June 2009 – Thomas B. Farrey, III and James T. Huggard attended the Rhode Island Annual Bar Meeting on June 18th & 19th in Providence, Rhode Island. The meeting was a wonderful opportunity to participate in continuing legal education seminars involving both the Rhode Island State courts and also the United States District Court sitting at Providence. One outstanding presentation was conducted by the sitting judiciary of the State and Federal courts and dealt with the differences between the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Rhode Island State Court Rules of Evidence.
June 2009 – Amy M. Rogers, James P. McLarnon, Jr., Timothy J. Smyth, and law clerk John Farrey attended the DRI "Insurance Bad Faith and Extra-Contractual Claims" Symposium on June 18th & 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. One particularly interesting presentation involved the challenges of institutional bad faith claims, focusing on the hazards and opportunities of the discovery process for defendants.
April 2009 – Kate McCarron of our Worcester office represented the defendants in a wrongful death action in which the Court granted the defendants' Motion to Dismiss the plaintiff's complaint for failure to file the requisite affidavit pursuant to G.L. c. 231 sec. 60J. G.L. c. 231 sec. 60J requires a plaintiff to file an affidavit of sufficient facts with the complaint or 90 days thereafter in all cases involving claims of negligent distribution, sale or service of alcohol to a minor or intoxicated person. Robert Manjourea, as the Administrator of the Estate of Sean R. Manjourea v. D&S Liquors, et al., Worcester Superior Court, C.A. No. WOCV2007-01397C.
February 2009 – Recently, Thomas B. Farrey, III and Frank S. Puccio, Jr. of our Worcester and Boston offices, presented seminars on spoliation of evidence to the Massachusetts Chapter of RIMS, as well as ESIS, Inc., a ACE USA Claims Management Subsidiary, Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Encompass Insurance. Topics included the legal definition of spoliation, potential court sanctions, how to minimize spoliation claims, and issues involving Event Data Recorders/"Black Boxes."
December 2008 – James P. McLarnon, Jr. of our Worcester office represented Pilgrim Insurance Company before the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Pilgrim Insurance Company v. Molard, 73 Mass. App. Ct. 326, 897 N.E. 2d 1231 (2008) following summary judgment for the insurer in a declaratory action involving late notice of an uninsured motorist claim. The Appeals Court remanded the case to the trial court relative to a perceived factual issue concerning the prejudice stemming from that late notice.