Happy summer everyone! During the summer we usually stray from legal research topics and pick a theme and stick to it for our summer posts. Last year we chose Rhode Island food (which was a fun and delicious theme!) and this summer we are choosing Rhode Island history. In every post, we will be discussing some aspect of Rhode Island history or a Rhode Islander of historic significance. To kick…
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For students admitted to the Class of 2022, Join us at our main campus on Wednesday, May 22nd, at an Accepted Students Information Session. The program will run from 10am to 12pm and will provide opportunities for you to tour our facility and meet with students, faculty, and staff. RSVP Required.
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Please join , Dean Michael J. Yelnosky , and the , Law Alumni Association , to welcome the new 2019-2020 Law Alumni Association Board of Directors at the RWU Law Alumni Association Annual Breakfast, held in conjunction with the Rhode Island Bar Association Annual Meeting. Thursday, June 13, 2019 7:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Breakfast Buffet Rhode Island Convention Center First Floor West Lobby One Sabin Street Providence, Rhode Island A Special Acknowledgement for the new…, Rhode Island District Court, Judge Melissa DuBose L'04 Judge Christopher Knox Smith L'07, Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court, Judge Keith Cardoza L'10, Providence Housing Court, Judge Diony Garcia L'12, Central Falls Municipal Court, Judge Elizabeth Ortiz 07 L'10, Please RSVP to the Office of Special Events by June 6 to events@rwu.edu, Please include requests for any special assistance needed to attend the event.
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From the May 2019 edition of, RWU Law, Magazine, now available!, ==================== Researchers for the First Women attorneys of Rhode Island project have unearthed many pieces of history that might otherwise have been lost forever – but none were more surprising than the story of Dorothy Russell Crockett Bartleson, an African-American woman admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1932, to become just the 7th female lawyer in the state’s history. Born in…, Boston Chronicle, . “First Negro Girl in Rhode Island to Enter the Field of Law,” trumpeted the, Providence Journal, in another lead story. The, Chronicle, noted that Crockett was “one of the few women of any race entitled to practice law in the state.” (Indeed, she was the last woman admitted to the state’s bar in the 1930s – Rhode Island’s 8th female lawyer would not be sworn in until nearly a decade later, in 1940; no other African-American women joined the bar until the 1970s.), Triumph and Trouble, Crockett maintained a busy practice in Providence for five or six years, concentrating on family law and debt collection. Some of her quirkier cases occasionally turned up in the local papers: for example, she once represented a tenant who had donated blood for his landlord’s wife’s surgery – only to be evicted when the wife recovered. The tenant sued to be compensated for his blood (he lost).…, Newport Mercury, finds a 21-year-old Crockett already addressing a large gathering of women, passionately advocating for the Republican presidential candidate, incumbent Herbert Hoover – whom she endorsed as “a careful, firm man and a great leader” as well as “the greatest power in our great land since the Civil War” – over the upstart Democratic challenger, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. A few years later, she turns…, Journal, , delivering an address to the “Juliette Derricotte Club” of Providence, named for an educator and political activist whose 1931 death in Tennessee, after being refused treatment by a whites-only hospital following a car accident, had sparked outrage in the African-American community. Trouble struck in July of 1937, when a “sweeping grand jury investigation into the activities of collection…, Journal, article – and never resurfaced. Still, the experience would have been traumatic and frightening for Crockett: at the age of 27, she was arrested, jailed – at least overnight – and indicted, along with the other attorneys charged. But the case quickly disappeared from the headlines, and those involved went on to enjoy long, successful careers in Rhode Island (Frank Wildes, the senior attorney…, Journal, legal roundup (alongside Wildes, once again), winning a routine default judgment for a local dairy., From Attorney – to Maid?, That case, however, may well have been one of her last jobs as a lawyer. A few years after Crockett’s move to the West Coast comes a sobering revelation: 1940 U.S. census records show Abe employed at a country club in La Jolla, a wealthy seaside suburb of San Diego. And Attorney Dorothy Crockett? She’s listed as a “maid”; another local history describes her as a “domestic” with a private family.…, A Living Legacy, In 1947, Crockett gave birth to a daughter, Dianne Bartleson, her only child. But just seven years later, on February 27, 1955, she died of cancer at the age of 44. This year, First Women researchers at RWU Law located Bartleson, now 72, in Surprise, Ariz. Only seven when Crockett passed away, she regrets being unable to shed much additional light on the mystery of her mother’s life: “I did not…, This September, RWU Law will honor Dorothy Russell Crockett Bartleson and her groundbreaking legacy by naming a classroom in her honor. Dorothy's daughter Dianne Bartleson will be present for the dedication. Watch law.rwu.edu for details.
