Board of Trustees

Officers

PRESIDENT

Laurence M. Johnson, Esq.

Davis Malm & D'Agostine, PC
Boston, MA

Laurence M. Johnson, a life fellow since 1998, was elected to serve on the MBF Board of Trustees in March 2005.

Attorney Johnson is an attorney at Davis Malm & D'Agostine, PC in Boston and currently concentrates his practice in the trial and appeal of complex business litigation including securities, antitrust, and mergers and acquisitions. He has had lead counsel responsibility for over 30 years, and has successfully represented numerous large and medium sized business corporations, including over fifteen Fortune Five Hundred companies.

Attorney Johnson is a member and the director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, as well as a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the American Bar Association, an elected member and life member of the American Law Institute, and an elected Fellow of American College of Trial Lawyers. Over the past twenty-five years, Attorney Johnson has also taught trial and appellate advocacy courses in numerous law school and trial advocacy programs.

VICE PRESIDENT

Joseph P. J. Vrabel, Esq.

Endurance Asset Management, Inc.
Framingham, MA

Mr. Vrabel is Vice President and General Counsel to Capital Risk Management, Inc. He is the current President of the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Inc. Board of Overseers (MCLE). He is the Immediate Past-President of MCLE and is the Past-President of the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA). He was a Senior Partner for 22 years at the law firm of Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, where he founded their Framingham office of approximately 25 attorneys.

His expertise has been primarily in corporate governance, commercial finance and commercial real estate. He also has extensive experience in all varieties of commercial bank loans, bond financings, health care financings, private placements, workout situations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and all types of business transactions. His other areas of practice have included general corporate representation, particularly situations including investment strategies, and business planning.

In addition to the MBF, he serves on numerous not for profit boards of directors, including Longfellow’s Wayside Inn and Framingham State College. He was a Founding Trustee of Crossroads Community Foundation. He is the current Massachusetts State Chair of the American Bar Foundation, serves on the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates and serves on its Standing Committee for Continuing Legal Education. He is also a member of the ABA’s International Law Section’s Non-Governmental Organizations committee.

TREASURER

Jerry Cohen, Esq.

Burns & Levinson, LLP
Boston, MA

Prior to joining Burns & Levinson LLP in January 2006, Mr. Cohen was a partner with the firm Perkins Smith & Cohen LLP.

He has more than 40 years experience as a lawyer dealing with patent, copyright, trademark, unfair competition, licensing/franchising, visual arts, software, databases and publication law, formation and operation of business enterprises and not-for-profit organizations, international trade, litigation/ADR, legal ethics and the administration of justice. He handles acquisition, licensing and litigation of intellectual property rights. He has also served as an expert witness, arbitrator and mediator in intellectual property matters.

SECRETARY

Robert V. Ward, Jr., Esq.

Dean, Southern New England School of Law
North Dartmouth, MA

Dean Robert V. Ward Jr. has been a law school teacher since September 1978. Mr. Ward was appointed Dean of the Southern New England School of Law in July 1999. In 1982 he joined the faculty at New England School of Law where he taught Evidence, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Prisoner’s Rights, and seminars on Race and the Law and Anatomy of a Homicide. Anatomy of a Homicide Dean Ward co-taught with Dr. Ann Marie Mires – a forensic anthropologist. Professor Ward also served as the Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Enrichment program, an academic achievement program designed to increase the number of minority persons practicing law. He was a visiting professor at Northeastern University College of Law and at the University of Idaho College of Law and an adjunct faculty member at Suffolk University School of Law. Dean Ward received his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University School of Law. He received a B.S., in Political Science from Northeastern University.

Presently, Dean Ward co-chairs the Massachusetts’ Trial Courts, Access and Fairness Advisory Board. In the past he has served on the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Academic Support Programs and is a member of the faculty of the American Academy for Judicial Education. He formerly served on the Judicial Nominating Council, which assists in the selection of judges, and served as Chairperson of the Massachusetts Victim and Witness Assistance Board and as Chief of the Victim Compensation and Assistance Division of the Attorney General’s Office. He was an Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County from 1979 – 1982 and a special Assistant District Attorney from 1987 –1988.

Dean Ward is a frequent contributor to the editorial pages of the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Carol A. Witt, Esq.

Salem, MA

Concentrating her practice in family law, including complex divorce and custody litigation, Attorney Carol A. Witt offers twenty-seven 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.

As a former Chairperson of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Family Law Section Council, Attorney Witt enjoys a reputation statewide as a respected family law attorney, and has lectured in numerous continuing legal education programs over the years. She 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.

