Practice:

• Chairman, Government Investigations & White Collar Crime
• Business Litigation
• Securities Litigation

Bar Admissions:

Massachusetts
Rhode Island
U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Experience:

Before joining Burns & Levinson in 2009, Mr. Corrente served for five years as the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, the office responsible for prosecuting all federal criminal and civil cases in the State.

Mr. Corrente has over 30 years of trial experience in business litigation in both federal and state courts. He has tried over 50 cases to verdict, as well as many arbitrations. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of cases, including real estate and contract disputes, intra-corporate and partnership disputes, business valuation, accounting malpractice, fiduciary duty claims, trust and estate disputes, receivership, environmental, securities fraud and Section 10b-5, civil RICO, legal malpractice defense, medical malpractice, and premises liability.

Mr. Corrente began his career in private practice in 1981 and was the founder and Managing Partner of Corrente, Brill & Kusinitz. From 1998 until becoming United States Attorney he was a partner at the law firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, LLP.

In 1997 Mr. Corrente was appointed by the Rhode Island Supreme Court to its Ethics Advisory Panel and was the Panel Chair from 2002-2004. He was also selected by the Governor to chair the Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission from 1998-2000. In addition, Mr. Corrente has served on the Editorial Board of Rhode Island Lawyers’ Weekly, as a Fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation, and as a member of the House of Delegates for the Rhode Island Bar Association.

Highlights:

• While serving as the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, Mr. Corrente oversaw the largest public corruption investigation in Rhode Island history, which resulted in the conviction of several state lawmakers and the CEO of a local hospital, and Deferred Prosecution Agreements with the hospital and a major health insurer, which paid a penalty of $20 million. During his tenure, the office also investigated and prosecuted a number of complex fraudulent white-collar and health care schemes, and convicted a large national utility in a lengthy RCRA trial. Mr. Corrente also expanded the coordination and training elements of the District’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council, and established the nation’s first Transportation Security Working Group which brought together law enforcement and industry partners to enhance security on our trains and other modes of mass transit. He oversaw the creation and development of Street Smarts, an educational program for high school and middle school students and teachers on the realities of street gangs and guns.
• Some of Mr. Corrente’s more notable cases while in private practice include the following:
• Obtained complete acquittal at trial of federal criminal charges arising out of a domestic employment relationship, in a case which received significant media coverage from local and national press. Mr. Corrente represented the falsely accused United Arab Emirates (UAE) naval officer in this case. Read more.
• Successfully challenged an exclusionary ruling by the trial court and secured a judgment in excess of $11 million after a subsequent jury trial of a commercial dispute.
• In one of the seminal RICO actions in Rhode Island, successfully sued the promoters and developers of an elaborate real estate development ponzi scheme, resulting in a settlement in favor of the investors and federal criminal prosecution of the perpetrators.
• Defended a major law firm in a RICO, fraud and conspiracy action arising out of the award of a long-term state lease of a commercial property in Providence. After extensive discovery, the District Court granted the law firm’s motion for summary judgment on all counts, and that ruling was affirmed by the First Circuit on appeal.
• Tried and argued on appeal the case establishing many of the basic principles of fiduciary duty and successor liability law in the First Circuit.
• Successfully represented a local land trust at a trial challenging its rights under a series of complicated conservation agreements relating to the development of a multi-million dollar golf course project.

Memberships:

• Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, Board of Directors
• Roger Williams University School of Law, Board of Advisors and Pro Bono Collaborative Advisory Board

Additional Information:

• Mr. Corrente has taught extensively for CLE programs, and as a guest lecturer at Roger Williams University School of Law, Salve Regina University and the United States Naval War College.

Education:

• J.D., New York University School of Law, 1981
• B.A., highest distinction, Dartmouth College, 1978

Awards:

• Mr. Corrente was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® (2003) in the field(s) of Commercial Litigation and Securities / Capital Markets Law. Best Lawyers® is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 leading attorneys throughout the country cast almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Inclusion in Best Lawyers® is considered a singular honor.
• Mr. Corrente was selected for inclusion in Rhode Island Super Lawyers ® (2012 and 2007). Super Lawyers and Rising Stars employ an annual jurisdictional selection process. Only five percent of lawyers in the state were selected to the Super Lawyers list and 2.5 percent to the Rising Stars list. The listing appears annually in the November issue of Rhode Island Monthly magazine and in New England Super Lawyers.
• Mr. Corrente has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, which is based on an extensive nationwide survey of attorneys.
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers
• Mr. Corrente has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell with its highest rating of “AV”.

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