Stephen M. Prignano
Partner at Our Rhode Island Family & Civil Law Firm
Steve represents individuals, businesses and corporations in complex litigation.
His practice is broad in scope, ranging from complex Rhode Island Family
Court litigation to commercial and civil litigation in trial and appellate
courts of numerous jurisdictions. He was named 2023 Lawyer of the Year
in “Bet-the-Company Litigation” for Providence, Rhode Island
and 2022 Lawyer of the Year in “Product Liability Litigation –
Defendants” for Providence by Best Lawyers. In his Family Law practice,
Steve serves as President of the Northeast Chapter of the American Academy
of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Legal Practice
Steve has litigated complex
divorce and
custody cases,
class actions, mass consolidated actions,
insurance coverage actions, insurance bad faith and extra-contractual actions, product liability,
professional liability, media liability, construction defect actions as
well as banking and lender liability cases. In addition to Rhode Island,
he has litigated cases in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts,
New York, New Jersey, and Washington State.
Steve is a self-confessed technology nerd and his knowledge in cutting
edge issues concerning data protection, privacy, electronic discovery
and information technology is extremely useful to clients in domestic
relations matters as well as complex civil litigation. He has also frequently
lectured and written articles on trial practice, insurance coverage, bad
faith liability, electronic discovery, privacy and data protection topics.
He is a co-editor and an author of A Practical Guide to Evidence in Rhode
Island, co-editor of a chapter in A Practical Guide to Divorce in Rhode
Island, and his articles have been published in the New York Law Journal,
Andrews Litigation Reporter, Mealey’s Litigation Report, Intellectual
Property Today and In-House Defense Quarterly. Steve has been quoted for
his insights on various litigation topics in the Massachusetts and Rhode
Island Lawyer’s Weekly, Compliance Week, and Law 360.
Community Involvement
Steve is a native Rhode Islander and heavily involved in the local community.
He has earned awards from the Rhode Island Bar Association for his pro
bono work and has been recognized by the Center for Missing and Exploited
Children for his work on behalf of parents of abducted children. Steve
is also an active supporter of the Pro Bono Collaborative in Providence,
a unique partnership of community-based social service organizations,
law students and pro bono lawyers who provide pro bono legal services
to Rhode Island’s most disadvantaged communities. In this role,
Steve has been recognized as “one of the PBC’s most enduring
and active partners for over 10 years.”
In 2017, Steve was honored by the Roger Williams University School of Law
as the 2017 “Champion for Justice,” in recognition of individuals
and groups who have made significant contributions to the advancement
of social justice in Rhode Island. At the event, Steve was honored for
his “deep and abiding commitment to the lawyer’s professional
responsibility to serve the community and those unable to afford legal
help.”
In addition to his local pro bono work, Steve serves on the Board of Directors
of the Roger Williams University School of Law.
Legal Education
Steve graduated first in his class from the University of Bridgeport School
of Law (now Quinnipiac University School of Law). While in law school,
Steve was the editor-in-chief of the University of Bridgeport law review
and was a member of the International Legal Honor Society of Phi Delta Phi.
After law school, and prior to joining the Providence firm of Edwards &
Angell in 1987, Steve was a law clerk to the Hon. Thomas J. Meskill of
the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhatten.
Steve is listed in the Commercial Litigation section of The Best Lawyers
in America and has been named a New England Super Lawyer and a Rhode Island
Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine since 2007.
Litigation percentage:
- 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
