Nicole J. Benjamin, Esq., President
Nicole J. Benjamin, Esq., is President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. Her term runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Nicole is a shareholder at Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. where she focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, defense of products liability claims, and appellate advocacy. With more than a decade of courtroom experience, Nicole has been recognized for her commercial litigation work by The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers, and she has been honored for her appellate advocacy with a Professional Excellence in the Law award. She is also the recipient of the 2017 Rhode Island Bar Journal Lauren E. Jones, Esq. Writing Award. Nicole was first introduced to the Rhode Island Bar Association while in college, having received the Rhode Island Bar Foundation Thomas F. Black Memorial Scholarship. Since then, Nicole has been motivated by a desire to give back to the association that gave her the opportunity to pursue a law degree. By her fourth year in practice, Nicole was elected to the Bar Association’s House of Delegates and, later, to the Executive Committee. She also was a co-chair of the Bar Association’s Strategic Planning Committee, chair of the Supreme Court Bench/Bar Committee, and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Rhode Island Bar Journal. Nicole is a graduate of Roger Williams University School of Law and serves as Vice Chair of its Board of Directors.
Christopher S. Gontarz, Esq., President-Elect
Christopher S. Gontarz, Esq., is President-Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association. His term runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Chris 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 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 author of Sentencing in Superior Court, Guide to Superior Court Practice in Rhode Island, published by MCLE, New England. He graduated from Salve Regina University, American University, and New England School of Law.
Patrick A. Guida, Esq., Treasurer
Patrick A. Guida, Esq., is Treasurer of the Rhode Island Bar Association. His term runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Patrick 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 four 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 the 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., Secretary
Dana M. Horton, Esq., is Secretary of the Rhode Island Bar Association. Her term runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. 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, the District Court Bench Bar Committee, the Federal Court Bench Bar Committee, the 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 is 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 “Mentor of the Year” by Robinson & Cole LLP in 2021. Dana is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and the New England School of Law. She is licensed to practice throughout New England.