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Member Spotlight

Issue November 2012

MEIER CHOSEN TO LEAD REVIEW OF DPH LAB CASES
Boston attorney and Massachusetts Bar Association member David E. Meier has been selected by Gov. Deval L. Patrick to lead the review of all criminal cases potentially affected by the mishandling of drug evidence in Jamaica Plain's Department of Public Health lab.

Meier is a partner at Todd & Weld in Boston where he specializes in criminal defense and government investigations.

As reported in the Boston Globe, Meier said he would lead the review "as an advocate for fairness and due process on behalf of the criminal justice system."

Prior to private practice, Meier worked as a prosecutor for 20 years in both Suffolk and Middlesex counties. For 12 of those years Meier was chief of the homicide unit in the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. During that time he was involved in the post-conviction review and investigation of cases that lead to the exoneration of multiple defendants wrongfully convicted.

Meier has been recognized by Massachusetts Super Lawyers and in 2007 was honored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a "Lawyer of the Year." Recipients of the award demonstrate "integrity, professionalism and determination" in the practice of law.

In addition, the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association awarded him Prosecutor of the Year in 2004.

CARROLL APPOINTED TO THE COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL CONDUCT
Chief Justice of the Trial Court Robert A. Mulligan has appointed Massachusetts Bar Association member John J. Carroll Jr. to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Carroll has served as a commission alternate member since 2008.

Established in 1978, the Commission on Judicial Conduct investigates allegations of misconduct by state judges. The commission is composed of three judges appointed by the justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, three attorneys appointed by the Chief Justice of the Trial Court and three lay persons appointed by the governor.

Carroll is an attorney at Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow PC in Boston, where he has worked since 1985 specializing in personal injury claims.

A former MBA House of Delegates, Executive Management Board member and a current member of the Governance Committee, Carroll received the 2008 Massachusetts Bar Foundation's President's Award. In addition, Carroll served as a hearing officer for the Board of Bar Overseers from 2001 to 2007.

Carroll received his B.A. from Boston College in 1968 and went on to earn his law degree from Boston University Law School in 1974.

GARTENBERG WILL HELP LEAD SEARCH FOR NEW COMMISSIONER OF PROBATION FOR MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Bar Association Executive Management Board and House of Delegates member Lee J. Gartenberg will serve on a recently formed committee to assist the Trial Court in selecting a new Commissioner of Probation. Acting commissioner Ronald P. Corbett Jr. will retire in January 2013.

Convened by Chief Justice of the Trial Court Robert A. Mulligan and Court Administrator Lewis H. "Harry" Spence, the committee will conduct interviews and recommend finalists for consideration.

Gartenberg is the director of Inmate Legal Services in the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office, a position he has held for over 25 years. As the director of Inmate Legal Services, Gartenberg oversees the legal needs of more than 1,000 inmates in the county detention system.

A long-time MBA member and leader, Gartenberg has served the association in many capacities. He is a former chair of the Criminal Justice Section, and also previously led the Judicial Administration and the Individual Rights & Responsibilities sections. He has made invaluable contributions to the MBA's Budget and Finance Committee and House of Delegates.

In 2008, Gartenberg received the Massachusetts Bar Association Gold Medal Award, an honor reserved for individuals who have provided outstanding legal services that have benefitted the legal profession in Massachusetts.

FIVE MBA MEMBERS INDUCTED INTO NEW MASSACHUSETTS NADN CHAPTER
The National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals has announced the launch of its Massachusetts Chapter, inducting seven of the state's top Alternative Dispute Resolution attorneys as 2012 charter members, including five Massachusetts Bar Association members.

The NADN Massachusetts Chapter's website, www.NADN.org/massachusetts, is a tool for state ADR practitioners and provides a roster of the state's most trusted neutrals.

"We certainly look forward to working with the premier ADR practitioners in the state of Massachusetts in the years to come, and expect that this new chapter roster will prove just as useful to paralegals and attorneys across that state as it has in our others to date," said Darren Lee, executive director of NADN.

MBA members chosen as NADN Massachusetts Chapter 2012 charter members are:

  • Paul A. Finn, the founder of Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation Inc. in Brockton, has served as its president and CEO since 1992. Finn graduated from New England School of Law in 1976.
  • Warren F. Fitzgerald is the founder of Fitzgerald Dispute Resolution LLC in Boston where he works as a full-time mediator and case evaluator. Fitzgerald graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1979.
  • Brian R. Jerome founded Massachusetts Dispute Resolution Services in Boston, one of the first full-service ADR firms in Massachusetts, where he works as a mediator and arbitrator. Jerome graduated magna cum laude from New England School of Law in 1980.
  • Brian J. Mone is the chief operating officer at Commonwealth Mediation & Conciliation Inc. in Brockton, where he works as a mediator. Mone graduated from Suffolk University School of Law in 1982.
  • Jeffrey S. Stern, a partner at Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen PC in Boston, chairs the firm's ADR practice group. Stern graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1973.

CAMPBELL RECEIVES UMASS BOSTON'S DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Massachusetts Bar Association Immediate Past President Richard P. Campbell is this year's recipient of the University of Massachusetts Boston's Distinguished Service Award

Honored for his outstanding service as a member of the UMass Board of Visitors, his accomplishments in the legal profession and his work with the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, Campbell was selected for this year's award by UMass Boston's Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation Charlie Titus.

Campbell is the founder of Campbell, Campbell Edwards & Conroy PC in Boston, where he primarily represents national and international corporations in complex cases including multi-district litigation, class action, aviation, toxic tort and product liability disputes.

An MBA House of Delegates and Executive Management Board member, Campbell was president from 2011 to 2012. In addition, Campbell is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and chair of the Adjunct State Committee. He served for seven years as the chair of the Board of Overseers for Boston College Law School and in 1995 was honored with its highest award for dedication to the law, the Founder's Medal. Campbell was recently appointed to the ABA's Task Force on the Future of Legal Education to help review and make recommendations on the state of legal education and its responsiveness to the needs and opportunities of the legal market.

Campbell received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts in 1970 and went on to earn his law degree from Boston College Law School, cum laude, in 1974.

CHIEF JUSTICE CAREY REAPPOINTED
Chief Justice Paula M. Carey of the Probate and Family Court has been reappointed to a second five-year term, which began on Sept. 27, 2012.

Carey was appointed as a judge in the Probate and Family Court in 2001. In 2004 she was the recipient of a Massachusetts Judges Conference Judicial Excellence Award and in 2006 received the Massachusetts Bar Association's Daniel J. Toomey Judicial Excellence Award. In addition, in 2009 Carey was awarded the Distinguished Jurist Award from the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers. In 2011, she received a Boston Bar Association Citation of Excellence, the Middlesex Bar Association Distinguished Jurist Award and the Haskell Freedman Award of the Mass. Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

The Probate and Family Court Department is comprised of 14 divisions with 51 authorized judicial positions across the commonwealth. The Massachusetts Trial Court includes seven court departments with 380 judges who deliver justice to thousands of people daily in 101 courthouses across the state.