Massachusetts Bar Association members are invited to
join MBA, legislative and community leaders at a Jan. 26 forum on Gateway Cities
to be held at UMass School of Law in Dartmouth beginning at 5 p.m.
Light
refreshments will be served during the opening meet-and-greet reception, which
will give way to an informational forum. Leaders who have long worked with the
issues impacting the state's Gateway Cities will share their insight. The final
leg of the evening will focus on pinpointing ways in which the legal community
can help address such issues.
Some of the evening's featured speakers
include MBA President-elect Robert L. Holloway Jr.;
UMass School of Law Dean Michael G. Hillinger; Rep.
Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford) and Sen. Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield), chairs of the Gateway Cities Caucus;
representatives from MassINC and UMass Dartmouth's Urban Institute; as well as
other leading voices on the academic, economic and cultural aspects impacting
Gateway Cities.
"The focus of the forum is to identify ways in
which attorneys can lend their expertise with issues affecting Gateway City
communities across Massachusetts," MBA President Richard P. Campbell said.
Campbell identified a Gateway Cities initiative as one of his priorities for the
2011-12 association year. He named Margaret D. Xifaras, who practices in New
Bedford, and Francis A. Ford, who practices in Worcester, to lead this important
effort.
Xifaras will moderate the Jan. 26 forum.
Massachusetts' Gateway Cities are
those mid-sized cities whose residents are experiencing significantly higher
rates of unemployment and a stalemate in social, economic and civic innovation.
Some examples are Brockton, Fall River, Lawrence, New Bedford, Springfield and
Worcester.
Members interested in attending should R.S.V.P. to Gwen Landford at (617)
338-0694 or glandford@massbar.org.