eJournal

Just four months after co-founding her own personal injury firm, 39-year-old Victoria M. Santoro has reached another professional milestone with her election as the new president of the Massachusetts Bar Association. During her time in office, Santoro hopes to pay forward the spirit of generosity that has marked her MBA experience as she focuses on advancing reproductive justice, diversity and inclusion, and mentorship opportunities for members of marginalized communities.

As the mother of a young son, Santoro holds a special interest in defending the right to bodily autonomy but emphasized that the issue enjoys broad support within the legal community and across both political and personal lines. Given that reproductive freedom is as much a legal matter as it is a social concern, Santoro plans to lead the MBA in developing a position statement based on input from various segments of its membership base. If adopted by the House of Delegates, the statement would send a clear message to others in the profession and to the commonwealth at large about the MBA’s readiness to safeguard women’s liberties, she said.

“This is not a controversial issue according to polling, and I think it’s really important that we as lawyers are indicating to our clients, our colleagues and the broader community that this is something that we’re ready to protect, both politically but also legally,” said Santoro. In addition to prioritizing reproductive freedom as a policy goal, Santoro said, the MBA will highlight the topic as part of its educational programming during her term.
 
Noting that MBA presidents strive to maintain continuity in their yearly initiatives, Santoro will also renew efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the association, and particularly in positions of leadership. As a product of strong mentoring in her legal career and at the MBA, Santoro will aim to provide the same opportunities for organizational advancement to members from all backgrounds, including those who represent affinity bar associations.

Santoro’s emphasis on mentoring as a tool to enhance diversity in leadership will also extend to students from traditionally underserved communities who have professional interests in the legal industry. She said that she hopes to secure grant funding to expand the service reach of the MBA’s Tiered Community Mentoring Program, which supports career pathways for diverse populations of high school students, undergraduate students and law students. While lauding the program in its current form, Santoro said that more young people of color should experience the powerful impact of mentoring and that the MBA must continue to help cultivate a pipeline of future bar leaders.

Discussing the common theme behind her objectives as president, Santoro pointed to the ideal of the MBA as an organization that is inclusive of all voices and fosters a sense of fellowship and personal enrichment among its members.

“I firmly believe that our legal community benefits from more involvement, more discussion, more participation and more community,” said Santoro. “When we know one another better, we expand our perspectives, and it makes us better lawyers.”

In addition, Santoro said that becoming a business owner and bar president at a relatively young age has only increased her desire to elevate others in their professional pursuits and mirror the supportive example of the mentors in her career.

“I feel that I have been an exceedingly lucky person in life,” said Santoro, who joined with trial partner and friend Jessica Gray to establish the Boston firm of Santoro & Gray Law. “I’ve worked hard but have had the benefit of so much, including my mentors. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that my main duty as president is to turn around and extend a hand to others.”

Along with encouraging active member engagement in MBA affairs, Santoro will devote continued attention to the issue of lawyer well-being, seeking especially to help attorneys find the self-assurance to speak openly about their mental health. She said that she felt empowered to begin discussing her own internal struggles, including with the loss of her younger brother to suicide, after reading MBA member Geoff Spofford’s 2022 Lawyers Weekly column about his battle with depression. Now that she occupies a prominent position in her field, Santoro believes that she has an added obligation to remain forthcoming in her conversations about mental health to destigmatize the practice for others in the organization.

In the same way that she identifies with the well-being movement in the legal profession, Santoro has a deep investment in improving access to civil justice within the Superior Court system, where she has tried cases for 14 years. She brought that background to her role as coordinator of the MBA’s new Lawyer for the Day program, through which volunteer attorneys provided free legal guidance to pro se litigants in jurisdictions across the state. 

Although she plans to relinquish her post this year, Santoro said that the weekly virtual program will continue under the leadership of a new candidate to be chosen in the weeks ahead. Santoro described the program’s initial run as a resounding success and said that Lawyer for the Day services offer an important lifeline for unrepresented parties facing complex legal issues that threaten their financial security and overall welfare.

“Even for me, it was eye-opening to see the significant invisible need in courthouses around me that I wasn’t aware of,” Santoro said.

