Two-year policy limitation on bringing suit upheld: Chase v. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Case No. 2015-368-A (Rhode Island Supreme Court, May 23, 2017). Plaintiff Eric Chase submitted a claim to his insurer Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company for extensive interior and exterior damage caused to his property in Newport. Nationwide accepted the claim, authorized...
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently shed light on the parameters of “no damage for delay” clauses in Central Ceilings, Inc. v. Suffolk Construction Company, Inc. The March 29 decision is a “must read” for everyone drafting construction contracts to ensure the language used comports with the intended result. Before diving into the facts of that case,...
EAST GREENWICH- The town approved a new liquor license earlier this week for the Greenwich Odeum, allowing the theater to continue providing entertainment and cocktails to its patrons. “One of the things that has made us successful is that people like to come listen to music, hear wonderful tales and have a cocktail,” said Jeffrey...
On April 1, commercial litigator Howard A. Merten took the helm as managing partner for Providence-based Partridge, Snow & Hahn. The veteran attorney comes to the role after joining Partridge Snow as a lateral in 2005 and serving on the firm’s executive committee for 11 years. Prior to that, Merten practiced for 22 years at...
Summit Insurance Company v. Strickland, et al., C.A. No. PC2012-5368 (Rhode Island Superior Court, January 19, 2017). Summit Insurance Company (Summit) brought this action seeking a declaration as to whether it has an obligation to pay prejudgment interest on a claim in excess of the policy limits. The question arose in connection with a separate...
Bankruptcy attorneys see the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision rejecting a “structured dismissal” in a trucking company’s Chapter 11 case as potentially having a greater impact than the narrow holding might suggest. In Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp., a Delaware bankruptcy judge approved a proposed structured dismissal that would have violated the Bankruptcy Code’s priority rules...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Christopher M. Wildenhain Savvy employers always need to be on the look-out for ways to mitigate the ever-growing risks posed by increasingly burdensome state and federal employment laws. Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the chance to breathe new life into an old, but effective risk-mitigation tool...
Earlier this year, Steven E. Snow won a case that will have a lasting impact on Newport’s Jewish history and ensure a Jewish congregation’s survival into the future. What began as a property dispute between Newport’s oldest Jewish congregation and an even older one in New York over a set of religious bells turned into...
Appraisal award upheld: Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Anthony and Susan Pate, PC2013-1620 (Rhode Island Superior Court, August 2, 2016). This case involves the resolution of a coverage and damages dispute under a homeowners policy pursuant to the appraisal process provided in the policy in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-5-3. In 2003,...
An assisted living center being sued over a slip-and-fall accident on an icy walkway was entitled to contractual indemnity based on an indemnification clause in its winter-services contract with a landscaping company, a Superior Court judge has determined. The plaintiff, Rebecca Marie Lougee, filed the underlying suit against Benchmark Assisted Living after she fell on...
