Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly articles from November 2007

Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly archives from November 2007

R.I. State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Attorney - Charter revision advisory committee Where the petitioner, a practicing attorney, has been appointed to Charlestown's Charter Revision Advisory Committee, it...

R.I. Superior Court Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Personnel Appeal Board - Salary benefits Where the Rhode Island Department of Administration has appealed a Personnel Appeal Board decision granting an individual...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.(United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative LNG facility - Ripeness Where plaintiffs have brought suit challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's conditional approval of a proposed liquefied natural gas...

Commentary: Collections depend on collection policy.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Our recent discussion of non-engagement letters raises the point that attorneys and law firms often find it necessary to send such communications because they have failed to establish, explain and enforce effective...

Commentary:Technology in the workplace and identity theft.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Henry B. Chace TechnoLAWgically Speaking discusses how advances in office technology can best be used in the management of a law practice. Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the United States, with the Federal Trade...

Commentary: Why lawyers need to calm down and enjoy the Red Sox.
November 5, 2007... Byline: David Yas When I was about 13, my mom noticed that I had a habit of bouncing my knee up and down while I was seated at the breakfast table. "You're going to be a lawyer," she said. I looked down at my Captain Crunch and...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules man can be deported for assaulting his girlfriend.(United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Noah Schaffer An immigrant found guilty of assault could be deported where he was convicted of a crime of violence, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. The petitioner argued that a conviction under the Rhode...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules informant's tip doesn't justify cavity search.(United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman An informant's tip did not give a police officer the authority to order a visual body-cavity search of a suspected drug dealer absent specific, factual details regarding the informant's reliability, the 1st U.S....

'Psychodrama' retreat in Wyoming offers trial by campfire.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher The Trial Lawyers College, founded by famed litigator Gerry Spence, offers attorneys a New-Age approach to courtroom lawyering. Lawyers USA reporter Nora Lockwood Tooher recently spent a few days at the...

R.I. District Court Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Motor vehicles CDL permit Where the Division of Motor Vehicles refused to renew a plaintiff's commercial driver's license permit, that decision must be affirmed in light of the fact that...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 5, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 5, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Plea - Voluntariness Where a defendant, who pled nolo contendere to a narcotics offense, later moved for postconviction relief, we hold that a judge rightly denied the motion, as...

Commentary: Grappling with gravitas: New law firm marketing takes personal approach.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Carolyn Shartenberg Lavin We all like to do business with people we like. This familiar phrase has become the cornerstone of the latest light in marketing: relationship-building. Astute lawyers have laid down their old-school...

U.S. District Court reverses tax sale over lack of notice.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Jason M. Scally Property owners should be entitled to set aside a tax sale on their home where they never received notice of the sale from either the lender or the new purchaser, a U.S. District Court judge has decided. The...

U.S. District Court rules franchisee not bound by jury-waiver agreement in dispute with chain.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A franchisee has a right to a jury trial in a dispute over a settlement agreement with a doughnut-shop chain despite the fact that earlier "store development agreements" contained a jury waiver, a U.S. District...

As R.I. Supreme Court considers executive privilege case, expert weighs in on issue.(Rhode Island)(Interview)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff With the Rhode Island Supreme Court having taken up the issue of whether Gov. Donald L. Carcieri can assert executive privilege in the case of a State Police raid on a Narragansett Indian smoke...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Postconviction relief - Waiver Where an applicant for postconviction relief has appealed an order denying his application, the appeal must fail because the issues raised in the...

R.I. Superior Court Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and banking Joint accounts Where a plaintiff alleges that the defendant bank improperly deleted his name from his mother's joint accounts, the plaintiff is entitled to summary...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Seed potatoes Where an arbitrator awarded plaintiffs $82,000 as compensation for the defendants' failure to pay for seed potatoes, the award should not be vacated, as the U.S....

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Jury and jurors Jury demand - Waiver Where defendants have moved to strike the plaintiffs' jury demand in a case involving donut shop franchise agreements, the motion must be denied, as...

U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 12, 2007.(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas corpus Timeliness - Tolling A post-conviction state court petition that was dismissed as untimely cannot toll the 1-year statute of limitation for filing a federal habeas petition...

R.I. Lawyers in the News: November 12, 2007.(Rhode Island)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff New associations Kristen Fletcher, director of the Marine Affairs Institute and Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program at Roger Williams University School of Law, has been named executive...

Commentary: Trade shows offer one-stop marketing.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll There is no better way to establish effective marketing relationships with prospective clients than by establishing a presence for your firm or your practice at industry trade shows and association meetings. By...

Commentary: Seller's Market: Holiday greetings offer the perfect opportunity for a win-win situation.
November 12, 2007... Byline: Audra Callanan Seller's Market offers practitioners information about marketing their skills and services as attorneys. Many law firms miss the mark when it comes to the biggest no-brainer in the business-communications world:...

1st U.S. COA rules 'side agreement' bars suit over breach of CBA.(Court of Appeals)(collective bargaining agreement)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A union could not sue a supermarket chain over an alleged breach of a collective bargaining agreement where the two parties had decided in a "side agreement" to resolve certain disputes internally, the 1st U.S....

