Lunch with Legends: Trailblazers, Trendsetters and Treasures of the Rhode Island Bar, 1219 RIBJ, RIBJ, 68 RI Bar J., No. 3, Pg. 23

AuthorStephen Adams, Esq., Barton Gilman LLP Providence. Jenna R. Trott, Esq., Barton Gilman LLP, Providence.
PositionVol. 68 3 Pg. 23

Lunch with Legends: Trailblazers, Trendsetters and Treasures of the Rhode Island Bar

Vol. 68 No. 3 Pg. 23

Rhode Island Bar Journal

December, 2019

November, 2019

Stephen Adams, Esq., Barton Gilman LLP Providence.

Jenna R. Trott, Esq., Barton Gilman LLP, Providence.

Arlene Violet grew up near Plain and Dudley streets in South Providence, where her father was a city alderman, and she joked, "you either became a priest, a nun, or a criminal." She graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1961, joined the Sisters of Mercy, and thereafter got her undergraduate degree from Salve Regina University. She worked in the inner city after becoming a nun, working to address discrimination in housing and helping victims of crime. Her experiences led her to Boston College Law School to fulfill what the Sisters of Mercy called "the unmet need." She was admitted to the bar in 1974 and clerked for the Honorable Thomas Paolino of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. She went into private practice after clerking and continued to serve the under-represented population she had served as a community organizer. In 1984, Ms. Violet became the first female elected state attorney general in the nation. In addition to her weekly column and a host of other pursuits, she continues to represent clients on a number of different matters, including toxic tort matters and, interestingly, a pension case against the bishop.

Excerpts from our conversation with this trailblazing attorney follow.

Why law school?

Before law school, I lived in the Hartford Avenue Housing Project with four other nuns. I primarily did inner city work as a nun which was, in a way, my motive for wanting to go to law school, because people were telling me that "x" was the law, so something couldn't be done for poor folk, and I wanted to know, was that true, and if it was, how could I change it. In my neighborhood, these people would work as clerks in a drugstore or something and then they'd go take time out of work and go to court four or five times, if they had been victimized, and then, the sixth time, they would be told, "oh, the case is all settled. It was a plea bargain." And it further re-victimized them, because they had no say, and I said, we've got to get victims' rights for those folks. And that lead me to law school to change some of the things I was seeing.

How did that work affect your career as AG?

When I became attorney general...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT