Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2009

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. SUPREME COURT Jurisdiction Secretary of the Interior - Indian land The Secretary of the Interior does not have the authority to take into trust a 31-acre Rhode Island parcel acquired by the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff 1ST U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS Bankruptcy Dismissal - Financial disclosure Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge refused to dismiss a Chapter 7 petition despite the fact that the debtors failed to reveal...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. DISTRICT COURT Real property Prescriptive easement Where (1) a plaintiff is seeking to hold the defendant town of Westerly liable for the presence of a rain water drainage ditch on his property and for...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGES Jurisdiction Removal - Remand Where a plaintiff has moved to remand his asbestos case to state court, the motion should be denied, as the defendant's removal of the case to federal...

R.I. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL Bankruptcy Successor judge - New trial Where a successor U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge ruled in favor of a Chapter 7 trustee in a fraudulent transfer action against the debtor's...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT Bankruptcy Means test - Car expenses - Surrender of real property Where the Chapter 13 trustee has objected to confirmation of the debtors' plan, the objection must be overruled, as...

R.I. District Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff R.I. DISTRICT COURT Unemployment compensation Good cause - Resignation Where an application for unemployment compensation has been denied on the ground that the employee resigned without good cause, that...

Commentary: jump in employment litigation expected under Ledbetter Act.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Lynn A. Kappelman and Kristin Glennan McGurn Late last month, with Lilly Ledbetter at his side, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first legislation passed by both the House and Senate under the new...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules in spite of undisclosed asset, petition stands.
March 2, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank and Thomas E. Egan A recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling resolves a split among lower court judges about how debtors can use the automatic dismissal provision of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and...

Bankruptcy bill could result in 'tsunami' of new filings.(Rhode Island)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Julia Reischel and Noah Schaffer Local practitioners predict that a bill currently wending its way through Congress will be passed, granting bankruptcy judges the power to modify home-mortgage terms and prompting a deluge of new...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules individuals can't be liable under Title VII.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Individuals cannot be held personally liable under Title VII, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found. The issue arose in a suit brought by a plaintiff who was fired from her job at a...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Dismissal - Financial disclosure Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge refused to dismiss a Chapter 7 petition despite the fact that the debtors failed to reveal the existence of...

U.S. Supreme Court.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Jurisdiction Secretary of the Interior - Indian land The Secretary of the Interior does not have the authority to take into trust a 31-acre Rhode Island parcel acquired by the Narragansett...

One firm's recession is another's depression.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Most lawyers and law firms (along with everyone else) would like to forget 2008. Yet there's no indication that 2009 will be better, and it may well be worse. When The Wall Street Journal can run a front page story (as...

Commentary: tripartite relationship is often much more than a two-way street.
March 2, 2009... 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. A former client writes you a letter complaining of a bad...

R.I. District Court.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Unemployment compensation Voluntary departure - Good cause Where an employee has been found ineligible for unemployment benefits, that finding should be upheld, as it was based on...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Dismissal - Financial disclosure Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge refused to dismiss a Chapter 7 petition despite the fact that the debtors failed to reveal the existence of...

U.S. Supreme Court.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Jurisdiction Secretary of the Interior - Indian land The Secretary of the Interior does not have the authority to take into trust a 31-acre Rhode Island parcel acquired by the Narragansett...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. SUPREME COURT Editor's note: You may link to the full text of the opinions below by going to www.lawyersusaonline.com and searching for the name of the case. Criminal Gun Control Act The Federal Gun...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff Editor's note: The full text of these decisions can be found on Lawyers Weekly's website, www.rilawyersweekly.com. Civil rights Termination of prison guard - Romantic relationship Where a plaintiff prison...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. DISTRICT COURT Civil rights DCYF - Foster placement Where plaintiffs have brought suit alleging that a defendant social worker and codefendant supervisor of the Rhode Island Department of Children,...

R.I. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL Bankruptcy Tax returns Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge denied the IRS's motion to dismiss a chapter 13 petition, the motion should have been allowed based on the debtor's...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT Bankruptcy Reaffirmation agreement - Termination of automatic stay Where a motion has been filed seeking court approval of a reaffirmation agreement, the motion must be denied based...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff R.I. SUPREME COURT Municipal Sale of parking lots Where a plaintiff owner of real property brought suit challenging the defendant city's sale of two parking lots, the complaint was properly dismissed for...

R.I. Superior Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPERIOR COURT Environmental CRMC - Ex parte communications Where the Coastal Resources Management Council denied a plaintiff's application to expand a marina, that decision must be reversed because of...

R.I. District Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff R.I. DISTRICT COURT Unemployment compensation Unavailability for full-time work Where an individual, because of a medical condition, limited her employment applications to those for part-time work, she did...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: R.I. Lawyers Weekly Staff STATE ETHICS COMMISSION Conflict of interest Town council member - Land trust's purchase of conservation easement Where the petitioner is a member of the Smithfield town council, it is our opinion that she...

Commentary: legal process outsourcing: new threat or new opportunity?
March 9, 2009... Byline: Stephen Seckler While the legal profession is in a deep recession at the moment, the good news is that it is only a matter of time before the demand for legal services regains its footing. But as the practice of law comes back to...

