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Notable & Quotable: MBA members in the media

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014

Notable & Quotable

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Legal aid funding bill

Notable Tyrrell

"When we passed our amendment in 2008, some of the judges interpreted it as forbidding any of it going back to the defendant."

MBA Access to Justice Section member and Executive Director of the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee Jayne Tyrrell, The Oregonian, Feb. 25

The Oregon legal community is debating whether to join 48 other states in adopting rules which send residual funds from class-action lawsuits to legal services for the poor or other charities. Oregon currently sends the unclaimed money back to defendants.

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Legal advertising for class action suits


NotableKathy ODonnell

"Some certainly believe that legal advertising has contributed to the downfall of our reputation as lawyers … Our rules basically say that there must be no false or misleading information. "

MBA Past President Kathy O'Donnell of Kazarosian, Costello & O'Donnell, Palmer Journal Register, Feb. 27

O'Donnell spoke to The Palmer Journal Register on the topic of soliciting clients for health-related class action suits through broadcast and online advertising. O'Donnell noted that the Massachusetts Bar Association is working with the Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct to develop new rules on this type of broad solicitation. According to O'Donnell, a possible benefit of such advertisements is the education of a mass audience on certain legal issues. "If you take all the problems with hip replacements, some of these ads did help inform people, and then there are others that reference conditions that people may be too embarrassed to inquire about on their own," she said.

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