The Massachusetts Bar Association president Denise Squillante has announced the creation of the MBA Centennial Award to celebrate local attorneys' pro bono service to their communities and the profession. Ms. Squillante and association leadership will work to identify and recognize worthy recipients statewide throughout the MBA's 100th anniversary commemoration.
"We'll be reaching far into the four corners of the commonwealth to showcase member attorneys' service to both the profession and the citizens of their respective communities," Ms. Squillante said. "The merits for which the recipients will be honored exemplify the spirit of public service on which the Massachusetts Bar Association was founded a century ago."
Ms. Squillante presented the first of the Centennial Awards to Fall River attorneys Nancy Stanton and Robert Marchand at a Bristol County Bar Association reception in September.
Ms. Stanton, a solo general practice attorney, was applauded for her longtime community service, including her recent efforts in developing a volunteer conciliation proposal to be considered by the supreme judicial court for use in the small claims session of the district court. Also a solo practitioner, Mr. Marchand was praised for his lengthy volunteerism with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. There, he continues to donate his time to assist peer attorneys experiencing difficult professional and personal times.
This award will be given by the president or another officer throughout the centennial celebration to a person of extraordinary achievement (who may be a lawyer, law professor, judge, court administrator, legislator or other person with significant involvement in the legal system and/or the rights and responsibilities of individuals, corporations, partnerships, trusts and other civic bodies) who materially advanced the rule of law, enhanced the integrity of lawyers, judges or the legal profession, engaged or is engaging in important legal scholarship, or protected the democratic principles upon which our nation was founded.