Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2008

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2008

Commentary: Do as we say, not as we do.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll Merger and acquisition work long has been a profitable mainstay for big law firms. Of course, M&A activity cycles up and down, as any glance at today's business news will attest. But one type of merger seems on a...

Commentary: Will your tattoo brand you as unprofessional?
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff In Do the Right Thing, Boston-based consultant Gretchen Neels offers advice on professional etiquette and other behavioral issues that might arise in a law practice. Readers can e-mail their...

Rhode Island Supreme Court denies UM benefits following settlement with at-fault driver.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Matthew C. Harper-Nixon A woman who received a binding arbitration award from the insurance company of the driver who hit her could not seek underinsured motorist benefits from her own insurer, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules subsidiary can enforce parent's arbitration clause.(Case overview)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A Massachusetts-based manufacturer could not avoid an international arbitration clause in a partnership agreement with another company by suing a subsidiary that did not sign the agreement, the 1st U.S. Circuit...

Providence defense attorney: asbestos ruling likely to spur motions to dismiss.(Interview)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The state Supreme Court ruled last month that 39 asbestos claims brought by Canadian residents in Rhode Island could be dismissed. The decision, Kedy, et al. v. A.W. Chesterton Co., et al....

R.I. District Court Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.(Rhode Island)(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Motor vehicles Standing Where (1) the Appeals Panel of the Traffic Tribunal reversed a trial judge's decision and dismissed all charges against the appellant and (2) the appellant...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Equal protection - Destruction or sealing of records Where a defendant has challenged the constitutionality of certain statutory provisions that prohibit convicted felons...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.(Rhode Island)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest School committee - Recording clerk Where an individual is the recording clerk for the North Providence School Committee, it is our opinion that she would be permitted...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Partnership agreement - Non-signatories Where (1) a plaintiff, having entered into a written partnership agreement with a corporation, brought suit against a defendant...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - Previous conviction A previous conviction under a state drug law that gives high sentences for recidivist drug offenders can trigger the federal Armed Career Criminal...

R.I. Lawyers in the News: June 2, 2008.(Vetter & White)(International Society of Primerus Law Firms)(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Professional groups The Providence-based firm of Vetter & White has been accepted into membership by the International Society of Primerus Law Firms.

Commentary: Learning the fine art of saying nothing.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Paul R. Kelley As lawyers, we are taught to argue, persuade and relentlessly press our positions. A quick comeback is applauded with, "He's good on his feet." Children who are argumentative are encouraged with, "You'll be a good...

Commentary: Law prof adds his voice to ongoing conversation on race.(The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse)(Book review)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Hope Lewis Stanford Law School Professor Richard Thompson Ford's "The Race Card" seeks nothing less than to demarcate the line between legitimate charges of racism and those that are ill-defined or false. "When are complaints...

Commentary: Are you in the 'red zone'?(retirement)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll Karen Mathis, immediate past chair of the American Bar Association, focused her term on developing a new awareness in the legal profession on the implications of the aging population. She said recently that 400,000...

How to ...(choosing office furniture)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee No pressure, but you and your employees will have to live with your office furniture choices day in, day out, for many years to come. Office furniture is a relatively high-ticket item, and the sheer number of...

Rhode Island Supreme Court says injured mailman can't hold insurer liable for bad faith.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Matthew C. Harper-Nixon An insurance company that waived its right to deny coverage by demanding payment of a $250 deductible could not be held liable for bad faith where the coverage issue was "fairly debatable," the Rhode Island...

Policyholder's arbitration demand is ruled untimely by Rhode Island Supreme Court.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan An insurance policy provision imposing a two-year time limitation on any "legal action" barred the policyholder from seeking arbitration seven years after suffering property damage, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has...

Flex-time catches up with legal profession.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher Patricia Mundy, 35, an associate in Sullivan & Worcester's Boston office, works a reduced schedule that includes one day a week at home and Fridays off. "It's about as good as it gets," says Mundy, who...

R.I. District Court Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.(Rhode Island )
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Unemployment compensation Temporary employee - Contact with employer Where a temporary employee was awarded unemployment benefits following the termination of his assignment, the award of...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.(Rhode Island )
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Limitations - Insurance Where a plaintiff policyholder's petition to enforce the policy's arbitration clause was denied, that ruling should be affirmed, as the plaintiff's...

