This year’s theme for the 2006 Massachusetts Bar Association’s Annual Conference is “Shaping the Future of the Legal Profession.”
The three-day event will begin at Boston’s Marriott Copley Place Hotel on Thursday, March 23. The day’s focus will be on law students and new lawyers, offering guidance on networking and career strategies. Learn from our expert speakers how to steer your career, launch a practice, hone your interviewing skills, avoid traps for the unwary and more.
On Friday, conference participants will have the opportunity to attend a variety of MBA section council briefings and recent developments programs that highlight the most significant cases of the past year.
Currently, the briefing schedule will include discussions of the uniform trust code, the ethics of representing parties in out-of-state arbitrations, environmental justice, the new OUI law, protecting company intellectual property and electronic discovery.
The recent developments programs will highlight case law, legislation and developing trends affecting the following substantive areas: family law, commercial law, real estate law, employment law, probate law; federal law; tax law; juvenile law; personal injury and insurance law; probate law; appellate practice and procedure, elder law and criminal law. Featured judicial speakers include Hon. Paula M. Carey, Hon. Jay D. Blitzman and Hon. William G. Young.
In addition, hands-on Casemaker training sessions will be offered throughout the day.
This year, in addition to the annual Bench/Bar Forums, Saturday’s programming will include a law practice management track, featuring programs on boosting profitability, setting fees, client retention and how to work smarter, not harder.
The highlight of the conference will be the annual Bench/Bar session. Leo Boyle and Judge Cynthia Cohen, co-chairs of the planning committee for Saturday’s Bench Bar session, are exploring a program addressing two related issues: the media’s relationship with the courts and judicial independence.
We will continue to update you on program events as they develop. The MBA’s officers and staff are looking forward to seeing and serving our members at this year’s annual conference, helping them to shape the future of the legal profession.