2013 Boston Mayor’s Race Starts to Shape Up – 15 Candidates Remain

The large field of candidates for Boston Mayor has been reduce to only 15.

• City Councilor Felix Arroyo declared for Mayor in the hopes of becoming the first person of color to win the Mayor’s seat.  Arroyo is the son of another Felix Arroyo who was the first Latino to serve on the Boston City Council. Arroyo announced his candidacy from SEIU Local 615 – the local union representing thousands of janitors. He has a good team: Doug Rubin’s Northwind Associates and Clare Kelly of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
• John F. Barros recently resigned from the School Committee to run for Mayor.  Born in Roxbury and a current Dorchester resident, Barros has been the key leader of the Dudley Street Initiative. Endorsements include Representative Carlos Henriquez.
• Charles Clemons, co-founder of TOUCH 106.1 FM, announced his mayoral campaign at his 50th birthday party in Roxbury.  He is a former police officer and a current community activist.
• Daniel F. Conley, the Suffolk District Attorney, has announced his bid for mayor and is a former city councilor from Hyde Park who now lives in West Roxbury.
• City Councilor John R. Connolly, 39, a graduate of Harvard College and Boston College Law School, announced his bid for Mayor outside a Boston public school with parents to kick off his campaign. He announced before Menino stepped aside.  Endorsements include Representative Edward Coppinger.
• City Councilor Rob Consalvo is thought to have the backing of the Menino machine.  He is a Hyde Park resident with 11 years experience on the city council. He also landed big-time consultant Tad Devine.  Endorsements include Senator Anthony Petruccelli, Representative Angelo Scaccia.
• William J. Dorcena was born and raised in Dorchester and now lives in Hyde Park with his family.  He’s seeking to become the city’s first Haitian-American mayor.
• John G. C. Laing Jr. is the owner and founder of Laing Enterprises Construction Company.  He is a graduate of Brandeis University and is a resident of Hyde Park.
• David S. Portnoy runs the Barstool Sports website and is running a non-traditional, web-fueled campaign.
• Charlotte Golar Richie is a former state representative and aide to Mayor Tom Menino and Governor Deval Patrick who now works at YouthBuild USA.  She is the only woman in the field. She has hired James McGee and Newgrange Consulting. Endorsements include Representative Michael Moran, Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Charlestown activists Edward and Dennis Callahan
• City Councilor Michael P. Ross has served 14 years on the City Council and two stints as City Council President.  He declared for Mayor via a BlackBerry on Twitter. He lives in Mission Hill.
• Bill Walczak, 58, is a longtime community activist who co-founded the Codman Square Health Center. He lives in Savin Hill.  Watch his TED talk here.
• State Rep. Martin J. Walsh was the first to announce for mayor of Boston – at the Strand Theatre in front of 1,000 supporters.  He became a leader of Laborers Local 223 and became president of the Building Trades Council.  Endorsements include Representatives Elizabeth Malia, Representative Eugene O’Flaherty, the Mass. Nurses Association.
• David James Wyatt is a Roxbury resident who has previously ran for an at-large council seat and failed.
• City Councilor Charles C. Yancey filed papers to run for both mayor and for reelection to his council seat.  He is the dean of the City Council – serving 30 years on the Council.

Click here to see the full 2013 Elections Calendar for the Boston Mayor’s race.

1st Circuit Rules on GPS and Warrants

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in United States v. Sparks, et al., contemplated the recent SCOTUS ruling in US v. Jones before ruling that evidence obtained as a result of a warrantless placement of a global positioning system device on a car could be admitted at trial.

Via RI Lawyers Weekly:

The defendants argued that, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in United States v. Jones, the federal agents’ use of the GPS tracker was a Fourth Amendment “search” that required a warrant.

The 1st Circuit, however, found the evidence admissible pursuant to the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule articulated by the Supreme Court in the 2011 case of Davis v. United States.

“Davis’s good-faith exception is not a license for law enforcement to forge ahead with new investigative methods in the face of uncertainty as to their constitutionality,” Judge Norman H. Stahl wrote for the unanimous court. “The good-faith exception is, however, properly applied in cases like this one (or Davis itself), where new developments in the law have upended the settled rules on which the police relied.”

Attorneys Fees and Costs at issue at Providence Business Calendar

Rhode Island Superior Court Associate Justice Michael A. Silverstein, who runs the Providence County Business Calendar, issued a 19-page decision in Ferris Avenue Realty, LLC v. Huhtamaki, Inc. this week regarding costs and attorneys fees.

Plaintiff, represented by Providence attorneys Richard J. Welch and Michael T. Eskey, was awarded approximately $250k by a jury and sought more than $1 million in counsel fees incurred in winning the case under its indemnity agreement with the defendant seller.

Defendant, represented by Thomas W. Lyons III of Providence and Stephen J. Darmody of Florida, opposed the large amount.

Judge Silverstein found an award of $734,199.73 in fees and costs to be reasonable stating, “The Court cannot say that the prevailing party’s fees sought in this case are reasonable given the amount in controversy and the amount recovered… This awards the full amount of costs and expenses incurred by [the plaintiff], but reduces attorneys’ fees to the amount half-way between the amount of fees requested by the Plaintiff (the unadjusted lodestar amount) and the jury’s award of damages.”

Read the full opinion here.

The Boston Mayor’s Race 2013

In the wake of the terrible American tragedy at the Boston Marathon, there is a Mayor’s race that quietly continues forward with more than 20 candidates looking to replace longtime-Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

Campaigns must collect the signatures of 3,000 registered voters to ­appear on the ballot for the Sept. 24 primary election. Signatures are due on May 13, 2013.

Here are the currently declared candidates:

• City Councilor Felix Arroyo declared for Mayor in the hopes of becoming the first person of color to win the Mayor’s seat.  Arroyo is the son of another Felix Arroyo who was the first Latino to serve on the Boston City Council. Arroyo announced his candidacy from SEIU Local 615 – the local union representing thousands of janitors.
• City Councilor John R. Connolly announced his bid for Mayor outside a Boston public school with parents to kick off his campaign.
• City Councilor Rob Consalvo has announced his candidacy for Mayor.  He is a Hyde Park resident with 11 years experience on the city council.
• City Councilor Michael P. Ross declared for Mayor via a BlackBerry and Twitter.
• City Councilor Charles C. Yancey filed papers to run for both mayor and for reelection to his council seat.
• State Rep. Martin J. Walsh was the first to announce for mayor of Boston.
• Daniel F. Conley, the Suffolk District Attorney, has announced his bid for mayor and is a former city councilor from Hyde Park who now lives in West Roxbury.
• Lee Buckley filed papers to run for both mayor and council.
• Gareth R. Saunders filed papers to run for both mayor and for council.
• Charles Clemons, co-founder of TOUCH 106.1 FM, announced his mayoral campaign at his 50th birthday party in Roxbury.
• John G. C. Laing Jr. pulled his papers to run for mayor and is a business partner of Clemons’ at TOUCH 106.1 FM.
• Bill Walczak, 58, is a longtime community activist who co-founded the Codman Square Health Center.
• David James Wyatt has filed to run.
• Divo Rodrigues Monteiro has filed to run.
• William J. Dorcena has filed to run.
• Althea Garrison has filed to run.
• David S. Portnoy has filed to run and currently operates the Barstool Sports website
• Christopher Womack has filed to run.
• Robert Cappucci has filed to run.
• John F. Barros has filed to run.
• Rev. Miniard Culpepper has filed to run.
• Charlotte Golar Richie.
• Hassan A. Williams
• Frank John Addivinola Jr

Click here to see the full 2013 Elections Calendar for the Boston Mayor’s race.

Marriage Equality Passes Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee

Rhode Island is set to join every other New England state in granting same sex marriage rights.

Today, the full Senate is expected to vote on 2013-S 38  SUB A (Nesselbush) and 2013-H 5015  SUB B (Handy) after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out both bills yesterday by a vote of 7-4.

If passed by the Senate today, the bill would return to the House for another vote on the Senate amendments and then be forwarded to the Governor for his signature as soon as next week.

The law would take effect August 1, 2013.

 

Filing Fee Increases $50 in RI Federal Court

The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island announced this week that at its September 2012 session, the Judicial Conference approved an amendment to the District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule to add a $50 administrative fee for filing a civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court.

Effective May 1, 2013, pursuant to this amendment, all federal district courts will begin charging a $50 administrative fee for filing a civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court, in addition to the $350 filing fee, thereby increasing the total filing fee to $400.00. The administrative fee does not apply to applications for a writ of habeas corpus or to persons granted in forma pauperis status under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.

For more information please visit the What’s New section of the Court’s website.

Symposia: Money and Politics – Unholy Alliance or Free Speech? The Aftermath of Citizens United

Money and Politics – Unholy Alliance or Free Speech? The Aftermath of Citizens United

WHEN: April 25, 2013 7:00 pm

WHERE: Johnson & Wales University Yena Center Admissions Presentation Room 111 Dorrance Street Providence, RI

SPONSORS: ~Federal Bench/Bar Committee of the RI Bar Association ~The United States District Court for the District of RI ~Johnson & Wales University

Parking: Provided by Johnson & Wales University at its Pine Street parking lot, adjacent to Gaebe Commons. This flyer must be presented to the parking attendant.

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United dramatically transformed the landscape of campaign finance and has sparked an impassioned national debate over money and elections. A rising tide of campaign spending, the emergence of Super PACs, the growth of undisclosed funding… Some observers view these developments as affirming the American tradition of rough and tumble speech and the free market of ideas. Others see looming corruption and a threat to the integrity of our political process.

Join us for an examination of the critical issues that have emerged from the sweeping changes wrought by Citizens United . How has Citizens United changed campaigns and campaign financing? What effects has it had on the political process? And what does it mean for future elections?

Speakers

ANTHONY CORRADO is Professor of Government at Colby College, where he teaches American politics and political theory. Widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading experts on political finance, Dr. Corrado is a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution and serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Campaign Finance Institute. He has authored or coauthored a number of books on campaign finance and elections.

PAUL S. RYAN is Senior Counsel at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Ryan has testified as an expert on election law before Congress and regularly represents the Campaign Legal Center before the Federal Election Commission and before state and municipal bodies around the nation. He has appeared as a campaign finance law expert on national news programs, and is quoted regularly by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications.

Moderators

MATTHEW T. OLIVERIO , a founding partner of Oliverio & Marcaccio LLP in Providence, concentrates in complex, civil and comm ercial litigation in state and federal courts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He is regularly engaged by members of the bar to serve as an arbitrator.

STEVEN M. RICHARD practices comm ercial and civil litigation in the Providence office of Nixon Peabody LLP. Mr. Richard handles trial and appellate work in federal and state courts in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. He Co-Chairs the District Court’s Local Rules Review Committee and the Planning Committee for the Court’s 2013 District Conference.

North Carolina joins Rhode Island in supporting young undocumented immigrants

According to Governing magazine, North Carolina is the latest state to offer drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Thousands of young illegal immigrants in North Carolina may obtain government-issued photo IDs and driver licenses because of a change in policy Feb. 14 by the state transportation secretary.  North Carolina is the newest state to grant driver’s licenses to young immigrants who meet certain qualifications related to age, education, non-criminal status and military service under the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The state Department of Motor Vehicles will issue licenses starting on March 25, officials said.

The state of Rhode Island has already granted in-state tuition for young undocumented immigrants through action by the Board of Governors for Higher Education.

 

 

First Circuit rules that recovering addict entitled to Disability benefits

In Colby v. Union Security Insurance Company & Management Company for Merrimack Anesthesia Associates Long Term Disability Plan, et al., the First Circuit Court of Appeals created a circuit-split in ruling that a recovering addict can get LTD benefits.

The Court held that “a risk of relapse into substance dependence — like a risk of relapse into cardiac distress or a risk of relapse into orthopedic complications — can swell to so significant a level as to constitute a current disability.”

The opinion, written by Judge Bruce M. Selya, is available here.

SCORI issues two administrative orders

Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Paul A. Suttell has recently appointed Superior Court Associate Justice Judith Colenback Savage as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee on Women and Minorities in the Courts for a term expiring on February 2, 2015.

Chief Justice Suttell also ordered Melissa E. Darigan, Esq., Carly B. Iafrate, Esq., and Mortimer C. Newton, Esq. as members of the Committee on Character and Fitness for three (3) year terms commencing on January 21, 2013 and expiring on January 20, 2016 and designated Gerard Coyne, Esq. as Chair and Debra A. Saunders, Esq. as Vice Chair of the Committee.

SCORI Oral Argument Calendar for January and February

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island has posted their calendar for oral arguments for January 23rd and 24th as well as February 5-7, 2013.  Click here to read the calendar.

