Welcome to the Roberts, Carroll, Feldstein and Peirce Quarterly Newsletter.

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Roberts Carroll Feldstein and Peirce

Quarterly Newsletter: January 2013

U.S. Supreme Court reaffirms enforceability of arbitration agreements

In its most recent decision addressing the Federal Arbitration Act, Nitro-Lift Technologies, LLC v. Howard, 586 U.S. (2012), the United States Supreme Court reiterated its support for the enforcement of arbitration agreements, once again rejecting attempts by lower courts to limit the scope and impact of arbitration agreements.

E-discovery: Who bears the costs? (PART II)

Although the Rhode Island Supreme Court has not addressed the question of whether, and under what circumstances, it is appropriate to shift the costs of electronic discovery, the decision of Judge Gibney, Superior Court Presiding Justice, endorsing the test enumerated in Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 217 F.R.D. 309, (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (“Zubulake I”) may represent the first step towards Rhode Island’s adoption of the test that prevails in other jurisdictions. This article describes the Zubulake I test, how it is applied, and what it means for the distribution of the costs of e-discovery.

Revisions to federal regulations streamline credentialing and privileging in telemedicine

Revisions to federal regulations regarding hospital credentialing and privileging of health care practitioners have streamlined the process of tele-credentialing, the process by which an originating-site hospital credentials a health care practitioner located at a distant-site entity. The streamlined process allows the originating-site hospital to rely on the credentialing decisions of the distant-site entity if certain requirements are met.