Lawyers Journal

You cannot turn on the TV or read the paper without seeing something about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev or Aaron Hernandez. Both are defendants in notorious criminal cases that hit close to home.

Tsarnaev is a college student accused of perpetrating an unspeakable tragedy: the Boston Marathon bombing, a heinous act of terrorism that impacted countless victims and families, many of whom are still struggling today. Hernandez is a former New England Patriot facing multiple murder charges, but the notoriety of his case is tied more to his fame as a local sports star than the no-less-senseless loss of life.

They are different cases to be sure. But what they share in common is that, as of press time, both are going to trial this month.

Last August, Massachusetts joined the majority of states when Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed into law Chapter 254 of the Acts of 2014, which permits voir dire conducted by attorneys or self-represented parties during empanelment of criminal and civil trials in the Superior Court. The Massachusetts Bar Association advocated strongly for this law, which also included a provision allowing attorneys to suggest a monetary amount for damages suffered by a plaintiff in a civil trial

Every great recipe starts with the right ingredients. Perhaps no one on Beacon Hill knows that better than Senate Majority Leader Stan Rosenberg, who is expected to be voted in as the new Senate president when the legislative session kicks off on Jan. 7.

Rosenberg, a cooking enthusiast and collector of cook books, is known at the State House for his famous tomato sauce. Each fall he handpicks all his ingredients fresh from the fields of western Massachusetts. He freezes them so he can make his highly sought-after sauce and homemade pasta even in the middle of a bone-chilling New England winter. The sauce garnered so much acclaim that the Boston Globe published the recipe in September 2005.