James Ruggieri

Experience

1. Partner

   Higgins Cavanagh & Cooney, Llp

   Jan 1990 — Present

   Jim joined the firm in 1984 and has been a partner in the Litigation Practice Group since 1990. He is admitted to practice in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Jim is a graduate of Brown University and Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio. He has had a broad-based litigation practice for more than 30 years. Jim’s primary areas of practice are product liability, including mass tort and toxic tort litigation; insurance coverage; general insurance defense; employment; and commercial litigation. Jim has devoted a substantial part of his practice to the defense of product liability claims. Jim is also actively involved in the defense of asbestos product liability claims on behalf of manufacturers of heating and cooling equipment, valves, pumps, compressors, building products manufacturers, and automotive and aircraft manufacturers, in various New England jurisdictions, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Jim regularly deals with insurance coverage matters including bad faith. In the employment arena, Jim actively represents employers across a wide range of industries in the defense of employment discrimination claims at both the administrative level and in the courts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Jim is also involved in the defense of the transportation industry in connection with trucking accident claims and labor and employment issues. Jim is a member of the Rhode Island, Massachusetts and American Bar Associations. He is also a member of ALFA International, the Defense Research Institute and the Defense Counsel of Rhode Island. Jim is a Sustaining Member of the Product Liability Advisory Counsel. He is a past president of the Brown Club of Rhode Island and serves as a member of the board of directors of the Roger Williams University School of Law.

Education

• Case Western Reserve University School of Law

  Doctor of Law (JD)

  1979 — 1982

• Brown University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science

  1975 — 1979

Skills

• Commercial Litigation
• Arbitration
• Torts
• Construction Law
• Toxic Tort
• Civil Litigation
• Mediation
• Courts
• Product Liability
• Employment Discrimination
• Claim
• Personal Injury
• Trials
• Appeals
• Bad Faith
• Litigation
• Defense