Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation v. Restivo Monacelli LLP

Citations

• 189 A.3d 539

Syllabus

The defendant, Restivo Monacelli LLP (Restivo), appealed from a February 1, 2016 judgment in Providence County Superior Court in favor of the plaintiff, Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (Resource Recovery), in the amount of $5,733,648.18, inclusive of interest. That judgment was entered following a jury trial and a verdict in Resource Recovery's favor. On appeal, Restivo contended that the trial justice erred in denying its motion for judgment as a matter of law for the following reasons: (1) Resource Recovery was required to present, but did not present, expert testimony with respect to proximate cause and (2) Resource Recovery did not have standing to assert a claim for \investment losses.\ Restivo further claimed that the \trial justice committed prejudicial error in his instructions to the jury.\ Restivo posited, additionally, that the trial justice erred as a matter of law by holding that Resource Recovery was \'immune' from the in pari delicto defense and that the 'adverse interest' exception to the defense applied to [Resource Recovery].\ Lastly, Restivo contended on appeal that the trial justice erred in denying Restivo's motion to \set off settlement amounts that [Resource Recovery] received from other parties from the jury's awarded damages.\ The Supreme Court held that Resource Recovery was required to present expert testimony on the issue of proximate cause with respect to both its professional malpractice and breach of contract claims, but it did not do so. Accordingly, the Court vacated the judgment of the Superior Court.