 |
| Photo by David Gordon |
| The Massachusetts Bar Foundation inducted many new Life Fellows at its annual meeting on Friday, March 4. This includes (from left, back row) Anthony K. Stankiewicz, Richard J. Grahn, Nelson Lovins, Maureen Mayotte, H. Theodore Cohen and John Carroll; and (from left, front row) Lawrence Farber, Charles J. DiMare, Valerie Yarashus, Michael J. Traft, Barbara Buell, Robert O. Berger and grantee James B. Ross. |
 |
| Photo by David Gordon |
| Newly elected Massachusetts Bar Foundation President Francis A. Ford (right) congratulates past MBF President Steven Wollman, who received the Great Friend of Justice Award during the annual Access to Justice Awards Luncheon. |
At its annual meeting March 3, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation elected Francis A. Ford as president.
Ford this year served as treasurer and co-chairman of the MBF's 40th Anniversary Gala in October. He replaces Anthony K. Stankiewicz, who completed his term as president. Carol A. Witt, who also served as co-chair of the gala celebration, was elected treasurer and Pamela B. Marsh was elected secretary.
Newly elected Massachusetts Bar Foundation trustees, who will serve until 2009, include Laurence M. Johnson, Davis Malm & D'Agostine, PC, Boston; Kevin G. Kenneally, Donovan Hatem, LLP, Boston; Antoinette E. M. Leoney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Boston; Robert J. Marchand, Fall River; and the Hon. Luis G. Perez, Worcester Juvenile Court.
Ford encouraged fellows to reach out to colleagues to join the foundation and assured them that the organization will continue its mission of improving the administration of justice, promoting an understanding of the law and ensuring equal access to the legal system.
"Please stay the course and continue to bless us and those we serve with your involvement in our foundation," Ford said. "From your service on grant review committees to your willingness to serve as a member of our board, all of you make our foundation the best it can be, and we thank you."
Attorney Mary Bonauto, civil rights project director at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, delivered the keynote address at the meeting and Leslie Walker, executive director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, was the grantee speaker. The MBF recognized more than 100 new Life Fellows.
Ford, who serves as Worcester County Superior Court Clerk of Courts, has been a trustee since 2002 and is an MBF Oliver Wendell Holmes Life Fellow. From 1979 to 2002, Ford practiced law in Worcester County. He has served as president of the Worcester County Bar Association and also has been an active MBA member, having served several terms as a member of the House of Delegates and numerous MBA committees and sections.
Concentrating her Salem practice in family law, including complex divorce and custody litigation, Witt offers 27 years of experience to her clients, who are equally divided between men and women. She has served as a court-appointed guardian ad litem on many occasions during her career and is available to serve as a special master or case evaluator. Witt is a former chair of the MBA's Family Law Section Council and has served on the boards of trustees for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation. In 1992 she was elected a fellow in the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Marsh is a founding partner of Quirk Chamberlain & Marsh, PC located in Hyannis Port and concentrates in general civil litigation, insurance defense, personal injury, guardianship and conservatorship litigation and estate planning and administration. She is a member of the MBA, Barnstable County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute and the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association. From 1997-2000, Marsh served on the Barnstable Superior Court's Medical Malpractice Tribunal with a judge and a physician. An MBF fellow since 1992, Marsh has served more than five years on the grant advisory committee for Southeastern Massachusetts.