Alyssa Boss ’97 graduated with RWU Law’s second law school class and she hasn’t stopped learning since. As Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Care New England Health System (CNE), Boss finds challenges every day on the job in keeping up with changes in health law. “It’s just rapidly evolving,” she says. “Regulations are changing all the time.” A network of hospital buildings sits…
Type: Story
When lower-income victims of domestic violence escape their abusive relationships, they often face a secondary barrage of battles – legal proceedings involving divorce, visitation and custody – without adequate funds or professional resources. What can be done? Enter Brook Ashley ’08, who has dedicated her professional life to ending violence against women. This February, she launched a new…
Type: Story
Charles “Chad” Edgar ’04 is making serious headway in the DOJ’s battle to stop identity-theft tax-refund fraud by improving enforcement and prosecution. The former U.S. Army JAG officer now prosecutes tax crimes for the U.S. Department of Justice. “Stolen identity tax refund fraud is a multibillion-dollar problem today,” says Edgar, a CPA who has prosecuted scores cases with the DOJ’s Tax…
Type: Story
As a staff attorney with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Curtis Pouliot-Alvarez ’15 orally presents on cases to three-member circuit judge panels, recommending a disposition, answering the judges’ legal and factual questions, and pointing to any alternative resolutions. It’s just the latest stop for the tireless RWU Law alum, who last summer finished an 18-month stint…
Type: Story
Nicole Rohr should teach a master class in time management. In addition to her busy life as a law student, the 3L holds a full-time position as assistant director of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, R.I., while also serving as chair of the Rhode Island Environmental Monitoring Collaborative, and as science advisor to the Napatree Conservation Area in Watch Hill, R.I. With a Ph.D. in…
Type: Story
Seasoned newspaper reporter Katie Mulvaney decided to take her legal-beat knowledge to the next level by entering RWU Law’s Master of Studies in Law (MSL) program. Here, Mulvaney talks about her decision: I have had the good fortune of covering the courts in Rhode Island for The Providence Journal since 2009. I relish the beat for both its emotional and legal elements. It keeps me engaged and…, New York Times v. Sullivan, came to mind. I also learned the elements of conspiracy and accomplice liability. And I finally understood what common law really was. As the jury deliberated in Dan Doyle’s trial for embezzling from his non-profit, the Institute for International Sport, I found myself contemplating the, mens rea, of the offenses with which he was charged. I even tried to explain, actus reus, and, mens rea, to a fellow reporter. He did not bite. "The MSL program is adding depth to my reporting and my understanding of the law. The courses are a challenge, but MSL students get to suffer through with law school students working side by side. We work hard. Very hard." One of the things that struck me most about the program, and something that seems to set the law school apart, took place during…
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Judge Edward C. Clifton joined the faculty of Roger Williams University School of Law, in part to collaborate with students on research regarding racial and ethnic fairness in the courts. Judge Clifton, who recently retired from the Rhode Island Superior Court in 2015 after more than two decades on the bench, has also served as a judge on the Providence Municipal Court and the Rhode Island…
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Judge Judith Colenback Savage joined Roger Williams University School of Law in 2014 as Distinguished Jurist in Residence. In 2015, she hosted a major symposium on mass incarceration that helped lead to significant changes in state law. She also advises students on their careers and assists them with legal research and writing. “Judge Savage has so much to offer our students,” said Dean Michael J…, A Practical Guide to Evidence in Rhode Island., Rhode Island Governor Bruce G. Sundlun appointed Judge Savage to the Superior Court bench in 1993. In 2010, she was one of five finalists for a seat on the state Supreme Court. During the selection process, fellow Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl lauded her as “the smartest judge on the court. We go to her for advice. She’s a team player. She doesn’t have an ego. She’s a problem-solver.”…
Type: Story
To David M. Holley ’99, managing director of Boston-based Berkeley Research Group, a global consulting firm, there’s a mounting body of evidence that compliance officers now have bull’s-eyes on their backs. “There’s this talk now of corporate culture and whether a company has a culture of compliance,” says Holley. “It used to be enough to say yes, the company has a culture of compliance. But now…
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Elizabeth Colagiovanni ’10 is a senior associate in International Tax at Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. Certified Public Accountants, Providence. It’s such a complicated field that it’s easy for high-wealth individuals and corporations investing or working overseas to run afoul of foreign laws – or the I.R.S. That’s when they turn to Liz Colagiovanni, who has developed an expertise in helping…, The rich are different from you and me:, “One couple had to pay a million dollars because they were so far behind in paying their taxes, but if they hadn’t done an OVD, they’d have lost it all. You get shocked with these high-wealth individuals. I didn’t want to tell them, ‘It’s a $1 million tax liability,’ but they said, ‘Hey, you just saved me 15 or 20 million.’”, The Hollywood years:, Before law school, Colagiovanni, a native of Rhode Island with an undergrad degree from RWU, spent six years in California. She got an M.F.A. in Film Industry, then worked for a film company in the accounting department, which fostered her interest in tax law. “That’s when I started learning the business, that you have films that will be losses so you don’t have to pay as much taxes on ones that…, The horror, the horror:, “I was the production accountant for two movies, ‘P.S. I Love You’ and also for ‘One Missed Call,’ a terrible B horror movie where a demon comes through the cell phone,” she says, with a laugh., Back in the classroom:, She’s now teaching online courses for the BU’s LL.M. Graduate Tax Program. “So I’m on my way to my dream of teaching law!”
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