MBA member Gael Mahony, a long-time trial attorney formerly with the law firm of Hill & Barlow, joined Holland & Knight LLP. Mahony is a veteran legal advisor specializing in complex litigation business cases, across industries. Mahony has successfully tried many high-profile cases for such clients as Volvo Corporation, the Pritzker family, owners of the Hyatt Hotel chain and the Atlantic Monthly Magazine.
Mahony also has served as counsel to the judges of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts in litigation brought by the U.S. Attorney challenging the adoption by the judges of a local rule concerning attorney subpoenas in criminal cases. During his career, Mahony has served on several prominent committee posts, including as a member and former president of the American College of Trial Lawyers; member of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the United States Judicial Conference, by appointment of Chief Justice Burger; and chairman of the Advisory Committee of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, by appointment of the judges of that court.
Kellye L. Walker, an MBA member, has been named vice president, general counsel of BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. of Natick. Walker's responsibilities include oversight of all aspects of BJ's legal department including corporate governance and board issues.
Walker joined BJ's with more than 10 years of extensive legal experience. Prior to BJ's, she practiced corporate law for three years at Hill & Barlow LLP, where she was a member handling mergers and acquisitions, private equity financing, corporate governance and general corporate counseling. Previously she was a partner in the Business Section of Chaffe, McCall, Philllips, Toler & Sarpy, LLP in New Orleans, where in addition to her legal work, she developed the firm's Women in Business Seminar series.
The law firm of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels is donating $157,000 to support educational programs at inner city organizations in Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R.I. Nine organizations will receive donations and be the beneficiary of volunteer support and free legal council through the Relationship Grants Program, including the Boston non-profit organizations of MATCH School, Neighborhood House Charter School and Crittenton Hastings House.
The law firm Palmer & Dodge LLP has placed 10th in a national ranking of firms that act as counsel for new municipal bond issues, helping clients to raise more than $7 billion in 2002.
Several law firms recently were honored for being technologically savvy, including three with Boston offices: Piper Rudnick; Robbins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi; and Holland & Knight. The firms were among the top 10 in the 2003 Web site ratings and review of the 250 largest law firms in the United States by marketing attorney Micah Buchdahl of InternetMarketingAttorney.Com.
The Boston firm Brown Rudnick e-Solutions, an initiative of the Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels law firm, has developed HIPAA-SOLUTION, an online training tool for office-based healthcare providers seeking to comply with the Privacy Rule of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).