Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge

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Steve is Co-Chair of the Mass Torts Practice Group. He has extensive civil litigation and trial experience in complex commercial and mass litigation. His knowledge in cutting edge issues concerning electronic discovery and information technology is useful to clients in mass tort and complex litigation matters. Steve has litigated a wide variety of matters in state and federal courts. He has, for example, defended insurance coverage and bad faith disputes on behalf of major insurance companies, broker/dealer liability and securities claims, product liability claims on behalf of automobile, industrial equipment and component part manufacturers, financial services disputes on behalf of national banks and lenders, and intellectual property claims in a variety of contexts. He has also defended insurance sales practice claims in class actions, represented several defendants in consolidated mass tort litigation arising from a fatal nightclub fire, and successfully tried construction defect, employment, subrogation, automobile defect and commercial transactions cases to verdict. Steve frequently has lectured and written on trial and appellate practice, electronic discovery, document retention, and the use of digital technology at trial, as well as insurance coverage litigation, bad faith and broker dealer liability issues. Steve currently serves as head of the Providence office litigation attorneys.  He is listed in the Commercial Litigation section of The Best Lawyers in America and has been named a New England Super Lawyer and a Rhode Island Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine since 2007.

• He has litigated a variety of claims and coverage actions on behalf of major insurance companies in state and federal courts, including claims related to third party administration of insurance agreements.
  
  
• Steve has represented numerous financial institutions in the defense of a variety of securities, employment and contract actions, in state and federal courts.
  
  
• He has represented major brokerage firms in the defense of securities related claims in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitrations before the National Association of Securities Dealers.
  
  
• He has represented major automobile manufacturers in the defense of product liability and product defect claims.
  
  
• Steve has defended a variety of property and casaulty claims on behalf of major insurance companies, including bad faith claims against property and casualty insurers.

• Speaker, Navigating the Ever-Changing World of Social Media: Critical Considerations for In-House Counsel, June 16, 2010.
  
  
• "Extra-Contractual Damages Still Problematic for Insurers in Rhode Island Ten Years After State Supreme Court's Asermely Decision," Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Insurance and Reinsurance Review, June 2009.
  
  
• "CAFA 2005: Rise in Employment Class-Action Litigation," co-author, New York Law Journal, Volume 240, Number 9, July 14, 2008.
  
  
• "The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the rise in employment class action litigation," co-author,  Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Labor & Employment Bulletin, Summer 2008.
  
  
• "Rein in Costs and Identify Risks," In-House Defense Quarterly, Spring 2008.
  
  
• "The Anatomy of a Bad Faith Case" - Defending a Motion to Compel Electronic Documents, speaker, American Bar Association Annual Meeting, August 2007.
  
  
• "Electronically Stored Information And the New Amendments To the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure," Andrews Litigation Reporter, Volume 10, Issue 15, December 12, 2006.
  
  
• "Modern Discovery Practice: The Hidden World of Metadata in Electronic Discovery, " Mealey’s Litigation Report, Volume 3, Issue #10, July 2006 and Cyber Tech & E-Commerce, Volume 8, Issue #5, July 25, 2006.
  
  
• "Managing Instant Messenger Litigation and Discovery," co-author, Intellectual Property Today, February 2005 and Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Class Action & Mass Litigation Bulletin, Fall 2006.
  
  
• "Electronic Evidence and Document Retention in the Digital Age," speaker, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, Fall 2006.
  
  
• "Discovery of Electronic Evidence," speaker, Boston Bar Association, January 2006.
  
  
• "Responding to the Challenges of Electronic Discovery: What Insurers Need to Know," Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Insurance and Reinsurance Update, December 2005.
  
  
• "Discovery of Electronic Evidence," speaker, Association of Corporate Counsel of America, Northeast Division, December 2005.
  
  
• "Discovery of Electronic Evidence," speaker, Manufacturers Alliance (MAPI) Compliance Council, November 2005.
  
  
• "Discovery of Electronic Evidence," speaker, Rhode Island Bar Association, June 2005.
  
  
• "Insurance Coverage Litigation in Rhode Island," speaker, National Business Institute, June 2004.
  
  
• "Recent Developments in Non-Party Discovery Under the Federal Arbitration Act," Edwards & Angell Insurance & Reinsurance Update, Summer 2004.
  
  
• "New Corporate Obligations: Will D&O Policies Provide Coverage?" For the Defense, December, 2002.
  
  
• "The Spoliation Inference," For the Defense, May 2002.
  
  
• "Trial Use of Digital Technology," speaker, Rhode Island Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2002.
  
  
• "Heightened Agent and Broker Liability: Identifying the Problem, Managing the Risk," Insurance and Reinsurance Update, Spring 2001.
  
  
• "Managing Bits and Bytes to Protect the Bottom Line: A Litigator's Perspective," speaker, Edwards & Angell, LLP, 1996.
  
  
• "Appellate Practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit," speaker, Lorman Business Center, Inc., 1994.
  
  

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Before joining the firm, Steve clerked for the Honorable Thomas J. Meskill for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  While attending law school, Steve was the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Bridgeport Law Review.

The Rhode Island Bar Association has recognized Steve's efforts in providing pro bono legal services. In 1994 the Association awarded him the Pro Bono Continuing Service Award and in 1992 he was awarded the Pro Bono Public Award. Steve has also earned an award of merit from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for his pro bono work.