The NCAA and major college conferences are considering a possible settlement of an antitrust lawsuit that could cost them billions in damages and force schools to share athletics-related revenue with their athletes. But even if college sports leaders create a new, more professional model for collegiate athletics, they likely would need help from Congress if […] The post Settlement could cost NCAA nearly $3B; plan to pay athletes would need federal protection first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

Roger Williams University School of Law has announced the winning entries in its Fourth Annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Essay/Art Contest. Rhode Island students from grades K through 12 participated in the competition with essays and drawings that responded to the question: “How has U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired me?” The winners were […] The post Meet the RBG contest winners first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

I was recently on an attorney panel and an audience member asked a question. The panel was a real and honest discussion about the importance of mental health in the legal profession and how oftentimes it is completely neglected. The audience member asked how she could be real and honest with co-workers about the struggles […] The post The power of vulnerable first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

The plaintiff was illegally fired for having a “compromised immune system” during the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendant company and its owner admitted to firing the plaintiff because of his diabetes, which the defendants believed caused the plaintiff to have compromised immunity. The plaintiff’s doctor testified that the plaintiff did not have compromised immunity and that […] The post Worker fired during COVID for ‘compromised immune system’ first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

While there is some skepticism as to whether it will survive the immediate legal challenges it faces, employers should take steps to prepare for the possibility that the comprehensive federal ban on new noncompete agreements recently announced by the Federal Trade Commission becomes a fact of life, attorneys told Lawyers Weekly. The FTC’s final rule, […] The post On FTC noncompete ban, it’s prepare but wait-and-see, attorneys say first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

So-called “seller” fees that buyers’ attorneys recently have been adding to settlement statements in real estate closings run afoul of professional ethics rules, the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s Ethics Advisory Panel has determined. Such fees include but are not limited to a disbursement fee, a discharge tracking fee, a wire fee and courier fees. In […] The post Supreme Court panel: new fee practice violates Rules of Professional Conduct first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

In a case of first impression, a Superior Court judge has ruled that a homeowner was entitled to cut away the roots and trunk of a neighbor’s tree that encroached on his property and to charge the neighbor for the removal. Decades earlier, plaintiff Anthony Santaniello’s father had asked defendant Gail Blais to remove the […] The post Homeowner doesn’t need permission from neighbor to cut tree roots, trunk first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

Attorneys who may have been looking forward to a sweetening of their compensation for service as Chapter 7 trustees have for the second year in a row had their hopes dashed by news that there is no funding available under the federal program set up for such additional payments. The U.S. Department of Justice recently […] The post Well runs dry for ‘extra’ Chapter 7 trustee pay first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden in Massachusetts announced that his office concluded its investigation of four babies found in the freezer of a South Boston apartment in 2022 and decided not to file charges in the matter. In announcing the office’s findings on April 30, Hayden described the investigation into the circumstances of the babies’ […] The post ‘Frozen babies’ case closed without charging mother first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has upheld the Department of Revenue’s determination that two properties owned by Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket were not eligible for state aid pursuant to the PILOT Act (G.L. §45-13-5.13) for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. The DOR found that Memorial Hospital was not a nonprofit hospital licensed by the state, […] The post Hospital denied PILOT funds first appeared on Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly ..read more