S P E C I A L P R O M O T I O N S
PROFESSIONAL Excellence | LAW
The Lawyer: John E. Bulman
of Pierce Atwood, LLP
The Area of Practice: Arbitration,
Mediation and Construction
The Challenge: Face-to-face
collaboration with clients and fellow
lawyers is, of course, limited, and
arbitrations and mediations have been
postponed or restructured. These
limitations require adoption of new
means of addressing client and party
needs, including virtual meetings,
arbitrations and mediations. This has
been the principal effect on my
practice.
The Adjustment: I have learned to use
virtual meeting platforms that ensure
client and party confidential information,
and that allow large arbitrations and
mediations to proceed.
Learn More: pierceatwood.com
The Lawyer: Matthew J. Leonard, Esq.
of Salter McGowan Sylvia and
Leonard, Inc.
The Area of Practice: Elder Law,
Estate Planning, Estate Administration
and Transactions
The Challenge: Having access to
clients in skilled nursing settings and
hospitals posed a huge challenge.
Executing estate planning documents
requires notaries and witnesses, and
with the barring of witnesses, it made
execution of these documents nearly
impossible. This caused added stress
for families needing to make emergency
appointments of Powers of
Attorney or shifting of assets.
The Adjustment: The medical
professionals were wonderful in their
willingness to assist, however, they are
not notaries nor do they have the
capacity to explain the documents. We
were relegated to witness signing
through windows while on the phone.
We also petitioned governmental
authorities to suspend the witness
requirements to these documents and
allow for virtual witnessing and notary.
Thankfully, that approval to allow
virtual witness and notary was granted.
Learn More: smsllaw.com
The Lawyer: Melody A. Alger
of Alger Law LLC
The Area of Practice: Civil Litigation
The Challenge: A significant segment
of my practice is serving as an arbitrator
or mediator. While the number of new
appointments has been reduced
by more than 50 percent, the ability to
conduct previously scheduled
hearings via Zoom or teleconference
has been a huge benefit.
The Adjustment: I’ve offered alternate
platforms to in-person hearings or
meetings. To convince litigators — many
of whom tend to be older, technologyaverse
and paper-dependent —
to transition their practice to online
or telephonic platforms has been
challenging, requiring test runs, training
sessions and instructional memos.
Learn More: algerlaw.com
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.
The fields of law have always been held in high regard in our society — and for good reason!
Such career paths often require immense knowledge and skill. And yet, even our state’s top lawyers
were not immune to the unique challenges presented by COVID-19 this year. Here’s how six local
law professionals are rising to — and above — the occasion. Edited by Kaitlyn Murray
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY/JUNE 2020 95