Rhode Island Supreme Court rules employer liable for injury caused by off-duty worker.(M&D's Larry Stagner)(Timothy Vaiciulis)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman An employer could be held liable for injuries sustained by a passenger in a company truck driven by an off-duty employee, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has decided. The defendant employer argued that because he...

Fallout expected from Chicago-based law firm's age-bias settlement.(Sidley Austin)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson A settlement in a lawsuit on age bias involving a major Chicago law firm and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has law firms nationwide thinking about the wisdom of mandatory retirement policies. ...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motion to vacate - Amended complaint Where a defendant moved to vacate a judgment entered against him, the motion was correctly denied, as there is no merit to the...

R.I. Superior Court Court Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.(Rhode Island)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Negligence Limitations - 'Discovery rule' Where a plaintiff has brought suit alleging negligent design of a "Kugel Mesh Patch" implanted into his abdomen during hernia surgery, a motion by...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Court Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Habeas corpus Reasonableness of state court decision Where a habeas corpus petition was denied, that decision should be affirmed, as the judge did not misapply federal law in holding that a...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Court Case Summaries: November 19, 2007.(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motions to amend and compel Where the plaintiff in a race discrimination suit against the defendant Department of Defense has filed a motion to amend her complaint after...

Commentary: Firm's age policy may force more than retirement.(Sidley Austin)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Early in 2005 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a class action lawsuit against the mega-firm then called Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood -- the first litigation of its kind against a law firm. The suit...

Commentary: A guide to building good sentence structure.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Lisa Healy and Julie Baker Write On is an occasional feature providing guidance for attorneys on writing legal memoranda and briefs. Ernest Hemingway was once asked why he had rewritten the ending to "A Farewell to Arms" 39...

Lawmakers in R.I. retract teen sentencing law.(Rhode Island)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Rhode Island will no longer send 17-year-old offenders to adult prisons after a repeal of the flawed cost-cutting measure took effect. Last month, lawmakers overturned the four-month-old...

R.I. Supreme Court rules cashing insurance check bars lawsuit vs. other driver.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Eric T. Berkman A plaintiff who negotiated a check from an insurance company following a traffic accident could not later bring suit against the other driver involved in the collision. The plaintiff argued that he thought the...

Rhode Island Supreme Court rules records not wiped clean by deferred sentences.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Thomas E. Egan Superior Court judges have no inherent authority to automatically expunge the criminal records of defendants who have completed their deferred sentences, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has found. Two defendants...

Asbestos appeal in R.I. Supreme Court could be ticket to 'forum non conveniens'.(venue of litigation)(Interview)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff As the new year approaches, local lawyers whose practices are devoted to asbestos-related litigation will be watching how the Rhode Island Supreme Court rules in an appeal that speaks to the...

R.I. Bar Exam Passers: November 26, 2007.(Rhode Island )(List)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff The following individuals were successful on the July 2007 Rhode Island Bar Examination and must be certified by the Committee on Character and Fitness before admission. A single asterisk (*) before...

R.I. Supreme Court rules winter judicial conference will affect calendars.(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff SUPREME COURT No. 2007-06 EXECUTIVE ORDER Pursuant to the authority granted to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Section 8-15-2 of the General Laws of the State of Rhode...

R.I. Judicial Nominating Commission issues public notice of meeting.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION PUBLIC NOTICE OF MEETING A meeting of the Judicial Nominating Commission will be held at the Offices of the Department of Administration, One Capitol Hill,...

December calendar issued by court.(Calendar)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff SHOW CAUSE CALENDARDECEMBER 3, 2007 9:30 a.m. ELIZABETH DELLEFRATTE v. ESTATE OF AUGUSTINE DELLEFRATTE 2007-18 Elizabeth Dellefratte, pro seDean Robinson RICHARD McVEIGH v....

R.I. District Court Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Motor vehicles Speeding - Refusal to submit to chemical test Where the Appellate Panel of the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal has found the appellant liable for a speeding violation and for a...

R.I. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.(Rhode Island )
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Deferred sentences - Expungement Where two defendants, having completed their deferred sentences, sought expungement of their criminal records, those requests were correctly...

R.I. State Ethics Commission Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.(Rhode Island )(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Conflict of interest Town council member - Spouse's appearance before zoning board Where the petitioner is a member of the Portsmouth Town Council, it is our opinion that the "hardship...

R.I. Superior Court Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.(Rhode Island )
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Denial of subdivision application Where the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights has found that a number of Cumberland appellants discriminated against two appellee...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Employment - Class action waiver Where (1) two plaintiffs brought a class action suit against the defendant, their former employer, for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil practice Motion to compel discovery Where a plaintiff has moved to compel discovery from the defendant State Police and codefendant Rhode Island Attorney General of documents...

R.I. Lawyers in the News: November 26, 2007.(Rhode Island)(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly Staff Veronica D. Paricio has been named director for the Office of Career Services at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol. Adam M. Ramos has joined the Providence office of Adler,...

Commentary: Do you know when it's time to leave?(resignation)
November 26, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll The members of a successful law firm need a fundamental basis for working together. Lawyers who physically share the same office environment should share an outlook that shapes the development of common goals and...

Commentary: Honesty the best policy in insurance application.
November 26, 2007... 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. Before you can obtain malpractice insurance, you have to...