Quahogs. Cabinets. General refusal to use car blinkers. Obey Andre the Giant stickers in the ’90s. There are many unique things about Rhode Island. Here’s one more: Rhode Island is the only State in the Union with life tenure for…
Category: Court Trends
Running Tally of State and Federal Court Orders Affecting Rhody Related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
The state and federal courts that have jurisdiction in Rhode Island have issued a series of administrative orders to address court operations during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The list below attempts to catalog all state and federal court orders that…
Who Knew You Can Write For The Majority and Concur In The Same Case? Justices Robinson and Flanders (Ret.), That’s Who!
One of the crazier things I do every year is read the full text of every opinion from the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. It can take a while to get through them, particularly when…
RI Supreme Court ’18-’19 Term in Review – Who Wrote What, and How Criminal and Civil Litigants Fared
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is hard at work in term ’19-’20 with 30 opinions issued through January. With term ’18-’19 in the books, it’s a good time to review the types of cases the Supreme Court decided last term,…
Judge Smith Unexpectedly Passes The Chief Judgeship to Judge McConnell. Is A New Snow Day Policy In The Offing?
To the surprise of many, Chief Judge Smith announced on October 18 at the U.S. District Court 2019 Conference that he is passing the Chief Judgeship to Judge McConnell effective December 1, 2019, for the Rhode Island federal district court.…
Senate Finally Confirms Judge McElroy. Next Stop: FJC’s Self-Titled “Baby Judges School.”
Congratulations to Mary McElroy, who finally got confirmed as a federal district judge to the District of Rhode Island, bringing the court back to full strength with three active district judges and two magistrate judges. Originally nominated in 2015, the…
In The First Pass Under The New Bar Exam Policy, 17 Attorneys Will Be Admitted in Rhode Island Through The Uniform Bar Exam
Earlier this week, the Rhode Island Supreme Court announced that seventeen attorneys are now eligible for the Rhode Island bar by petitioning for admission through the Uniform Bar Exam. Under the Court’s new bar exam policy, and combining the list…
Only 28 People Passed The February 2019 R.I. Bar Examination – But It’s An Incomplete Picture On The Number Of New Attorneys
The Rhode Island Judiciary recently released the results from the February 2019 Rhode Island bar examination. On their face, the results continue the remarkable downward trend in the number of attorneys eligible to practice law in Rhode Island. The 47%…
Rhody Federal Court Stats: Criminal Cases Follow Curious National Trend, Cases and Trials Overall Are Lower Than Other Districts
The Rhode Island federal district court released its latest stats at the last Federal Bench/Bar Committee meeting (if you’re a lawyer and don’t attend these meetings, they contain lots of good stuff). The stats reveal some curious trends and notable…
The Framers Intended What? Here’s an Originalism Idea: Let a Jury Decide.
The Rhode Island federal district court had a grand total of six trials in calendar year 2018, according to recently announced statistics. That includes both civil and criminal trials. With 855 new cases filed in the Rhode Island federal district…