A prime source of capital for real estate developers since the Great Recession has been EB-5 money. The EB-5 program provides a method for foreign nationals investing money in the United States to obtain a green card by investing $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (defined as an area of high unemployment or a rural...

On December 15, 2016, the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (the “MA Act”) became effective in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, decriminalizing marijuana ownership and use for private citizens and mandating the creation of a regulatory system able to sustain state-legal recreational marijuana businesses by January 1, 2018. The impact of such sweeping changes (along...

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...

In June 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposed rule that would require investment advisors “to adopt and implement written business continuity and transition plans designed to address operational and other risks related to a significant disruption in the investment adviser’s operations.” Release No. IA-4439, 81 FR 43530. Similarly, the North American Securities...

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...

As Rhode Island experiences an uptick in new commercial development from its capital city to its many vacation destinations, once settled land use issues have become a new challenge. The Rhode Island legislature passed the Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act back in 1988 which established a system of statewide planning to ensure consistency...

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...