Rhode Island Superior Courts Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Real property Construction - Restrictions Where plaintiff have filed suit seeking a permanent injunction to prevent defendant neighbors from subdividing a lot and erecting a second...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy 'Means test' - Surrender of collateral Where the United States Trustee moved to dismiss a Chapter 7 case for abuse under 11 U.S.C. Sect. 707(b)(1), the motion was correctly...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Search and seizure Post-arrest statements Where a criminal defendant (1) moved unsuccessfully for the suppression of post-arrest statements made to investigating agents during an...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Fee waiver - Remand Where a defendant, having removed this case from the Woonsocket Municipal Court, filed an Application to Proceed Without Prepayment of Fees and...

Mass. Workers' Compensation Court Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.(Massachusetts)(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' compensation Independent contractor Where a plaintiff (1) fell from a crane while painting the exterior of a house and (2) sought workers' compensation benefits from a defendant...

Rhode Island Lawyers in the News: June 9, 2008.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Carrie L. Abatiello has joined the Providence firm of Moses & Afonso as an associate. Richard A. Licht, Joseph DeAngelis, David T. Riedel, Susan Leach DeBlasio, Lori Caron...

Public records bill approved by Rhode Island Senate.(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The Senate has voted to strengthen the state's freedom of information law by requiring government agencies to respond to information requests faster. The bill passed unanimously and now heads...

$2M malpractice verdict for Rhode Island Hospital open-heart surgery patient.(Interview)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Almost a decade after a Warwick man entered Rhode Island Hospital for open heart surgery, a Providence County jury has returned a $2 million medical-malpractice verdict against the hospital and one...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: Police officer claiming retaliation can't sue under 1st Amendment.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A police officer who was demoted after he filed suit against the police department could not then sue for retaliation under the First Amendment, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The officer argued...

Superior Court judge says Rhode Island construction regulation invalid.(Michael A. Silverstein)(Case overview)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A state regulation governing construction contracts cannot be enforced where the regulation does not set out binding criteria for selecting which method of management is used for a particular project, a Superior...

Rhode Island Superior Courts Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Construction - Criteria Where a construction company has challenged the validity of Emergency Procurement Regulation Sect. 8.11.2, the regulation must be declared invalid as not...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil rights First Amendment - Police officer - Filing of lawsuit Where a plaintiff police officer claims that his superiors violated his First Amendment rights when they assigned him to...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract R.I. Fair Dealership Act Where Rhode Island has enacted the Fair Dealership Act, the Act is a substantive law creating, defining and regulating the rights of the parties to a...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Commercial Money laundering - Concealment Merely concealing money during transport does not constitute "money laundering" under the federal money laundering statute. Cuellar v. U.S....

Commentary: Clients may not buy when firm brands its attorneys as 'products'.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll Where there's smoke, they say there's usually fire. When people begin to talk about "sales attorneys," attorneys whose function is to sell the services of the law firm rather than perform legal work, the closer to...

Commentary: TechnoLAWgically Speaking: Three R's of office sustainability.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Henry B. Chace TechnoLAWgically Speaking discusses how advances in office technology can best be used in the management of a law practice. When we think of sustainability, we do not often think about computers or their use in...

Rhode Island deputy speaker plans to retire.(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Rep. Henry C. Rose, D-East Providence, said he will not seek re-election after 16 years in the General Assembly, according to The Providence Journal. The 67-year-old deputy speaker said he is...

Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Rules Receiver can maintain claim against director.(Michael A. Silverstein)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A complaint charging a corporate director with breach of fiduciary duty is not subject to the heightened pleading standard announced in 2007 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, a Superior...

U.S. District Court judge rules oil company's pollution insurance claim is timely.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman An oil company's claim that its insurer wrongfully refused to indemnify it for the cleanup of a contaminated site was not time-barred even though the company brought its suit more than 14 years after the insurer's...

Rhode Island Bar Association panel ponders new whistleblower law.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Noah Schaffer Three months ago, CVS Caremark agreed to pay $36.7 million to settle claims that it violated the law by giving patients a capsule rather than a cheaper form of a prescription drug in order to boost Medicaid...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.(Rhode Island)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Postconviction relief - 'Shatney' Where a judge denied a defendant's motion for postconviction relief, we find that the judge acted permissibly on the record and did not violate...