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B. Mitchell (Tony) Simpson III, a long-time member of RWU Law's adjunct faculty, a professor of legal writing, and a visiting professor, passed away last week at the age of 87. His obituary is here . Tony first started teaching at the law school in 1996 as a member of the adjunct faculty. During his time here he taught Legal Drafting, Legal Practice, Legal History, International Law, Pre-Trial…, Rhode Island Civil and Appellate Procedure, . " The family has stated that information about a memorial service will be forthcoming," said Dean Michael J. Yelnosky. "May Tony rest in peace."
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BRISTOL, R.I., May 17, 2019 –, A cool, cloudy day prevailed but the rain stayed away during Commencement exercises here Friday as noted legal scholar Lee Epstein urged the 130 graduates of the Roger Williams University School of Law’s Class of 2019 to use their newly minted legal skills to “help bring society and people together.” Epstein, the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St…, The Choices Justices Make, . To loud applause, Epstein began by taking a selfie with the graduates, noting that they hailed from around the country and the world, and citing some of their impressive statistics: "Together you have completed the equivalent of 11,800 semester hours, taken 2,640 exams, written papers of 726,000 words, and devoted a stunning 14,000 to law-related pro bono work. Wow!" Epstein observed that in…, Respect., “Either side can make good arguments. Good policies can come from either side of the partisan divide.”, Communication., “Every successful and effective interaction – in the classroom, in the courtroom or in the clinic – is two-way. We all value our freedom to speak. But without listening, we’re in a perpetual shouting match, always talking past each other.”, Collaboration., “When we come together we are stronger. As a lawyer, you now have the skills to unite us in common purpose, to bring us together.” Epstein closed with a reference to Shakespeare’s well-known line, “The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers,” from, Henry VI, Part, 2, noting that its contextual meaning is widely misunderstood. “The characters in Shakespeare’s play who proposed eliminating all the lawyers wanted to provoke widespread civil unrest in the hope of destroying the ancient rights of the English,” Epstein said. “They wanted to promote chaos and disorder, but they knew that the lawyers would stand in their way, because they understood that lawyers…
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Roger Williams University School of Law is pleased to introduce the latest member of its faculty. E ffective this July, Assistant Clinical Professor Nadiyah J. Humber will join RWU Law as director of the Corporate Counsel and Government Clinical Externship Programs. Professor Humber joins RWU Law from Suffolk Law’s Housing Discrimination Testing Program, where she was director of investigations…, Please join us in welcoming Professor Humber to our community!
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Gilbert Stuart is considered one of the most successful portraitists of the early years of America. Stuart created more than 1100 portraits including the first five U.S. Presidents, prominent public officials, heroes of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, as well as high society men and women of the era. Stuarts’ best known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washington, sometimes…
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8:30 a.m. Registration - School of Law | 2nd Floor Atrium 9:00 a.m. Summit Begins Individuals who would like to attend the Open Government Summit need to register with the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General. Seating is limited. Registration for the event may be made by calling (401) 274-4400, ext. 2101, or by sending an email to agsummit@riag.ri.gov . Individuals may submit questions in…, Special Accommodations:, Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation for an event should contact the Office of Programs & Events at lawevents@rwu.edu , as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours before the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
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