The COVID-19 self-quarantining is getting old. Although procedures for social distancing are in place to keep us safe, they also keep us feeling a bit cooped up. We thought it might be nice to celebrate some of the things we learned during these last few months. While no one would have wished this pandemic on anyone, it is important to be mindful and see silver linings. Here at the Legal Beagle…
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David Coombs, Roger Williams University School of Law's Chief Justice Weisberger Visiting Professor of Law, has been voted by the Class of 2020 as Adjunct Professor of the Year! An internationally respected trial attorney and expert on military law, Professor Coombs has been a popular fixture at RWU Law since 2014. He teaches criminal procedure and coaches the RWU Trial Team, while also serving…, United States v. Manning, , the soldier who provided classified information to Wikileaks. Professor Coombs continued to represent PFC Manning until her release from military prison in 2017, after President Obama commuted her sentence ( Obama_Manning commutation order that commutation order now hangs in Coombs' home office). Coombs had argued passionately for the commutation. He is also in demand as a speaker on national…, United States v. SGT Hasan K. Akbar, . In 2006, Coombs became a professor at the U.S. Army JAG Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Va. There he taught evidence, capital litigation, high profile cases, trial advocacy, criminal procedure and criminal law. While on faculty, Professor Coombs was selected to deploy to Iraq in support of the Law and Order Task Force in Baghdad as a judicial advisor in 2008. In that position, he…
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The Class of 2020 has voted Ann Marie Thompson — RWU Law's assistant director of Student Finance & Records — as Staff Person of the Year! A popular personality at RWU Law for a decade now, Thompson was born and raised in Barrington, R.I. She still lives there with her husband, Jim Thompson (with whom she celebrated 28 years of marriage this week), and their two daughters — Danielle, 20, a…
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On Friday, May 15, 2020,, Olin W. Thompson, III, Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Rhode Island, will be presented by Roger Williams University School of Law with the degree of, Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa., B.A. Vassar College J.D. Duke University School of Law Olin Thompson was an Assistant Federal Defender for the District of Rhode Island for 14 years. He took a particular interest in criminal justice reform issues, serving on Governor Raimondo’s Working Group on Criminal Justice Reinvestment, helping to institute and later serve on the federal H.O.P.E (Helping Offenders Prepare for re-Entry)…, Providence Journal, , “Even with his diagnosis, he’s been squeezing every moment out of life.” At the same event, an assistant attorney general was asked to describe Thompson as an opponent. He did it in one word: “Formidable.” But, he added that Thompson always displayed mutual respect for the prosecution and other parties who were “trying to make the right things happen.” Another called Thompson “a fiercely loyal…
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Need to do research this summer? Do not worry, Bloomberg Law, Lexis, and Westlaw offer summer access to continuing students! Soon to be graduates, do not despair-an email will go out to you next week discussing your access and some other exciting news about library services for alumni. Our LawGuide, Lexis &Westlaw @ RWU Law: Summer Access , explains the details of continuing your use of…
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On Friday, May 15, 2020,, Dennis W. Nixon, Director, Rhode Island Sea Grant; Professor of Marine Affairs, URI, will be presented by Roger Williams University School of Law with the degree of, Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa., B.A. Xavier University M.M.A. University of Rhode Island J.D. University of Cincinnati College of Law Dennis Nixon has served as Director of the Rhode Island Sea Grant Program since 2013, leading a multimillion-dollar research and education program devoted to using scientific knowledge to improve the management of Rhode Island’s coastal waters. He is also a member of the…, Endeavor, ) and for the preceding eight years as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of the Environment and Life Sciences. A marine lawyer by training, Nixon is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States and the Rhode Island bar. He is Secretary and General Counsel for the Point Club, a fishing vessel insurance cooperative he helped found over 30 years ago; and co-founder…, Marine and Coastal Law, (1994), now entering its third edition. Nixon holds certificates in International Institutions from the University of Geneva, and Ocean Law from Harvard Law School. He is an avid sailor, and races weekly on Narragansett Bay. He holds a Coast Guard master’s license, and a PADI open-water diver certification.
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On Friday, May 15, 2020,, The Honorable Margaret H. Marshall, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Ret.), will virtually address the Class of 2020, and be presented by Roger Williams University School of Law with the degree of, Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa., B.A. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg M.A. Harvard University J.D. Yale Law School Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall is the 35th Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a position she held from 1999 until her retirement in December 2010. The Court, which dates from 1692, is the oldest in continuous existence in the United States, and Marshall is the only…, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, , holding that Massachusetts could not deny same-sex couples the right to marry. That ruling made Massachusetts the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage. Chief Justice Marshall was born and raised in South Africa. As an undergraduate, she was elected President of the National Union of South African Students, at the time a leading anti-apartheid organization. She later emigrated to…
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While every class of students that passes through the doors of Roger Williams University School of Law has been remarkable in many ways, this class holds an unenviable place in RWU law history, the first to not hold Commencement in May. You will have a Celebration of the Class of 2020 and a Commencement which is planned for later when the world begins to function more normally. You will be the…
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A cool, cloudy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon in Bristol Friday as a “virtual Commencement” observance was held to honor the 147 graduates of Roger Williams University School of Law’s Class of 2020 , pending an in-person event to be held when the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. The ceremony opened with a brief, live preamble on Zoom, which was hosted by Dean Michael J. Yelnosky and gave…, our, freedom,” she said. “I’m not speaking of threats from abroad. I am speaking of threats to liberty arising here at home, threats to the very structure of government, on which our freedom rests. Your intellect, energy and daring can contribute so much to the solutions for our breaking systems.” Marshall added, “Each of you must decide whether to protect our constitutional values or to repudiate…, are, acts of repudiation.” Honorary degrees were also presented to Dennis W. Nixon , the director of Rhode Island Sea Grant, a professor of marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island, and a member of the advisory board of the Marine Affairs Institute at RWU Law; and to Olin W. Thompson, III , a former and much-admired assistant federal public defender for the District of Rhode Island, who is…, in memoriam, to Professor Anthony J. Santoro, the founding dean of RWU Law (1992-1993) and President Emeritus of Roger Williams University (1993-2000), who died at 77 on September 9, 2019, following a short illness. Tribute was also paid to Yelnosky himself, who will step down on June 30, 2020, concluding an extraordinary six-year deanship at RWU Law. A visionary leader and champion of social justice in legal…
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