Company)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman An energy company was entitled to terminate gas service to a Chapter 13 debtor who failed to pay her bill after filing for bankruptcy, the 1st Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has found. The debtor argued that...

Property damage ... in cyberspace?
June 18, 2007... Byline: Reni Gertner It's fairly obvious when someone physically damages someone else's belongings, but what counts as property damage in cyberspace? Historically, the trespass-to-chattels doctrine has been used to prove liability...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.(Rhode Island Supreme Court)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Civil judgment - Ability to pay Where a judge increased a defendant's monthly payment obligation on an outstanding civil judgment entered against him in 1992, the order must...

Superior Court Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Right of first refusal - Mobile home park Where an association of mobile home tenants has brought suit claiming that the mobile home park owner's agreement to sell the...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Automatic stay - Termination of utility service Where a utility company terminated service to a Chapter 13 debtor who had ceased paying her bills, this did not constitute a...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Bad faith filing Where a commercial landlord moved to dismiss a tenant's bankruptcy petition, an order denying that motion must be affirmed on account of the landlord's failure...

Passing thoughts as Tony's lawyer prepares a defense ...(Tony Soprano)
June 25, 2007... Byline: David Yas Thoughts while wondering whether there were any onion rings left for Meadow Recently, Rhode Island Jury Commissioner Eugene J. McMahon instructed his staff to discontinue use of the words "jury duty" for the process...

The Timepiece: June 1990, 1993, 2001.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The Timepiece is an occasional Hearsay feature that goes back in time to recall events in the Rhode Island legal-judicial community, as reported in previous issues of Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly. In...

Rhode Island Jury Commissioner Eugene J. McMahon changes term to "jury service".(Brief article)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Rhode Island Jury Commissioner Eugene J. McMahon admits he caught some flak after announcing that he had directed his staff to retire the term "jury duty" in favor of "jury service." But he...

U.S. Supreme Court finds passengers have standing to challenge police searches.(Brendlin v. California )(Case overview)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Noah Schaffer A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on motor vehicle searches answers an important question on standing in determining that passengers in cars stopped by the police are allowed to challenge a search, lawyers say. ...

Minors' tolling statute applied to parents' suit, according to Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman The parents of a 12-year-old boy who was injured at a skate park could amend their complaint to add a corporate defendant more than three years after the incident occurred, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled....

Rhode Island Supreme Court says newspaper not liable for false police info.(The Standard Times)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A newspaper could not be held liable for printing inaccurate information from a police report, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled. The plaintiff, whose arrest in connection with a car accident was the...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Gun battle - Double jeopardy Where a defendant was convicted of a number of offenses following a gun battle in a restaurant and was sentenced to life imprisonment, the convictions...

Rhode Island Superior Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Accountant - Procedures Where defendants have moved to vacate an arbitration award intended to end a dispute regarding sums allegedly owed by a time-share, the motion should be...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Prepetition transfer - Unrecorded deed Where a Chapter 7 trustee has moved to avoid a prepetition transfer of property from the debtor to the debtor's daughter, a bankruptcy...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Antitrust Newspaper supplements Where a plaintiff printer filed suit in 2006, claiming that the defendant newspapers restrained trade and eliminated competition in the printing and...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motion to set aside default Where a plaintiff has moved for entry of a default judgment in the amount of $10,776,835, I find that the plaintiff's motion must be denied as...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Criminal defendant - Time extension A U.S. District Court cannot extend a criminal defendant's time for filing an appeal beyond the period allowed by statute, because such a move...

Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Fall in bathroom Where a trial judge denied a plaintiff's application for workers' compensation benefits, he acted permissibly, as an ankle fracture which the...

Providence atty. named "Outstanding Director for 2007" by American Arbitration Assn.(American Arbitration Association, John E. Bulman)(Brief article)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The American Arbitration Association has named John E. Bulman of Little, Medeiros, Kinder, Bulman & Whitney in Providence its "Outstanding Director for 2007."

Coach's Corner.(managing staff at law firms)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Lawyers, like managers everywhere, must connect with their staff. Creating an effective team is perhaps your number one practice responsibility. Your staff must share your work ethic, values and belief in the work...

Commentary: Estate planning options abound for 'snowbirds'.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Mark Iacono The state of Florida has seen tremendous growth as its population has increased by almost 335,000 per year from 2000 to 2006. At the current pace, it may swell by 36 percent from 2000 to 2025. Included in this...