Photo Credit: Jason Scally
MBA President Robert W. Harnais addresses MBA leadership at the Sept. 24 House of Delegates meeting in Boston.
The Massachusetts Bar Association's House of Delegates (HOD) hit
the ground running at its first meeting of the 2015-16 year in
Boston on Thursday, Sept. 24, passing separate proposals from the
Taxation Law and Criminal Justice section councils.
The Taxation Law Section Council requested that the HOD endorse
communication with the state secretary of administration and
finance to discuss issues related to the Appellate Tax Board,
including the board's ad valorem filing fee structure. The
measure passed unanimously.
The Criminal Justice Section Council urged the MBA to endorse in
principle the concept of legislation that would raise the threshold
amount for a felony. According to the proposal, the existing $250
threshold amount has been around for many years and is "sorely
outdated due to inflation." The measure also passed
unanimously.
Earlier at the HOD meeting, MBA President Robert W. Harnais
welcomed everyone in attendance and was one of several presenters
to thank the MBA's active section councils, whose work is so vital
to the association. MBA President-elect Jeffrey N. Catalano made
special mention of the energy brought by the MBA's Young Lawyers
Division.
Officer reports were also given by MBA Vice President
Christopher A. Kenney and MBA Secretary John J. Morrissey. Kenney,
who chairs the MBA's Consumer Advocacy Task Force, updated HOD
members on the task force's work on the Consumer Resource Center at
www.MassLawHelp.com, and
said an announcement about the next Consumer Advocacy Symposium and
Pinnacle Awards would be coming soon.
Alice Richmond, the American Bar Association's state delegate,
also addressed the HOD members, offering personal remarks on her
friend and fellow past MBA President Richard K. Donahue, who died
in September. Recalling his sense of humor, she called Dick Donahue
"an extraordinary man of extraordinary vision."
Following the HOD meeting, many HOD members went next door to
the Back Deck, where the MBA held its "Welcome Back" member
reception.