E-mail: hm@psh.com

We value your interest in Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP. However, your e-mail and any information in your e-mail to this individual are not protected by the attorney-client privilege. An attorney-client relationship, and an obligation for us to maintain your communications in confidence, can be created only after proper checks for potential conflicts with current clients are conducted and an agreement of representation is reached. By clicking “OK”, you acknowledge that, unless you are a current client of PS&H, we have no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information you submit to us.

OKCancel

(tel) 401-861-8277     (fax) 401-861-8210

Mr. Merten represents businesses, financial services institutions and individuals in complex civil litigation. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, products liability, insurance, media, and intellectual property matters.   Mr. Merten is an active member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), an organization comprised of preeminent leaders in the insurance and corporate defense bar.  FDCC membership is selective and by invitation to those who have been judged by their peers to have achieved professional distinction.   Mr. Merten is also a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honor society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers.  Mr. Merten is the President-Elect of Defense Counsel of Rhode Island.  For several years, he has worked with Lawyers for Civil Justice on a number of important national reform efforts seeking to make the civil justice system more efficient and cost-effective.  His achievements have earned him recognition in The Best Lawyers in America since 1997, in the Media Law and Commercial Litigation Categories, as well as Super Lawyers and Chambers USA, both in commercial litigation.  
 

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Obtained judgment as a matter of law for a chemical manufacturer sued for allegedly supplying contaminated chemicals which plaintiff claimed destroyed one of its jewelry manufacturing businesses
• Successfully defended a national financing company against class actions alleging violations of the Truth-in-Lending Act
• Successfully defended the manufacturer of a gas detector against claims that its equipment failed to detect the presence of gas which exploded, severely injuring plaintiffs
• Obtained a multimillion dollar judgment against, and helped federal authorities convict, a group of conspirators who diverted millions of premium dollars collected from independent truckers
• Obtained a judgment declaring that the Rhode Island campaign finance statutes respecting referenda were unconstitutional
• Proved that a garage had sent inflated repair bills to an auto rental fleet over the course of several years, at times billing for “repairs” to parts which did not exist in certain makes and models
• Convinced a federal district court to withdraw an order against a local newspaper because it was an unconstitutional prior restraint
• Successfully represented a minority shareholder in fraud, deceit and breach of fiduciary duty claims against a majority shareholder
• Obtained judgment for a manufacturer of an anti-diarrhea drug that allegedly caused plaintiff’s intestinal diverticulae to rupture
• Successfully defended the decision of a national insurer to deny coverage to the victim of a serious stabbing incident
• Acted as liaison for the Media Committee formed by the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island during a high profile criminal trial

EDUCATION
Boston University School of Law, J.D.
   magna cum laude, 1984

Princeton University, B.A.
   cum laude, 1981

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
   Products Liability, Business Torts and
   Commercial Litigation, and Insurance
   Coverage Sections
Defense Counsel of Rhode Island
   Board of Directors, President

Litigation Counsel of America
   Fellow
Lawyers for Civil Justice
Defense Research Institute
   Product Liability, Insurance Law and
   Commercial Litigation Committees
Rhode Island Bar Association
   Rhode Island Federal Bench Bar Committee
American Bar Association
   Litigation Section
Maritime Law Association
Media Law Resource Center

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS:
Coauthor: "Protecting Confidentiality in Communication with Excess Carriers," FDCC Quarterly, (Spring 2006)

Coauthor: “Aftermarket Aftershock: Assessing Kodak’s Effect on Business Planning for Parts and Service,” Preventive Law Journal (Spring 1996);

Contributor: “An Overview of Vertical Restraints,” 27th and 25th Annual New England Antitrust Conference, Course Publication (1993 and 1991);

Contributor: “Horizontal Restrains and Collaboration Among Competitors,” 24th, 23d and 22d Annual New England Antitrust Conference, Course Publication (1990, 1989, 1988).

Contributor: case notes to “Covered Events” for D.R.I.

Contributor: “Media Law Letter” for the MLRC.

 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Rhode Island Zoological Society
   Board of Directors

BAR MEMBERSHIPS
Rhode Island, 1984
Massachusetts, 2006
U.S. District Court, Rhode Island, 1985
U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, 1991