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Member Spotlight: Current MBA treasurer and two past presidents named Boston Magazine's 'Top Women Attorneys in Massachusetts'

Issue May 2013

In its April 2013 issue, Boston Magazine announced its "Top Women Attorneys in Massachusetts." The list includes Massachusetts Bar Association Treasurer Marsha V. Kazarosian, as well as MBA past presidents and current members Denise Squillante and Elaine M. Epstein.

Marsha V. Kazarosian is managing partner of Kazarosian Law Offices in Haverhill. An experienced trial lawyer, she was recently nominated as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Top Women in Law. Additionally, Kazarosian was named one of the top 10 lawyers in the state in 1999 by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly after successfully suing the Haverhill Golf and Country Club for gender discrimination. Kazarosian has a long history with the MBA. She was recently nominated president-elect for the upcoming association year. She is the association's current treasurer, she chairs the MBA's Education Committee and sits on the Media Committee. She also served as MBA secretary and vice president and has led and served on numerous other association task forces, committees and councils. She graduated from Suffolk University Law School in 1982.

Denise Squillante
is the founder of Denise Squillante PC in Fall River, where she focuses on family, estate, and personal injury law. Squillante served as the MBA president from 2010 to 2011 during the association's centennial anniversary celebration. Squillante is a Massachusetts delegate to the American Bar Association's House of Delegates and was co-chair of the joint MBA/Boston Bar Association Alimony Task Force.
In addition, she is a former president of the Fall River and New England bar associations and is currently a council member on the National Conference of Bar Presidents. In 2010, she was awarded the John S. Brayton Jr. Memorial Community Service Award by the Fall River Chamber of Commerce. She graduated magna cum laude from New England School of Law Boston in 1983.

Elaine M. Epstein is a partner at Todd & Weld LLP in Boston. With more than three decades of experience, Epstein specializes in probate and fiduciary litigation, domestic relations and appellate practice. She served as president of the MBA from 1992 to 1993, as well as a founder and first president of the Massachusetts Women's Bar Association.
The Supreme Judicial Court appointed her to the Board of Bar Overseers, Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee. Epstein was honored with the Women's Bar Association's Lelia Robinson Award for her outstanding work. She graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 1976.

Three MBA members named to The National Law Journal's '100 Most Influential Lawyers in America'

The National Law Journal has announced its "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America," including Massachusetts Bar Association members Mary Bonauto, William Lee and Lawrence Lessig. The list was last published in 2006 and all practicing attorneys excluding judges, members of congress and the president are eligible to be named to the list.

Mary Bonauto is the civil rights project director at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston. Bonauto has litigated throughout New England for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. As lead counsel in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, Bonauto was instrumental in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Bonauto was co-counsel in Baker v. State of Vermont, which prompted Vermont's legislature to create civil unions for same-sex couples. In addition, Bonauto formerly served as MBA Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section Council Member. Bonauto graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 1987.

William Lee is a partner in the litigation/controversy and intellectual property departments at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Boston. Lee specializes in intellectual property litigation. He recently acted as lead counsel to Apple Inc., in the smartphone patent dispute with Samsung. Lee joined the firm in 1976 and was formerly a co-managing partner. Lee has been honored with numerous awards including being named a 2012 Litigator of the Year by The American Lawyer, 2013 Massachusetts Outstanding IP Litigator of the Year by Managing Intellectual Property, 2013 Boston Patent Law Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America, and a 2012 Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly- just to name a few. Lee graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University Law School in 1976.

Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School in Cambridge. He is also director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Prior, Lessig taught at both Stanford Law School and the University of Chicago. In addition, he clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. An expert in intellectual property law, Lessig has won multiple awards, including the Free Software Foundation's Freedom Award and the Fastcase 50 Award. He has also been named one of Scientific American's Top 50 Visionaries. Lessig graduated from Yale Law School.