New Rhode Island Superior Court Administrative Orders

Last month, Rhode Island Presiding Justice Alice B. Gibney issued an Administrative Order on Superior Court judicial assignments through June 30, 2013.  Click here to read the order.

Also, Rhode Island Superior Court Associate Justice Luis M. Matos issued a new administrative order last week governing the dispositive motion calendar.  Click here to read the Order.

 

President Obama Re-nominates 33 for Federal Judgeships

In the face of unprecedented obstruction, today, President Obama re-nominated thirty-three individuals who he previously nominated for federal judgeships in the 112th Congress.

“Today, I am re-nominating thirty-three highly qualified candidates for the federal bench, including many who could have and should have been confirmed before the Senate adjourned,” said President Obama.  “Several have been awaiting a vote for more than six months, even though they all enjoy bipartisan support.  I continue to be grateful for their willingness to serve and remain confident that they will apply the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity.  I urge the Senate to consider and confirm these nominees without delay, so all Americans can have equal and timely access to justice.”

CIRCUIT COURT NOMINEES

• Judge Robert E. Bacharach:  Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Caitlin Halligan: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• William J. Kayatta, Jr.:  Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Jill A. Pryor:  Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Judge Patty Shwartz:  Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Srikanth Srinivasan: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• Richard Gary Taranto:  Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

DISTRICT COURT NOMINEES

• Judge Elissa F. Cadish: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
• Valerie E. Caproni: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Judge Sheri Polster Chappell:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Pamela Ki Mai Chen:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• Judge Brian J. Davis: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Shelly Deckert Dick:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
• Jennifer A. Dorsey:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
• Katherine Polk Failla:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Kenneth John Gonzales:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
• Andrew Patrick Gordon:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
• Ketanji Brown Jackson:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• Rosemary Márquez:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
• Judge Michael J. McShane:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
• Raymond P. Moore: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
• Judge Troy L. Nunley: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
• Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Central District of California
• William H. Orrick, III: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
• Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Judge Nelson Stephen Román:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Judge William L. Thomas:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• Judge Analisa Torres:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Derrick Kahala Watson:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE NOMINEES

• Mark A. Barnett: Nominee for the United States Court of International Trade
• Claire R. Kelly: Nominee for the United States Court of International Trade

Rhode Island Federal Bench/Bar Committee Meeting on January 9th

The Federal Bench/Bar Committee of the Rhode Island Bar Association will hold its next meeting on January 9, 2013, at 4:00 PM in the Jury Assembly Room of the United States District Court.  The agenda for the January 9, 2013 meeting is at this link.

 

 

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court makes written fee arrangements mandatory effective January 1, 2013

Word comes from David Mackey, chair of the Board of Bar Overseers for Massachusetts:

On October 24, 2012, the Supreme Judicial Court issued an order amending Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.5(b) to require in paragraph (b)(1) that, in most circumstances, the scope of the representation and basis or rate of the fee and expenses be communicated to the client in writing. The amendment is a major change from the prior version of Rule 1.5(b), which required only that fee arrangements “preferably” be communicated in writing.  No change has been made to Rule 1.5(c), which has always required that contingent fee agreements be in writing.  The effective date of the amendment is January 1, 2013.

New comment 2 to the rule elaborates on what is required, stating that “a simple memorandum or copy of the lawyer’s customary fee schedule is sufficient if the scope of the representation and the basis or rate of the fee is set forth.”  (The more prudent course, however, is for the lawyer to have a fee agreement signed by the client to prevent any misunderstanding as to whether the client was furnished with the required writing.)   The comment further notes that the lawyer ordinarily should send the written fee statement to the client before any substantial services are rendered.

There are a few exceptions to the mandate of a writing. Section (b)(2) of the revised rule creates exemptions to the requirement of a written statement for a single-session legal consultation and for a situation in which the lawyer reasonably expects the total fee to the client will be under $500. This section additionally specifies that, where an indigent representation fee is imposed by a court, a writing is not required because no fee agreement has been entered into between a lawyer and a client.

Finally, the same SJC order also amends Mass. R. Prof. C. 6.5, concerning non-profit and court-annexed limited legal services programs, by adding a new paragraph (a)(1) indicating that lawyers providing short-term limited legal services under the auspices of such programs are not subject to Rule 1.5(b).

These amendments to Rule 1.5 are more fully discussed in an article on the BBO website.