MBA Signature Initiatives

As a way to tackle important issues affecting a significant number of MBA members and those in the legal community as a whole, the MBA designates committees, establishes task forces and joins forces with like-minded groups to create positive change for the legal profession.

The key initiatives for the 2009-10 association year under the leadership of President Valerie A. Yarashus are:

• Preserving Access to Justice
  

  The MBA takes the lead in advocating for adequate court and legal services funding.

• Serving Our Veterans in the Law
  

  The Massachusetts Bar Association with financial support from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation is offering a pro bono program for veterans struggling with state and federal benefit appeals.

• The MBA Lawyers Eco-Challenge
  

  The MBA has teamed up with the Conservation Law Foundation, New England's leading legal and environmental advocacy organization, to encourage lawyers to reduce energy and resource consumption. More than a dozen lawyers on the MBA's newly formed Energy and Environmental Task Force created Green Guidelines for the office and a pledge to help attorneys make their practices more Earth-friendly. The Task Force is now working on Green Guidelines for the home.