Top : Dancing Deer Baking Company President and CEO Frank Carpenito (left); Staples Vice President and Associate General Counsel Bill Gabovitch (middle); and Massachusetts Bar Association President Marsha V. Kazarosian (right) at the presentation of the MBA's first Pinnacle Awards.
Second from top: Consumer Advocacy Symposium Panel 1, from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (from left): Patricia Hamilton, director; Stephanie Kahn, assistant attorney general; and Sara Cable assistant attorney general.
Third from top: Consumer Advocacy Symposium Panel 2 (from left): Andrew Rainer, panel moderator; Scott Harshbarger, senior counsel, Proskauer Rose LLP; Dean Richlin, partner, Foley Hoag; Kathleen Engel, professor, Suffolk University Law School; and Stuart Rossman, director of litigation, National Consumer Law Center.
Bottom: Consumer Advocacy Task Force members Adam C. Ponte of Kenney & Sams PC (left) and Nadine Cohen of Greater Boston Legal Services, speak to symposium attendees.
Photo by Jeff Thiebauth.
Members of the Attorney General's Office (AGO), private
attorneys and business leaders gathered together on Wednesday at
the Massachusetts Bar Association's first Consumer Advocacy
Symposium and Pinnacle Awards to discuss consumer protection issues
and celebrate two local companies who "do things the right way."
The event, held at Suffolk University Law School, was presented by
the MBA's Consumer Advocacy Task Force, which was established in
2013 by then-MBA President Douglas K. Sheff to advance the MBA's
commitment to protecting consumer rights.
After a welcome by Sheff, Consumer Advocacy Task Force members
Andrew Rainer and Adam C. Ponte spoke briefly about the Task
Force's initiatives, including the Consumer Protection
Clearinghouse -- a web library of FAQs, useful links and quick-tip
videos on several consumer-related topics, which will be featured
on the MBA's companion MassLawHelp.com website.
The symposium's first panel, moderated by Task Force member
Nadine Cohen, involved discussions about the work of the AGO's
Consumer Protection Division, the consumer mediations available at
the AGO and the AGO's role in data breach litigation. Panelists
included Stephanie Kahn, chief of the AGO's Consumer Protection
Division; Patricia Hamilton, the director of the AGO's Public
Inquiry and Assistance Center; and Assistant Attorney General Sarah
Cable.
Rainer then returned to the podium to moderate the second panel,
which focused on the role of private attorneys in consumer
litigation brought by the commonwealth. Panelists included Former
Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, now senior
counsel at Proskauer Rose LLP; Former First Asst. Attorney General
Dean Richlin, now a partner at Foley Hoag; Suffolk University Law
School Professor Kathleen Engel; and Stuart Rossman, director of
litigation at the National Consumer Law Center.
Following the panel discussions, MBA President Marsha V.
Kazarosian presented the MBA Pinnacle Awards to Dancing Deer Baking
Company and Staples, Inc. -- two Massachusetts companies that
"thrive and do right by their customers at the same time," she
said.
"Often, when we talk about consumer protection we focus on
helping consumers resolve their problems with companies that fall
short of expectations. But there are companies that do things the
right way," Kazarosian said. "We [at the MBA] feel it is important
to highlight those companies whose business practices serve as
positive models to others."
Special thanks to all the Task Force members who helped make
this program such a success: MBA Vice President Christopher A.
Kenney (chair), Alice B. Braunstein, Nadine Cohen, Francis K.
Morris, Margaret Helen Paget, Jodi M. Petrocelli, Adam C. Ponte and
Andrew Rainer.