Matt Plain, Robert Arrow and Peter Sullivan Honored

Attorney Matt Plain was recently named a 2011 Rhode Island Rising Star in Education Law by Super Lawyers, a directory of leading attorneys who are evaluated on various measures of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Plain, an associate in the Providence office of Taylor Duane Barton & Gilman, devotes a considerable portion of his practice to advising school boards, administrators and teachers on education law issues, including special education, employment, student/staff discipline, and constitutional law. Plain was named by the Providence Business News this past summer as one of its 2011 Forty Under 40 winners.

Plain, in a precedent-setting ruling, earlier this year persuaded the Rhode Island Supreme Court to order a local school district to reimburse the firm’s client, a local independent public charter school, for tuition payments the district had wrongfully withheld under a mistaken interpretation of state law.

The selection process for Super Lawyers includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. Super Lawyers is published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines across the country, including the November 2011 issue of Rhode Island Monthly.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin awarded EG resident Robert Arrow the General Arlene Violet Award for Consumer Business Regulation at the annual Justice Awards held recently. The awards are given in recognition of an extraordinary commitment to justice and are presented in honor of the eight previous Attorneys General.

Arrow, along with two colleagues from the state Department of Business Regulation, received the award. He was nominated by Paul McGreevy, director of the Department of Business Regulation, for his work on a case that resulted in significant changes to the way that life insurance and annuity products are marketed and sold to seniors in Rhode Island, as well as remediation for those harmed as a result of prior inappropriate sales of such products. The case also resulted in a penalty of almost $1 million paid to the state of Rhode Island.

Peter A. Sullivan recently was appointed to the Rhode Island Advisory Board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Sullivan brings a wealth of financial services experience to his new role. After graduating from Bryant University, he entered the financial services industry where he has since devoted his career for more than three decades. Sullivan formed Arlen Corporation in 1988 which provides exceptional solutions and services to high net worth individuals, families, and select business entities. Sullivan has also served as an officer and director of numerous financial service organizations, most notably serving as the Chairman of the International Top of the Table, an independent organization of 1,000 leading financial services and insurance professionals worldwide.  

In addition, Sullivan has also coached youth sports programs, served on the boards for the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Rhode Island, San Miguel School, the Campaign for Bryant University, as well as serving as chair of Rhode Island’s United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society.

Do you know someone - even yourself! - who has received an honor recently? Send us the information and we'll feature them in this column.