The MBA's new Immigration Law Committee, which was launched by attorney Roy J. Watson Jr., attracted two dozen people to its inaugural meeting Sept. 13.
The group plans to meet monthly to discuss topical issues in the field, organize Continuing Legal Education seminars and work with other organizations on immigration programs.
Watson, of Watson Law Offices in Bedford, said he hopes to attract both experienced attorneys and new practitioners in the field. The committee is needed, he said, because there is no other group at the MBA devoted to immigration law.
"We don't really fit well under any one other section," he said.
Meetings are scheduled for the second Wednesday of every month at noon at the MBA's offices at 20 West St. in Boston. A steering committee has been put together to help shape the group, which hasn't been active in the MBA for years.
"We hope to be doing some very substantive programs," he said at the first meeting.
Watson is the founder and past editor-in-chief of the Immigration Case Reporter (ICR), which is sent to over 1,000 lawyers in five countries. He has authored numerous articles on immigration law topics and is a frequent lecturer on business-relevant immigration law issues.
Watson is past president of the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and has served on numerous AILA national committees during his 30 years of active practice of immigration law. He is a past chair of the immigration law committees of both the MBA and the Boston Bar Association, and a past International Law Section chair for the BBA.