Rhode Island Superior Courts Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.(Brief article)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Corporate Director - Fiduciary duty Where the defendant, a receiver for a corporation, has asserted a third-party claim against an individual who served as a director of the corporation...

1St U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Conspiracy to distribute heroin - Sentencing Where a defendant (1) pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, (2) was sentenced to 84 months in prison and (3) now...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Pollution - Limitations - 'No action' clause Where a plaintiff owner of a contaminated site claims that the defendant insurance company wrongfully refused to indemnify the...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Social Services Disability benefits - Constitutional claim Where the defendant Commissioner of the Social Security Administration has moved to dismiss a plaintiff's complaint seeking...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.(Brief article)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Damages Paralegal fees Paralegal fees awarded to a prevailing party under the Equal Access to Justice Act are calculated according to prevailing market rates, not the lower calculation of...

Commentary: As workload increases, so should fees.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll All the scare stories about recession in the daily news should not divert our attention from the fact that there is still more than enough work for good lawyers to do. In fact, sole practitioners who have...

Commentary: Once-proud graduate no longer fan of alma mater.(Brian R. Cook)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Brian R. Cook When I was at Boston College Law School, I was taught by law professors who had protested against the Vietnam War, defended the right to inter-racial marriage and fought to save the planet. They were children of the...

Commentary: When the economy turns down, time to make sure clients pay up.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Matthew J. Prinn Seller's Market offers practitioners information about marketing their skills and services as attorneys. Whenever the economy takes a downturn, professional service bills receive an extra dose of attention. Ten...

Calendar.(government summit and golf tournament)(Brief article)(Calendar)
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Calendar submissions should be sent to Sharon Lee, Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, 10 Milk St., 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02108; faxed to (617) 218-8175; or e-mailed to sharon.leelawyersweekly.com. Please...

Rhode Island Lawyers in the News: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Two picked for traffic tribunal Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams has announced the appointments of R. David Cruise and Alan R. Goulart to fill two magistrate vacancies...

Rhode Island Supreme Court says right to public trial was not violated by courtroom closure.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A trial judge's decision to partially close the courtroom during the testimony of a child molestation victim did not deprive the defendant of his constitutional right to a public trial, the Rhode Island Supreme Court...

Rhode Island lawyers square off in fight over right to vote.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff While it appears to affect only a handful of individuals, a Rhode Island controversy over whether criminals found not guilty by reason of insanity should have the right to vote has received national...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says architect can proceed with copyright infringement claim.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Eric T. Berkman An architect's copyright-infringement suit, brought against a veterinarian five years after he opened a hospital that was allegedly based on the architect's proprietary plans, was not barred by the Copyright Act's...

Rhode Island Supreme Court issues amended order on JAG lawyers.(Brief article)
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff ORDER Article II, Rule 2(g) of the Supreme Court Rules which permits certain members of the Rhode Island National Guard to appear in the courts of this state to represent the Rhode Island...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.(Rhode Island)
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Life sentence Where an application for postconviction relief has been filed by an individual who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, the application must...

Rhode Island Superior Courts Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Breach of fiduciary duty Where a defendant attorney and codefendant law firm have moved for summary judgment on a plaintiff's breach of fiduciary duty claim, I hold that the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Search warrant execution - Journalists Where (1) plaintiff journalists and their association filed suit claiming that the defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation violated...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination - Gender - Disparate treatment - Hostile work environment Where a plaintiff has asserted gender discrimination claims against the defendant employer, the...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Stamp taxes The federal bankruptcy code's prohibition on stamp taxes on assets transferred to a new owner applies only when the asset transfer happens after a court-approved...

Appointments.(Susan E. Farady)(Brief article)
June 30, 2008... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Appointments Susan E. Farady has been named director of the Marine Affairs Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law.

Commentary: To err is human ... and client should be informed about error.
June 30, 2008... Byline: William C. Saturley and Joseph S. Callanan Risk-Free Business is an occasional feature intended as a guide for lawyers on the topic of professional liability insurance. In our last column, we discussed if and when you should...

Commentary: When posting to social network, be sure to use 'sharer' discretion.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll In an earlier column we touched on the issue of social networking Internet sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, where participants share information about themselves with a widening network of contacts. Facebook and...