MEET THE CITY SOLICITOR
JEFFREY M. PADWA was appointed Providence City Solicitor by Mayor Angel Taveras on January 6, 2001, upon the unanimous vote of the City Council. Mr. Padwa was raised in Buffalo, N.Y. and Atlanta, GA. He is a 1985 graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, and in 1992 received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, where he was an editor of the Suffolk Transnational Law Review.
As City Solicitor, Padwa is the legal advisor to the Mayor, City Council and all city departments, boards, commissions, and bureaus. He supervises a staff of twenty (20) attorneys as well as outside counsel, and manages a budget of more than $3.4 million. Padwa's initiatives as Solicitor include creation of:
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A Nuisance Task Force to address vacant, abandoned and nuisance properties;
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The Solicitor's Legislative Unit, which identifies and educates city personnel regarding newly enacted or amended federal, state and local laws as well as court decisions;
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An Affirmative Civil Enforcement litigation group to recover funds the City lost due to fraud, waste or misuse;
- The Rhode Island Municipal Solicitors Association (RIMSA) which connects City and Town Solicitors in Rhode Island and fosters the sharing of information and continuing education.
Prior to his appointment as Solicitor, Attorney Padwa was engaged in the private practice of law, first at the Providence law firm of Mandell, Schwartz & Boisclair. In 2006, he founded the law firm of PADWA LAW, which was devoted to the safety, protection and well-being of the elderly.
During his tenure at PADWA LAW, Mr. Padwa organized the Passionate Participants for the ElderlyTM , an advocacy group with the missions of assuring the safety, protection and well-being of elders and ensuring that they are treated with care, dignity and respect. Padwa taught families how to advocate for loved ones in nursing homes, and held workshops in libraries, senior centers, churches and community service organizations throughout Rhode Island.
Mr. Padwa has lectured on Trial Practice, Nursing Home Litigation and Law Office Management, and has written numerous publications including a chapter entitled "Audiovisual Depositions," in A Practical Guide to Discovery & Depositions in Rhode Island (MCLE, Inc. 2010), and How to Keep You Loved Ones Healthy and Safe in Nursing Homes (released in May 2009). For several years (2006-2008) he also authored a legal column for a senior living publication, Prime Time Magazine.
Licensed to practice in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Mr. Padwa has served as an officer and board member in the Rhode Island Association for Justice (formerly "Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association") and the New Lawyer's Division of the American Association for Justice ("AAJ") (formerly "ATLA"). He was an elected member of the AAJ PAC Board of Trustees, and has served on its Executive Committee, Board of Governors, CEO Search Committee, PAC Task Force Committee, Judicial Independence Committee, and Publications Committee. Padwa is a three-time recipient of AAJ's Wiedemann Wysocki Award for his significant contributions to AAJ and the Civil Justice System.
From 2007 through 2009, Mr. Padwa served as the Rhode Island Finance Co-Chair for the Presidential Campaign of Barack Obama. He has also raised campaign contributions for numerous candidates for federal, state and local public office. In 2010, he was elected Treasurer of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, and was selected as a member of the Rules Committee for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.
Favorite community activities include the Jewish Seniors Agency of Rhode Island where he has been First Vice President Treasurer, and Executive Committee member and Chair of the Shalom I and II Oversight Committee. In addition, he has been an officer, board member, and committee chair at the Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island, where he received the 2001 Volunteer of the Year Award. Padwa is currently Vice President of the Harmony Lodge of Touro Fraternal Association.
Actively involved in Rhode Island youth sports programs, Mr. Padwa coached teams in the Fox Point/Eastside Little League, Capital Youth Soccer, and Brown University Youth Hockey. In 2007, Padwa and his family traveled to Senchi Ferry, Ghana, Africa, where they taught the local children and helped build a new classroom for the village schoolhouse.
Padwa is an avid vegetable gardener and is training to run the Comrades Ultramarathon (90k) in June 2013. He lives in Providence with his wife, Jill Glashow Padwa, and their two sons.