Lawyers Journal

The Massachusetts Bar Association's Annual Bench-Bar Symposium will feature Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland's Annual Address to the Legal Community. The event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 17, beginning at 4 p.m. at the John Adams Courthouse.

A night of great music and warm revelry welcomed Massachusetts Bar Association President Robert L. Holloway Jr. as more than 100 colleagues and friends gathered at the Regattabar at the Charles Hotel on Sept. 13 in Cambridge to celebrate the opening of the 2012-13 association year.

As I write this column, I am less than three weeks into my term as your president. Yet your officers, section councils and others have hit the ground running with membership initiatives, educational offerings and other efforts commencing in full force.

Those who attended the MBA President's Reception at the Regattabar on Sept. 13 were beneficiaries of a good time with good music. My friend, the superb pianist and keyboard player, Bruce Bears, assembled an all-star line-up that included Chris Rivelli on drums, Brad Hallen on bass, Scott Aruda on trumpet, Mark Early on saxophone, and Boston's queen and king of the blues, Toni Lynn Washington and Duke Robillard. Although some of these musicians have worked with each other from time to time, the band, as assembled, never had played together before. Aside from needing considerable musical chops to play under those circumstances, the principal skills needed are the ability to listen and to play in a complementary fashion.

Talking issues through has always been an elemental part of the practice of family and probate law in Massachusetts. At the end of this month, family law attorneys and judges from across the state get an annual opportunity for such discussions, outside of the daily pressures of the courtroom. The 22nd Annual Family Law Conference will be held at Cranwell Resort Spa and Golf Club in Lenox, beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, and ending at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.