Manuel J. Serpa, Jr. and Patricia A. Serpa - Page 8

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          verdict is rendered or a decision made for pecuniary damages".              
          Thus, statutory prejudgment interest is not required under Rhode            
          Island law if the parties settle before judgment and there is no            
          verdict or court decision.  We are not persuaded that it is                 
          inequitable to apply the Rozpad allocation formula here.                    
          Although the parties in Rozpad and in Delaney did not                       
          specifically argue this issue, the parties in those cases settled           
          their tort cases while their cases were on appeal.  The fact that           
          the case was appealed did nothing to change the facts or law upon           
          which the clerk of the trial court based the calculation of                 
          statutory prejudgment interest.  Procedurally, Rozpad and Delaney           
          are indistinguishable from this case.                                       
               Petitioners point out that the Rhode Island Supreme Court              
          said that "judgment" in R.I. Gen. Laws section 9-21-10a is a                
          final judgment from which no appeal is taken or a judgment                  
          affirmed on appeal.  Lombardi v. Goodyear Loan Co., 549 A.2d                
          1025, 1026 (R.I. 1988).  Petitioners contend that, as a result,             
          no amount of the settlement in this case would be allocated to              
          prejudgment interest under R.I. Gen. Laws section 9-21-10.  We              
          disagree with petitioners' claim that Lombardi applies here.  The           
          issue in Lombardi was whether the prejudgment interest rate was 6           
          or 12 percent.  There is no dispute that the 12-percent rate                
          applies in this case.  Rozpad v. Commissioner, supra; Delaney v.            
          Commissioner, supra.                                                        






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