Victoria M. Santoro was ceremonially sworn in as the new president of the Massachusetts Bar Association during a reception on Sept. 12 at the UMass Club in Boston.
Surrounded by family, close friends, and colleagues, Santoro highlighted her primary goals for the 2024-25 year, beginning with the advancement of reproductive justice following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. She also noted her desire to center the issue of anxiety and burnout within the legal community and to help Massachusetts retain more locally educated attorneys at the conclusion of their law school careers. In discussing the topic of mental health, Santoro alluded to her own struggle with postpartum depression and the grief she carried after losing her younger brother to suicide in 2013.
To underscore her focus on promoting organizational diversity and inclusion, Santoro appealed specifically to lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds and encouraged them to find a professional home at the MBA.
“If you are a member of a historically disadvantaged group, a member of an affinity bar group, if you are a woman, if you are Black, Hispanic, Asian, South Asian, if you are part of the LGBTQ community, I want the overwhelming message you hear from me and the MBA this year to be, ‘We want you, we will show up for you, and you belong here,’” Santoro said.
Santoro’s remarks followed an introduction by her longtime colleague and mentor, Brad Henry, who described her as a fierce advocate and a compelling courtroom speaker dating back to their first case together more than 10 years ago. Henry now practices at the Boston personal injury firm of Santoro & Gray LLC, which Santoro recently co-founded with trial partner Jessica Gray.
The event also saw Santoro take the ceremonial oath of office, administered to her by another former coworker, MBA Past President Hon. Valerie A. Yarashus of the Superior Court.
Click here to view event photos by Eric Haynes.