Robert B. Mann

Robert Barney Mann, 76, a giant in the battle for the rights of criminal defendants and the civil rights of all, died on September 9, 2024, in Providence after a short illness from complications of his years-long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. For more than five decades, Bob was one of the foremost protectors in Rhode Island of the rights of the poor, the prosecuted and the pilloried. His clients were often among the most despised and notorious in Rhode Island, but he fought valiantly and courageously to ensure that their rights were honored. It was not infrequent that Bob was the victim of threats and insults because of the clients he chose to represent, but he never shrank from practicing law with integrity and decency and adherence to the noblest of the profession’s ideals. Phone calls to his home would pour out expletives, and his stepdaughters were harassed at school, but he never wavered in his commitment to the ideals of his hero, Clarence Darrow, to “defend the indefensible, the outcast, against a government that may be overstepping its legal bounds,” according to a profile in the November 1997 Rhode Island Monthly. He often represented criminal defendants long after they passed their ability to pay him. The scope of Bob’s battle for civil rights and equality for all persons was not limited to criminal work. He sued RIPTA over access for the disabled and he sued the RI Department of Education for on-site services; he represented the family of Cornell Young, a black police officer mistaken for a perpetrator and killed by the police department he worked for. Bob gave of himself to every client, and also to fellow lawyers. He was known for his accessibility, his willingness to always sit down and share his mighty intellect with others: “As busy as he is with the complicated cases that he always has, he will always find the time to talk with other lawyers about their cases,” said litigator Richard Bicki some years ago.

Bob was born in Bremerhaven, Germany on April 5, 1948, to the late Lionel and Miriam Mills Mann. His father was a lawyer for the Army, so Bob was raised largely on an Army base and he always spoke fondly of his early days in Europe. At the age of 16, he enrolled at Yale University, graduating in 1968. Then, although always opposed to the Vietnam war, he enlisted in the Army and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in Military Intelligence. He was posted to Vietnam in October 1969 and remained there until August 1970, earning a Bronze Star medal. He did not speak often of his days in Vietnam, but he was unfailingly proud of his military service and called his time in Vietnam his defining moment.

After his honorable discharge, he earned a J.D. from Yale in 1973, graduating with Bill and Hillary Clinton and immediately signing up for a year as an underpaid VISTA attorney with Rhode Island Legal Services. It was at RILS that he formed a friendship with the late John M. Roney, and Mann & Roney opened for business on Wickenden Street in Fox Point. Later, Lynette Labinger joined that practice. Bob left the practice to form Mann & Mitchell with his wife Suzanna Mitchell, but his close friendship with John and Lynette lasted for the rest of his life. On the occasion of Bob’s receiving the RI Bar Association’s Ralph P. Semonoff Award for Professionalism, John, who chaired the selection committee, wrote to congratulate him, adding that the vote was unanimous and Bob’s name was at the top of the list: “You make me proud to be a lawyer,” he wrote, “and this is what this award is all about.” Like all lawyers, Bob had victories and defeats, but the strikingly common refrain by those he represented, as reflected in the slew of 5-star reviews posted online, was that he was “kind,” “honest,” “professional,” and “compassionate.” Bob was also notable in his never-flagging respect for the American legal system and his belief that justice would prevail.

Bob’s achievements were recognized in his lifetime. Rhode Island Monthly called him a “quintessential good guy” and named him one of Rhode Island’s best lawyers multiple times. He is listed as a “Super Lawyer” from 2007 to 2024. In 2007 he received the Richard M. Casparian award from the RI Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The next year, Justice Assistance awarded him its Neil J. Houston Award for dedicated service and citizen contribution to the Criminal Justice Profession and Public Interest. In 2009, he was invited to the inauguration of Barack Obama as President. In 2015 he was given an Honorary Degree from Roger Williams University School of Law, which also honored him as a Champion of Justice in 2023. In 2022 he was the first recipient of the Olin W. Thompson, III Justice Award from the United States District Court. He was a Fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers and member of the National Inns of Court. Among other Bar memberships, he was a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, where in 1985 he argued the landmark case of Moran v. Burbine, persuading the liberal “greats,” Associate Justices Stevens, Brennan and Marshall, but losing to the majority on the conservative Burger Court.

Bob was known as a workaholic, whose office in the Turks Head Building was often his home. Even though his Edgewood house was featured in a Rhode Island Monthly article about the homes of the Rich & Famous (Bob’s house was the only one featured that lost value during the period of his ownership, something that would make those who knew him smile in recognition), Bob probably more often slept in his office. The loves of his life, though, were his stepdaughters Susannah and Samantha Cotter and his granddaughter, Eleanor, all of whom survive him. He is also survived by his wife, Suzanna J. Mitchell, his former law office colleagues Dana Harrell and Camille McKenna and Dana’s children, Saylor and Steel, who will miss him dearly. His sister, Elizabeth, predeceased him.

All are invited to Bob’s Memorial Service Monday, September 23, 2024 at 4:00 PM at Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Avenue, Providence. A private burial with military honors will take place in RI Veteran’s Cemetery at a later time.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Robert B. Mann Memorial Fund at the Roger Williams University School of Law, 10 Metacom Ave, Bristol, RI 02809 or https://law.rwu.edu/alumni/ways-to-give/current-campaigns/honoring-robert-b-mann-esq

Arrangements are in the care of Sugarman-Sinai Memorial Chapel, Providence.