Christopher S. Gontarz, Esq., President
Christopher S. Gontarz, Esq. is President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He is of counsel at Lynch & Pine, Providence & Newport, concentrating on criminal defense, ethics, and professional misconduct. He is a former Special Assistant Attorney General in the Rhode Island Department of Attorney General. He serves on the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel and was previously a commissioner on the Rhode Island Supreme Court Judicial Tenure and Discipline Commission. He is the 2008 recipient of the Dorothy Lohmann Community Service Award and the 2017 Joseph T. Houlihan Lifetime Mentor Award. He was chairperson of the Criminal Law Bench Bar Committee and was the president of the Newport County Bar Association from 1993 to 2007. He has represented the Bar Association on numerous legislative committees involving criminal law. He was elected to the American Law Institute (ALI) in 2017. He is the co-editor and author of A Practical Guide to Superior Court Practice in Rhode Island published by MCLE, New England. He graduated from Salve Regina University, The American University, and The New England School of Law.
Patrick A. Guida, Esq., President-Elect
Patrick A. Guida, Esq. is President-Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He is a partner at Duffy & Sweeney Ltd. and is part of the firm’s banking and finance, business law, and real estate law teams. He has been providing legal services to institutional banking clients throughout New England for more than three decades, and previously served as in-house counsel for two major banks. In 2022, he was elected President of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and named an Excellence in the Law Hall of Fame honoree by Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly. He was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” for Banking and Finance in the Providence metro region. He is an elected Fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Patrick is a member of both the Rhode Island Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation. In addition to serving on the Executive Committee over the last three years, he has served on the House of Delegates for more than ten years. Patrick served as chairperson of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee in 2019 and was an active member of that Committee for several years prior to that. He has been an active and enthusiastic participant in Continuing Legal Education Committee activities since 1995. He has also been very involved as an executive in several public education related activities since 1988.
Dana M. Horton, Esq., Treasurer
Dana M. Horton, Esq. is Treasurer of the Rhode Island Bar Association. She is a partner at Robinson & Cole LLP, where she focuses her practice on complex insurance litigation and commercial disputes. Dana joined the House of Delegates in 2009, when Robinson & Cole LLP (founded in Hartford, CT) first opened a physical office in Rhode Island, and she has been a continuous member since that time. However, her involvement with the RIBA started with her admission to practice in Rhode Island. She has been a member of several bar committees over the past twenty years, including the New Lawyers Committee, District Court Bench Bar Committee, Federal Court Bench Bar Committee, Annual Meeting Planning Committee, and the Superior Court Bench Bar Committee. She was the Chairperson of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee for the 2022 Annual Meeting and served as the Chairperson of the Superior Court Bench Bar Committee for five years. Dana has been a member of the RIBA Executive Committee for the past three years. In addition, she also currently serves on the Local Advisory Committee for the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Dana is also a member of the Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association and a Rhode Island Bar Foundation Fellow. She has been honored by her peers with recognitions in Rhode Island Monthly, Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, and The Best Lawyers in America©. She was named a “Mentor of the Year” by Robinson & Cole LLP in 2021. Dana is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and New England School of Law. She is licensed to practice throughout New England.
Holly R. Rao, Esq., Secretary
Holly R. Rao, Esq. is Secretary of the Rhode Island Bar Association. She is a partner at Olenn & Penza, LLP. Her practice is primarily in the areas of insurance defense, professional negligence, insurance coverage and construction. Her professional negligence defense work mainly involves representing other lawyers sued in state or federal court for malpractice involving a variety of underlying practice areas. Her experience in litigating construction-related injury and wrongful death claims covers a wide array of risk areas including worksite safety, oversight and training, defective design and construction, negligent maintenance and associated risk transfer issues including contribution, indemnity and other insurance. Holly has served on the House of Delegates since 2016 and has served on the Executive Committee over the last six years. She also served as the chairperson of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee in 2018 and has continued to serve as the chairperson of the Insurance Programs Committee since 2015. In addition, she is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), Kent County Bar Association and Justinian Law Society of Rhode Island. She is a graduate of Boston College and Franklin Pierce Law Center. She is admitted to practice before all Rhode Island and Massachusetts courts, United States District Courts and United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.