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Providence RI 02903-1345
TEL: 401.274.7200
FAX: 401.751.0604
Practice Areas
- Construction Law
- Insurance
- Intellectual Property
- Labor & Employment
- Litigation
- Products Liability Law/Toxic Tort Law
- Securities Law
Education
- Fordham University (J.D., 1995)
- Colgate University (B.A., 1990)
Bar & Court Admissions
- Rhode Island
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First, Second, Sixth and Federal Circuits
- Geoffrey W. Millsom
Shareholder, Providence - Email
vCard - Full Bio
Geoff is a commercial litigator who focuses his practice on business disputes. His uncompromising devotion to his clients’ interests and his legal acumen have led to notable victories at trial and on appeal in courts across the country in high-stakes and business-critical commercial matters. Geoff’s business litigation practice has a particular emphasis on trade secret and non-compete or non-solicitation claims, shareholder disputes, securities issues and intellectual property concerns. A substantial portion of his efforts involves the defense of national and community banking institutions from customer and third party claims and with respect to regulatory investigations.
Before joining Adler Pollock & Sheehan, Geoff was associated with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine in New York, New York and clerked for the law firm of Allen Allen & Hemsley in Sydney, Australia. Prior to law school, he worked in the North American Commercial Lending Department of the Industrial Bank of Japan.
Significant Matters
- Geoff won summary judgment in an employment discrimination case titled Bucci v. Hurd Automotive Group. (C.A. NO. 08-0231, R.I. Super.). The court found that his client was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the claims of a woman who alleged that the termination of her employment resulted from age and disability discrimination in violation of the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act and was in retaliation for exercising her rights under the Rhode Island Parental & Family Medical Leave Act.
- Obtained a defense verdict at trial on behalf of a local community bank accused of negligence and privacy violations and successfully defended that verdict on appeal to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
- Enjoined a Korean manufacturer and two former employees of a construction equipment manufacturing company from misappropriating trade secrets and unlawfully establishing a competing business, and negotiated a resolution of the associated damage claims .
- Won summary judgment on behalf of a performance bond surety accused of bad faith and violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93A, §§ 2, 11. C&I Steel v. Peabody Construction Co., 22 Mass. L. Rptr. 402 ( Mass. Super. 2007).
- Achieved dismissal of false imprisonment and defamation claims against a large commercial bank.
- Successfully defended a group home provider against a claim of professional negligence that sought over $13 million in damages.
- Achieved summary judgment on behalf of an employer accused by multiple plaintiffs of racial discrimination. Dias v. Wal-Mart Stores, 87 Emp. Prac. Dec. P 42,356 (D.R.I. 2006).
- Successfully obtained the dismissal of two companion products liability cases brought by merchant seamen against a large chemical company and various international subsidiaries in. Tadic v. Stolt-Nielson, S.A., 2005 WL 946567 (E.D.N.Y. April 15, 2005), Bogdan v. Stolt-Nielson, S.A., 2005 WL 946579 (E.D.N.Y. April 18, 2005).
- Successfully appealed the award of summary judgment and affirmed a class certification ruling in a nationwide commercial class action lawsuit involving indexed annuities. DeCesare v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co., 852 A.2d 474 (R.I. 2004).
Honors & Distinctions
- Selected as a Rhode Island Super Lawyer, 2011, an honor that recognizes him as a leader in the legal community
- Order of the Coif, Fordham University Law School.
Professional Affiliations
- ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section.
Community & Civic Activity
- Workforce Investment Board for Providence and Cranston.
- Leadership Rhode Island.
News
- 22 AP&S Attorneys Named to New England Super Lawyers 2011
- Geoff Millsom Wins Summary Judgment
- Geoff Millsom & Richard Beretta Obtain Summary Judgment on Behalf of Client
- Millsom Elected to Salvation Army Board
- Millsom Featured in RHODE ISLAND LAWYERS WEEKLY
- Millsom Conducts Program on Electronic Records
- Millsom Appointed To Workforce Investment Board
Publications & Seminars
- Co-author, Rhode Island ABA Performance Bond Manual.
- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Depositions: But Your Client Could Not Afford to Research, Rhode Island Bar Journal, 2002.
