Francis A. Connor, III

Frank Connor is an experienced trial and appellate attorney in federal and state courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. His expertise includes cases involving professional liability defense, business disputes, insurance and reinsurance issues, as well as catastrophic personal injuries. Mr. Connor’s peers in the trial bar have recognized his skill and experience in the courtroom by inviting him to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (www.abota.org).

Small businesses, professional groups, hospitals and insurance carriers also consult Mr. Connor on legislative and risk management matters. He has lectured on trial practice and numerous other topics to local, regional and national groups of attorneys, medical professionals and administrators.

Mr. Connor also regularly serves as a Mediator and Arbitrator. He received mediation certification training at both the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation in Cambridge, Mass., and the Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, DC. The Presiding Justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island has appointed him to the panel of arbitrators for disposition of Superior Court civil cases.

In addition to his busy trial practice, Mr. Connor also consults small companies, professional groups, hospitals and insurance carriers on legislative, public relations and risk management matters.

Mr. Connor is administrative partner for the Providence office of Taylor Duane Barton & Gilman, while continuing to maintain his full litigation practice. He received both his B.A. and J.D. from Georgetown University.   

Representative Accomplishments

Mr. Connor has represented clients in a wide variety of cases, including business litigation, health care professional liability and personal injury. He has successfully pursued multi-jurisdiction litigation against a commercial tenant for breaching a commercial lease, resulting in a pre-trial settlement payment to his client. He also obtained a fair distribution of assets for a departing general partner in a complex multi-partnership dispute in federal court involving the Uniform Partnership Act.

Mr. Connor has years of experience with insurance coverage, including litigation in the courtroom and arbitration of insurance and reinsurance disputes, often with tens of millions of dollars at stake. On behalf of an insurance carrier, he recently persuaded a U.S. District Court Judge to enforce an arbitration clause in an international reinsurance treaty.

In the medical professional liability realm, Mr. Connor has from his earliest days in practice defended hospitals, clinics, physicians, nurses, physician assistants, psychologists and other health care professionals. These cases have involved allegations of malpractice in virtually every medical and surgical specialty, investigations by state disciplinary boards and other credentialing organizations, as well as billing investigations by Medicare and private health insurers. He has also successfully handled many business and commercial disputes in which health care clients have become embroiled.

Clerkships

Mr. Connor served as a law clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacob Hagopian of the U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island, in 1991-92.

Professional and Civic Affiliations

Mr. Connor is a member of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council. He is very active in his local community, serving on the Special Olympics Rhode Island Board of Directors, and volunteering in the Barrington, R.I. public schools and as a youth sports coach. Mr. Connor also enjoys Tuesday night sailboat racing on Narragansett Bay.