5Q: Armando E. Batastini

 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
/ PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

1What does it feel like, as a Rhode Islander, to have graduated from the state’s only law school at Roger Williams University and now be elected president of the Rhode Island Bar Association?

I am very lucky to be a Rhode Island native. Our state is a great place to grow up and a great place to practice law. That good fortune translates into a sense of responsibility on my part to maintain what is good about our state and preserve those benefits for the next generation of lawyers.

2 Are there any policies or initiatives you plan to put in place during your yearlong tenure?

For better or worse people are looking to the internet for legal advice. Frankly, the quality of legal advice on the internet varies wildly from badly wrong to generic but competent. The best source of legal advice is a lawyer who specializes in the area in which the advice is sought. RIBA is consequently exploring a more robust web presence. Our end product will be a website that provides some assistance but also encourages the user to engage a lawyer, and the site will include a link to our lawyer referral service.

- Advertisement -

3 As president of RIBA, how will you further strengthen the Rhode Island legal community?

One point of emphasis for the coming year will be to improve our outreach to newer lawyers. Targeted communication will emphasize the programs available to assist new lawyers in establishing themselves in the profession. Our lawyer referral service can be a source for paying work. We have some members who get over 50 new cases a year through this program.

4 What impact do you hope to make in the nonlegal community?

RIBA remains the largest source of pro bono legal services in the state, and I want to maintain, and hopefully expand, those efforts. Last year, our volunteer lawyers donated over 3,000 hours of pro bono services through the Volunteer Lawyer Program, Elderly Pro Bono Program and U.S. Armed Forces Legal Services Project. RIBA fields over 1,000 calls per month seeking pro bono representation, but we are unable to place a fair number of them. In the coming year RIBA will be reaching out to some of the larger firms in town to assist in placing a greater number of these cases.

5 How has and does your prior service in the U.S. Navy assist you in this position?

My service is the Navy is perhaps the thing that I have done professionally of which I am proudest. Three skills that I learned that benefit me in the practice of law and as RIBA president is being direct and honest, having good time-management skills and being cool under pressure. •

No posts to display