Federal fraud decision stirs controversy: liability expanded in securities cases.
March 9, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank Securities lawyers are closely monitoring the outcome of a motion for reconsideration in a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals fraud case that has many claiming the court has gone too far. In SEC v. Tambone...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court rejects agreement to reaffirm automobile loan.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A reaffirmation agreement concerning an auto loan must be rejected because of undue hardship, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has ruled. Because the debtor's monthly expenses exceeded his income, a presumption of...

Agreement to reaffirm automobile loan rejected.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Thomas E. Egan tom.eganlawyersweekly.com A reaffirmation agreement concerning an auto loan must be rejected because of undue hardship, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has ruled. Because the debtor's monthly expenses exceeded...

Federal fraud decision stirs controversy.
March 9, 2009... Byline: David E. Frank david.franklawyersweekly.com Securities lawyers are closely monitoring the outcome of a motion for reconsideration in a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals fraud case that has many claiming the court has gone too...

R.I. District Court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Unemployment compensation Unavailability for full-time work Where an individual, because of a medical condition, limited her employment applications to those for part-time work, she did not...

R.I. Supreme Court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Postconviction relief - Dismissal Where a Superior Court judge dismissed an application for postconviction relief, the dismissal order must be vacated and a remand ordered because...

State Ethics Commission.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Town council member - Land trust's purchase of conservation easement Where the petitioner is a member of the Smithfield town council, it is our opinion that she is...

Superior Court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Environmental CRMC - Ex parte communications Where the Coastal Resources Management Council denied a plaintiff's application to expand a marina, that decision must be reversed because of...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Motion for leave to file adversary action Where an attorney has filed a "Motion for Leave [to] File Adversary Action Seeking to Equitably Subordinate the Interest and Claims of...

1st U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil rights Termination of prison guard - Romantic relationship Where a plaintiff prison guard filed a civil rights action against the defendant Massachusetts Department of Correction and...

U.S. District Court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil rights DCYF - Foster placement Where plaintiffs have brought suit alleging that a defendant social worker and codefendant supervisor of the Rhode Island Department of Children,...

U.S. Supreme Court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Antitrust 'Price squeeze' claim A "price squeeze" claim may not be brought under Sect. 2 of the Sherman Act when the defendant has no duty to deal with the plaintiff at wholesale. ...

When defining value, the question is: value for whom?
March 9, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Last year at this time I wrote about the Association of Corporate Counsel's self-proclaimed "revolution" embodied in its Value Challenge, a concerted effort to better integrate law-firm billings with corporate clients'...

Superior Court judge finds fiscal crisis warrants layoff of firefighters by city of Woonsocket.(Rhode Island)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Thomas E. Egan The city of Woonsocket's fiscal crisis amounts to a legitimate reason for laying off firefighters, a Superior Court judge has found. The firefighters' union argued that the proposed layoffs would violate a...

Commentary: coach's corner: look at partnership with open eyes.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll The financial turmoil that law firms, along with the rest of the economy, are experiencing today may lead to a reassessment of the conventional wisdom that every lawyer should want to become a partner. The essence...

How to save thousands on technology for your firm.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Rebello justin.rebellolawyersusaonline.com While the economy has struggled, the need for high-tech law firm upgrades has increased. As lawyers look to cut costs, some have shied away from spending money on such...

Tips for first-time social networkers.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Rebello justin.rebellolawyersusaonline.com For attorneys first making the leap, social networking can be a bit overwhelming. With so many networks out there and so many thousands of attorneys already taking...

Commentary: seller's market: in weak economy, strengthen client relationships.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jay Wager Seller's Market offers practitioners information about marketing their skills and services as attorneys. This year, the business development emphasis for lawyers is to strengthen existing client relationships. This...

Leniency program revisions lauded; amnesty plan clarified for antitrust violations.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Barbara Rabinovitz Attorneys who represent companies seeking leniency for possible antitrust violations are hailing recent moves by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to clarify aspects of its longtime...

Confidentiality agreement is struck down by 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A temp agency could not fire an employee for violating a confidentiality provision that barred him from disclosing to any "other parties" the terms of his employment, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled....

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says misinformed defendant can withdraw guilty plea.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A criminal defendant who was misinformed about the duration of his supervised release must be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. After being incorrectly told...

Commentary: 'but I deserve a bonus ... don't I?'
March 23, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll As executives of the country's leading financial institutions can attest, few words arouse greater passions these days than "bonus." CEO pay at large companies used to be 10 to 15 times that of the lowest worker; in...

Commentary: as with medical checkup, annual review of insurance policies vital.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Stephanie A. Hood Expert Opinion offers the insights of law-firm management specialists on a variety of topics related to the administration of a law office. Chances are you visit your doctor every year for a checkup to head...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says training manuals are protected by copyright.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Thomas E. Egan A management consulting company's corporate training materials are subject to copyright protection, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found. The plaintiff consulting company argued that a U.S. District...

Commentary: coach's corner: costs plus billable hours have to equal revenue.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll The recession is sending many law firms back to the basics, and nothing is more fundamental to business than the two basic models to make money. In model one, look at your revenue and figure out what your cost...