Legal Career and MBA Involvement

Long before she opened a law practice, Santoro viewed a legal education as the most sensible way to further her studies after graduating from Wesleyan University in 2007. While she had often heard that she would make a good lawyer, it wasn’t until her second year at Boston College Law School that she discovered her passion for courtroom litigation and committed herself to following that career path.

Santoro’s early love for trial work has never waned, even as she now spends limited time in court settings, because of her aptitude for conveying the very human stories of the injured parties she represents. Given the high stakes involved in her cases, Santoro can also act as both a calming presence and fierce advocate for her clients as they navigate the aftermath of life-altering events. According to Santoro, when she does find herself in the courtroom, she has learned to be unrelenting in her pursuit of justice and unafraid to adopt a more assertive style of lawyering.

“When you get to trial, one former partner told me that if you get that far fighting for years for a family, turn over the furniture in the room. As a litigator, you have to be comfortable being fearless and going for it,” said Santoro, who has notably secured a multi-million-dollar jury verdict and punitive damages against an international hotel chain for the wrongful death drowning of a father of four.

Santoro said that her storytelling-driven approach to litigation balances well with the attention to detail of colleagues Jessica Gray and Bradley Henry, with whom she has a long working relationship predating their affiliation at Santoro & Gray. She noted that the new venture came out of her and Gray’s shared desire to operate a women-oriented law firm with both modern work arrangements and a more conventional focus on civility and integrity. Reflecting on the four months since the firm launched, Santoro said that she has relished the chance to practice alongside two of her closest friends and to continue growing her existing referral network and client base.

Santoro’s career as an attorney has run concurrently with her participation in the MBA, which she joined soon after gaining admission to the state bar in 2010. She said that she became a member largely because bar association involvement was ingrained in the culture at her prior law firm, where she worked with multiple past MBA presidents. Describing that period as a formative time in her professional life, Santoro said that her path to the MBA presidency began with following the example of service set by her former colleagues. 

Originally a member of the Solo/Small Firm Law Practice Management Section, Santoro went on to join and eventually chair the Young Lawyers Division, while also taking part in the inaugural MBA Leadership Academy in 2016. Santoro speaks with particular passion about her longtime role on the Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship Committee, where she helps select the law student winner of an annual $10,000 award designed to support rising public interest lawyers after their graduation.

“If there is one thing that makes me feel so wonderful about the future of humans and lawyers, it’s the Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship Committee,” Santoro said, adding that the first recipient of the scholarship, MBA Treasurer Shayla Mombeleur, will become president in three years. “You’re seeing people on the ground as students, not even lawyers yet, and they are already dedicated, caring and doing important things. The scholarship can have a dramatic impact on their career choices because they’re making decisions from a different perspective.”

Since joining the MBA, Santoro said that she has revised her concept of legal networking from a one-time coffee meeting to an ongoing membership in a vibrant community of lawyers. While she deeply values the work of the MBA within the profession and beyond, Santoro said that she has found the greatest satisfaction in developing enduring friendships and genuine camaraderie with attorneys across the organization. 

“What I say to everyone about the MBA is that I’ve met the most wonderful people and had so much fun, and I think it’s OK to center that,” Santoro said.

During her term as president, Santoro hopes to ensure the same fulfilling experience for fellow MBA members, including those from the central and western parts of the state and those who share her background as working parents. Drawing inspiration from Immediate Past President Damian J. Turco, who regularly brought his children to MBA events, Santoro will seek to continue establishing a family-friendly environment for lawyers who balance their heavy workloads and parental responsibilities.

According to MBA Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Operating Officer Martin W. Healy, Santoro’s inclination to support working parents speaks to her broader awareness of the issues that most resonate with the modern generation of lawyers. 

“With her strong understanding of the needs of today’s attorneys, Tori will be instrumental in our efforts to provide the membership benefits and overall experience that attorneys want from their professional associations,” Healy said. “Her election as president represents a deserving culmination of many years of dedicated service to the MBA and a great opportunity to showcase her exceptional leadership qualities and friendly disposition.” 

In addition to creating a welcoming atmosphere for all manner of attorneys, Santoro said that she intends to offer a blend of encouragement and candor in her interactions as president.

“I want to convey that the MBA is open, safe, friendly, and dedicated to what the future of the profession is going to look like,” she said. “My job is to cheerlead the MBA and the people within it. After that, I hope to be fearless, go for things, and say out loud what needs to be said.”