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Profile - Thomas W. Lyons - Bio

Thomas W. Lyons

Company Information

Company

Strauss Factor Laing
1 Davol Sq Ste 305
Providence, RI 02903

Phone

(401) 456-0700

Member Bio

areas of practice:
products liability and toxic tort defense
business and commercial litigation
personal injury - defense
employment litigation
constitutional law

bar admissions:
rhode island, 1983
massachusetts, 1996
u.s. district court district of rhode island, 1984
u.s. district court district of massachusetts, 1999
u.s. court of appeals 1st circuit, 1991

education:
case western reserve university law school, cleveland, ohio, 1983j.d.
colgate university, hamilton, new york, 1979a.b.major: history
published works:
receivers, ethics, conflicts and confidentiality, rhode island bar journal, march-april, 2009
rhode island chapter, dri “products liability defenses,” 2007, 2004 and 2001
model civil jury instructions, rhode island bar association, 2003 and 1998 (as member of an ad hoc subcommittee)
specs and the single arbitration clause, the business suit(reprinted in the dispute resolution journal), may-july, 2001
building public trust and confidence in the rhode island judicial system, rhode island bar journal, february, 2001
counterpoint- who makes the law?, rhode island bar journal, november, 2000
the supreme court decides the balance of powers, rhode island bar journal, november, 1998
frye, daubert and where do we go from here, rhode island bar journal, january, 1997
convincing a reluctant judge to hold a pretrial daubert hearing, dri trials & tribulations, spring, 1997
rule 56 reborn, rhode island bar journal, october, 1988
(copies of most of these articles are available on the firm’s website, www.straussfactor.com)
representative cases
dipalma v. westinghouse electric corporation, 938 f.2d 1463 (1st cir. 1999)
national credit union administration board v. regine, 749 f.supp. 401 (d.r.i. 1990)
national credit union administration board v. regine, 795 f.supp. 59 (d.r.i.1992)
dextraze v. florida flame, inc., 692 a.2d 338 (r.i. 1997)
providence journal co. v. kane, 577 a.2d 661 (r.i. 1990) (amicus curiae)
qualitex, inc. v. coventry realty corp., 557 a.2d 850 (r.i. 1997)
gray v. derderian, 365 f.supp.2d 218 (d.r.i. 2005)
mosby v. devine, 851 a.2d 1031 (r.i. 2004) (amicus curiae)

representative clients:
leggett & platt
viacom, inc.
cbs corporation
verizon
danaher corporation
united states tobacco company
lead industries associates
the stanley works
citibank
chrysler financial corporation
hoechst marion roesel, inc.

classes/seminars taught:

the future of the practice of law, connecticut bar assocation, september 2009; idaho state bar association, 2009; western states bar conference, 2008; new england bar association, 2007
trends you can’t afford to miss, american bar association’s bar leadership institute, march 2008
national conference of bar presidents-moderated and/or organized presentations on the following topics:
august 2009 annual meeting-practicing law in a tough economy-what lawyers are doing and how bar associations can help
february 2009 mid-year meeting-crisis funding for indigent representation
august 2008 annual meeting-state bar discussion: when the spotlight is on you…(or what if your bar gets “nifonged” or is in an equally dicey circumstance)
february 2008 mid-year meeting-the opportunities and challenges of a global legal market and everyone always talks about lawyer advertising and the unauthorized practice of law, but no one ever does anything about them
new england bar association, october 2009, organizing and moderating panel discussion on bar law school relations-working together to prepare and serve the public and the profession
how to litigate your first civil trial in rhode island, national business institute, november 12,2004
direct and cross-examination in rhode island, november 7,2003
advanced expert witness depositions, national business institute, june 16, 2004
instructor, legal research, oral advocacy and writing, case western reserve university, 1982 - 1983
honors and awards:

rhode island super lawyer, products liability defense, 2007, 2008, 2009
civil libertarian of the decade, rhode island chapter of the american civil liberties union, 2009
civil libertarian of the year, rhode island chapter of the american civil liberties union, 2007
third place, rhode island bar journal annual writing competition, 1997
first place, rhode island bar journal annual writing competition, 1989

professional associations and memberships:

national conference of bar presidents, 2007 - present
executive council
rhode island bar association, 1998 - 2008
executive committee
rhode island bar association, 2006 - 2007
president, established special committees on “future of the practice of law,” “children at risk,” “emergency preparedness,” “pro bono,” and “by-laws” that analyzed and reported to the bar association on important issues
rhode island bar association, 2004 - 2005
vice president
rhode island bar association, 2003 - 2004
secretary
rhode island bar association, 2002 - 2003
treasurer, made presentation justifying first dues increase in 18 years
rhode island bar journal, 1998 - 2002
editor-in-chief
model civil jury instructions subcommittee, 1998 - 2005

rhode island supreme court electronic filing taskforce, 2007-present
chair, business process subcommittee

rhode island supreme court indigent defense task force, 2003 - 2004
member
rhode island supreme court user-friendly court committee, 1997 - 1998
member
dri commercial litigation committee, 2001 - 2003
chair
dri business litigation committee, 1998 - 2003
steering group
dri agricultural, construction, mining and industrial equipment subcommitte of products liability committee, 1994 - 1996
steering group
dri commercial litigation committee, 2000 - 2001
vice-chair
dri commercial litigation committee, 1998 - 2000
publications chair
superior court bench/bar commitee, 1997 - 1998
chair
past employment positions:
vetter & white, providence, ri, 1983 – 1995
other activities:

early childhood investment council, children’s friend & services, 2007 to present

coaching and managing girls basketball, 1997-2008

Firm Information

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Practice Areas
Civil Rights
Commercial Litigation
Products Liability

DRI Committees
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