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Issue December 2012

Musings while on the hustings for the MBA

I had not been in Woodstock, Vermont, for a few years, but spent a few days there recently as your Massachusetts Bar Association representative at the New England Bar Association meeting at the Woodstock Inn. When Hurricane Irene hit Vermont with a vengeance last year, much of the Woodstock Inn was under water. I am happy to report that the inn seems fully recovered, with its amiable staff very accommodating as usual. With the Vermont Bar Association as the host, there were many Vermont lawyers and judges in attendance, all very welcoming to us as interlopers from Massachusetts.

MBA applauds appointment of independent investigator to examine drug lab failings

The Massachusetts Bar Association praises Gov. Deval L. Patrick for his quick action in appointing an independent investigator to undertake a broad review of the William Hinton State Drug Laboratory, a request the MBA and other groups made in October.

Legal minds meet in Dubai

A crude and deliberately provocative video purporting to show the life of the prophet Mohammed was initially credited with sparking in September a wave of killings in the Middle East, including the American ambassador to Libya and three other American nationals. What better time for a forum that addressed the Western world's use of social media? And who better to lead it than some of Boston's best legal professionals?

CSB awards $2.1 million worth of claims in FY12

The Massachusetts Clients' Security Board -- established nearly 40 years ago to compensate clients for damages resulting from unethical legal practice -- issued its annual report last month. A total of $2.1 million was awarded to 86 claimants in fiscal year 2012 (Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2012). Half of the FY12 awards were issued due to three attorneys, two of whom have been disbarred and one of whom is deceased.