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Rush O’Mara, Sullivan join 2012-13 MBA Officer Slate

Issue August 2012 By Kelsey Sadoff and Tricia M. Oliver

Martha Rush O'Mara, of the Law Office of Martha Rush O'Mara in Melrose and Christopher P. Sullivan, partner of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP in Boston, will join the returning MBA officer slate as leaders for the 2012-13 year.

Starting Sept. 1, Rush O'Mara, who focuses her practice in juvenile law, will become MBA secretary. Sullivan, whose practice concentrates on the civil jury trials of complex litigation matters, will serve as an MBA vice president.

Rush O'Mara previously co-chaired the MBA's Juvenile & Child Welfare Law Section. She also was an MBA designee on the board of the Massachusetts Legal Assistant Corporation's and sits on the association's Executive Management Board, as well as its governance and membership committees.

A former president of the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers, Rush O'Mara previously served on the Massachusetts Interest on Lawyers Trust Account Committee as well as two terms as a hearing officer for the Board of Bar Overseers.

For nearly 20 years, Rush O'Mara has operated her own firm, practicing in Boston Juvenile Court and Probate and Family Court. She devotes a significant amount of time to volunteer work, both in her hometown community of Melrose and in the Massachusetts legal community, conducting pro bono work and mentoring recent law school graduates.

Rush O'Mara received her B.S. from Salem State College and went on to earn her law degree from New England Law | Boston.

Sullivan's practice concentrates on the civil jury trials of complex litigation matters such as financial and securities cases and intellectual property matters. He has previously served as an MBA member-at-Large of the House of Delegates and as a member Executive Management Board. He also sat on the Civil Litigation and Business Law section councils. Sullivan also serves as tri-chair of the Federal Practices and Procedures Committee.

Sullivan has also served on the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and as Massachusetts Chapter president of the Federal Bar Association, of which he is currently vice president for the First Circuit.

Sullivan graduated from the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, and he is currently an Executive Board Member of the Holy Cross Lawyers Association. He went on to receive his J.D. from Fordham University Law School in , and is New England Chapter Vice President of the Fordham University Law School Alumni. He is a resident of Hingham.

"I am honored to join the MBA officer ranks. I look forward to serving on Bob Holloway's team of great bar leaders as we endeavor to make the MBA an indispensible resource for our members," said Sullivan.

The fellow officers of Rush O'Mara and Sullivan include President Robert L. Holloway Jr., President-elect Douglas K. Sheff, Treasurer Marsha K. Kazarosian and Vice President Robert W. Harnais.

Holloway is a shareholder and president of MacLean, Holloway, Doherty, Ardiff & Morse PC in Peabody. He is a long-term member of the MBA's Ethics Committee, a member and past chair of the MBA's Civil Litigation Section Council, former chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and a former regional delegate to the MBA House of Delegates, the governing body of the MBA. He lives in Topsfield.

A senior partner at Sheff Law in Boston, Sheff is a nationally renowned brain injury litigation expert and specializes in all aspects of personal injury law. He is also a member of the MBA's Executive Management Board and Budget and Finance Committee. In addition, he served as treasurer, two terms as MBA vice president, as MBA secretary and as chair of the MBA Civil Litigation Section. Sheff is chair of the Workplace Safety Task Force and has also served as chair of the MBA Membership Committee and as co-chair of the MBA Centennial Conference and Ball. He is also a fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the MBA. He lives in Boston's North End.

Kazarosian is managing partner of Kazarosian Law Offices in Haverhill, where she concentrates in civil rights litigation, family law and discrimination. She previously served as an MBA secretary and vice president. Former chair of both the MBA's Education Committee and the Technology Implementation Task Force, she served as co-chair of the MBA Centennial Conference Committee in 2011. Kazarosian has also served on the MBA's Executive Management Board, House of Delegates, Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Nominations, Nominating Committee and Gala Dinner Committee. She has sat on a dozen association committees and sections. In addition, Kazarosian is a Life Fellow of the MBF. She resides in Haverhill.

Harnais is with Mahoney Diamond and Harnais Law Offices in Quincy, where his general practice concentrates on criminal law, family law, real estate, labor and consumer law. A past MBA secretary, he has sat on the MBA's governing body -- House of Delegates -- since 2006, has been a member of its Executive Management Board and has served as co-chair of the MBA Task Force on Diversity. He lives in Braintree.