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Lawyer vs. Lawyer?
PROVIDENCE - Last March, police charged Keven A. McKenna, longtime court critic, with assaulting his assistant in a case
that state prosecutors promptly dismissed.
"There was an argument certainly, but there was not a physical altercation that definitively led to any kind of tangible
injury on the alleged victim," according to Michael J. Healey, spokesman for the attorney general.
The dropping of the simple assault charge didn't stop the paralegal, Sumner D. Stone, from taking his complaint to
Workers' Compensation Court. As a result, the tussle has mushroomed into what could be a $150,000 problem for McKenna.
McKenna says he is being made to pay for his past criticism of the courts. His opponents say it is his own doing.
Once a Democratic state representative, McKenna, 64, led the state Constitutional Convention that attempted to remove
some of the politics in naming judges by revamping judicial selection. More recently, he unsuccessfully challenged then
Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams' right to lead the judiciary while also sitting on a military review panel
set up to hear appeals by detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Over the years McKenna also has questioned the powers of court magistrates and the right of judges to perform
administrative duties. And now, he is fighting court rulings that say he must pay Stone.
McKenna hired Stone to help prepare personal injury cases. Over time, McKenna said he realized Stone had limited skills
and spent most of his time selling antiques over the Internet.
A former lawyer, Stone, 63, of East Greenwich, cannot practice law for unspecified medical reasons, according to David
Curtin, chief disciplinary counsel for the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
On March 30, McKenna said he fired Stone after he asked for $15 for gas to drive to Cranston to get a signature for a
subpoena. Stone told the police that McKenna grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him out the door of his office at 23
Acorn St., injuring his neck and back. McKenna said he "gently" put his arm on Stone's shoulder to guide him out the door.
On May 4, Stone filed a complaint in Workers' Compensation Court, asking that McKenna pay him $400 a week, plus overtime,
medical benefits and lawyers' fees. Although required by law, McKenna did not have Workers' Compensation insurance for
his employees.
The case landed before Judge George E. Healy Jr., chief of the court. After reviewing Stone's medical records, Healy
issued a pretrial order June 10, saying McKenna must pay Stone $400 a week for headaches and back pain while the case
proceeds.
McKenna asked Healy to recuse himself, claiming Healy holds personal animus for him. McKenna said he had successfully
sued the Rhode Island Legal/Educational Partnership on behalf of the executive director who had been fired. Healy was
vice president of the organization at the time. McKenna also noted that Stone's lawyer, Andrew Caslowitz, sits on the
partnership board.
Healy declined to step down, saying he had no personal involvement in the lawsuit and that he bears no ill feelings
toward McKenna. He said his relationship with Caslowitz was "exclusively professional."
McKenna refused to make the payments in Healy's pretrial order, and, as a result, Stone asked the court to enforce the
order. Healy did so, concluding Aug. 3 that McKenna owed Stone $4,585 in back payments, plus a 20-percent penalty, and
$1,500 in legal fees.
McKenna, again, contested the order, arguing that it violated his due process rights because the merits of the case had
not yet been heard.
Citing state Supreme Court precedent, Healy found Sept. 3 that McKenna was no longer entitled to a trial because he did
not make payments to Stone while the petition was pending.
In the most recent hearing, Sept. 16, Healy awarded Caslowitz $10,000 in attorney fees for his "diligence." Stone sat at
the plaintiff's table, occasionally grimacing and stretching his neck.
McKenna asked Providence Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear to halt the workers' compensation case, arguing the laws
governing the process violated his due-process rights.
Lanphear ruled against McKenna, saying McKenna had other avenues to appeal. By law, he could seek a review from a panel
of three Workers' Compensation Court judges appointed by the chief judge. If that fails, he could seek a state Supreme
Court review.
Stephen M. Rappoport, one of Stone's lawyers, said recently that the facts show that Stone was hurt and that he's
entitled to payment. "The court has seen it that way all along. We will fight this all the way."
McKenna's failure to provide workers' compensation insurance drew the attention of the state Department of Labor and
Training. The department filed a complaint June 19 in Workers' Compensation Court alleging that McKenna knowingly failed
to secure workers' compensation insurance for his employees. A draft consent decree shows that McKenna could face up to
$137,500 in penalties, at $500 a day in fines.
McKenna again asked Healy to step aside. This time, Healy agreed, noting that the case is being prosecuted by his brother,
Bernard P. Healy. Judge Healy assigned Judge George T. Salem, his former law partner, to hear that case.
The penalty represents the minimum fine McKenna could face; it would be suspended if McKenna agreed to pay $384, the
cost of securing a policy, and any claims ordered by the court, Bernard Healy said. "He's not agreed to that," Healy
said Thursday.
McKenna says he now has workers' compensation insurance, but that he thought at the time of the Stone incident that his
bill-paying service had secured the insurance.
With reports from staff writer Gregory Smith.
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By Katie Mulvaney