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…
Tag: District Court
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…
Proposed Federal CivPro Jurisdiction Rule Would Peel Back The Curtain on Those Pesky LLCs
Jurisdiction means, literally, the power to speak the law. In practical terms, it refers to the power of a court to issue a ruling that binds a natural person, entity, or thing (such as personal property or real estate). While…
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…
The Federal Judiciary Just Released A New Harassment Policy For The Courts. It’s Bound To Impact Private Employers.
Private employers can minimize the risk from sexual harassment claims with a good set of personnel policies. Under federal law, for sexual harassment inflicted by a co-worker (as opposed to a supervisor), the employer is liable for a hostile work…
Paean to Pro Bono: Applying Economic Theory to Why Pro Bono is Good for Lawyers and Clients
Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. For the bulk of lawyers who charge for services by the hour, their most valuable asset for revenue is their time. Attorney choices on allocating the scarce resource of time…
Law Clerks From Soup to Nuts, Or More Accurately, From September to August
Chief Justice Roberts’ recent 2018 Year-End Report is largely a description of the federal judiciary’s efforts to address sexual harassment, but he begins with a lengthy description of law clerks and their special role in the federal courts. The report…
New R.I. Federal Court Rule On Discovery Likely To Save Clients At Least A 100 Large A Year
Unlike other countries, the so-called “American Rule” requires each side to pay their own attorney’s fees in litigation regardless of who wins. Unless a statute or contract shifts attorney’s fees from one side to the other, or one side behaves…