Paul Suttell is Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. He has served on the court since 2003 and as Chief Justice since July 2009.
He began his legal career with the firm of Crow, Chester & Adams in Pawtucket, and then with Beals & DiFiore in Providence. He served as legal counsel to the House Minority Leader in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1979 to 1982.
From 1982 to 1990, Chief Justice Suttell was a Republican Party member in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, where he represented a district that encompassed Little Compton and portions of Tiverton and Portsmouth, and served as Deputy Minority Leader during his second term. During his tenure in the Rhode Island General Assembly, he served on the House Committees on the Judiciary, Corporations, and Special Legislation; the Joint Committees on the Environment and the Arts, and the Agricultural Land Preservation Commission; the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau; and the Lottery Commission.
In 1990, Chief Justice Suttell was appointed to the Rhode Island Family Court as an Associate Justice, where he presided over the juvenile wayward and delinquency, child abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights, and domestic calendars. He served 13 years on the Family Court before he was appointed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
EDUCATION: Northwestern University, B.A.; Suffolk University Law School, J.D.