Officer Profiles

Richard P. D'Addario, Esq., President

Richard P. D'Addario, Esq. is President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He is a solo practitioner with an office at One Courthouse Square in Newport, presently concentrating in real estate, probate and related litigation. After graduating from Boston College and New York University Law School, he came to Rhode Island as a Vista Volunteer at Rhode Island Legal Services where he worked for five years before going into private practice. He is admitted in both Rhode Island and New York, the United States District Court of Rhode Island and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been a long-standing member of the House of Delegates and the Executive Committee and he chaired the Annual Meeting in 2015. He has been the Probate Judge in the Town of Tiverton since 1993 and in Little Compton since 2014. He is also serving as the Municipal Court Judge in Portsmouth which was founded in 2014. He is a member of the Supreme Court Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, which he chaired for over ten years. He has an active law practice in Newport, has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations and he is a Fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation He has been a participant in the Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyer Panel for many years.

Lynda L. Laing, Esq., President-Elect

Lynda L. Laing, Esq, is President-Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association. She is a partner at Strauss, Factor, Laing & Lyons concentrating her practice in creditors' rights. Lynda graduated from Albion College and earned her law degree from Case Western Reserve University. She has been nominated as a "Super Lawyer". Lynda has taught numerous seminars for the Rhode Island Bar Association and other national groups. She was Chairperson of the District Court Bench/Bar Committee, the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, and the Committee on Limited Scope Representation. Lynda is married to Thomas Lyons, Rhode Island Bar Association President 2007-2008, and has two daughters.

Mark B. Morse, Esq., Treasurer

Mark B. Morse, Esq. is Treasurer of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island and the New England School of Law where he served as research editor of the New England Law Review. Mark lectures on a variety of legal issues, including ERISA litigation, evidence, subrogation liens, expert testimony, civil trial practice, the Rhode Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rhode Island domestic law. He has volunteered as a judge to the regional law school mock trial competition, and acted as chief judge for the regional competition on multiple occasions. Mark served as editor in chief of the Rhode Island Bar Journal. He is a member of the Animal Law Committee, the Family Court Bench Bar Committee, the Superior Court Bench Bar Committee, and past chair of the Superior Court Bench Bar Committee and Annual Meeting Planning Committee. He also chaired the Subcommittee to Review and Revise the Rhode Island Civil Rules of Procedure enacted June 15, 2006. He is a fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation. He is past president of the RI Association for Justice and presently serves on its Board of Governors. He has been nominated through peer recognition as a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters for twelve consecutive years in the state of Rhode Island. Mark was chosen by the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Commission to be co-editor of the Discovery and Depositions Rhode Island Practice Volume published in September 2010. The publication was honored with an ACLEA's Best Award from the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) for outstanding achievement in the category of Best Publication. He is legal counsel to Defenders of Animals, the Friends of the Music Mansion, and The Feinstein Foundation. In 2011, Mark was awarded the Dorothy Lohmann Public Service Award for his work with Defenders of Animals. Mark is married with three children.

Nicole J. Benjamin, Esq., Secretary

Nicole J. Benjamin, Esq. is Secretary of the Rhode Island Bar Association. She is a shareholder at Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. where she focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation. 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 also is 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 has co-chaired the Bar Association’s Strategic Planning 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.