Attorney Witt is highly regarded by her professional colleagues, and is recognized as a leader among members of the Family Law Bar. A cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School in 1977, she was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar the same year. In 1990 she was the first woman to receive Suffolk University Law School's McDermott Award for her outstanding accomplishments.

In addition to her success as a skilled trial attorney, she has made new law at the appellate court level, with cases involving the weight to be given to domestic violence in child custody awards and the division of state pensions as marital assets.

Trustees

Richard P. Campbell, Esq.

Campbell, Campbell, Edwards & Conroy
Boston, MA

Richard P. Campbell is the founder and a shareholder of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Mr. Campbell earned his law degree, cum laude, from Boston College Law School. In 1995, Boston College Law School presented him with its highest award, the Founder’s Medal, for his achievements and dedication to the law. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Overseers for Boston College Law School.

Mr. Campbell is admitted to practice in all courts of Massachusetts, Maine, NewHampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Florida, the federal courts of Connecticut, Vermont, the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Eastern District of Michigan, the Court of Appeals for the First and District of Columbia Circuits and the United States SupremeCourt.

Mr. Campbell represents numerous national and international corporations in complex cases, including multi-district litigation, class actions, aviation, toxic tort, products liability, and commercial disputes. A leader of state, national, and international bar associations, he is a past Chair of the 30,000 member Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (“TIPS”) of the American Bar Association and Director of its National Trial Academy.

Hon. Thomas A. Connors

Associate Justice
Superior Court

An MBF Fellow since 2001, Judge Thomas Connors was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees in January 2004.

A graduate of Boston College and Boston College Law School, he was appointed to the District Court bench in 1995. He was serving as the Acting Presiding Justice of the Dedham District Court when he was appointed to serve as a Justice of the Superior Court in 2004. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Connors had conducted a general law practice in Dorchester with emphasis on criminal litigation.

Judge Connors was a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association (Delivery of Legal Services Section Council, 1985-1987), as well as a member of the Boston Bar Association (Chair, Suffolk County Bar Advocate Program, 1992-1994; Ethics Committee, 1994-95). In 1993, Judge Connors received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the Boston Bar Association.

Judge Connors has also been involved with MCLE as both a lecturer and a member of the Criminal Law Curriculum Committee. His published works include “Trial of the Delinquency Case,” Juvenile Law Basics, MCLE (1991) and “Criminal Practice in the District Courts,” Mass. District Court Defense Manual, MCLE (1996).

Hon. Francis R. Fecteau

Massachusetts Appeals Court
Boston, MA

Judge Fecteau was apponted Associate Justice for the Massachusetts Appeals Court in January, 2008. Prior to his appointment, from 1996-2007, Judge Fecteau served as Associate Justice of the Superior Court. From 1982 to 1996 Judge Fecteau was a member of the firm of Healy & Rocheleau, P.C. in Worcester. From 1979 to 1982 he was an Attorney in the Law Office of Lawrence Fisher in Worcester. He was an Assistant District Attorney in Worcester from 1973-1979. And he worked for Neighborhood Legal Services Corp. from 1972-1973.

Judge Fecteau is a current member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Worcester County Bar Association, (where he served on the Executive Committee from 1981-1983).

Judge Fecteau is a frequent panelist in continuing education programs offered by the Worcester County Bar Association and the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. He is a former instructor in the evening division of Anna Maria College, a former member and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, and a former corporator and member of the board of directors of the Worcester Boys Club. He is a member of the Worcester Historical Museum, the Worcester Art Museum, and a recipient of an Award of Judicial Merit from the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys

Born in Worcester, Judge Fecteau attended Boston College Law School and the College of the Holy Cross.

Francis A. Ford, Esq.

Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple
Worcester, MA

Mr. Ford is a member of the firm Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple in Worcester. Immediately prior to joining the firm, Mr. Ford was the elected Clerk of Courts and Magistrate for Worcester County. In his capacity as Clerk of Courts, Mr. Ford was an active participant in matters of interest to the public with particular emphasis on issues concerning the Administration of Justice. Before his election as Clerk of Courts in 2002, Mr. Ford was in private practice in Worcester since 1979. From 1975-1979 he served as a Deputy Court Clerk in the Worcester Superior Court.

Mr. Ford has been a significant contributor to numerous organizations throughout his career. He is a past President of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and he was the President of the Worcester County Bar Association from 1996-1997. He also has been an active member of the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and the Massachusetts Bar Institute. He has served as a member of the House of Delegates, the governing body of the Massachusetts Bar Association and as the Dukes County Bar Association's designee to the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments. Mr. Ford also serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts (LACCM).
Mr. Ford remains committed to the community he serves and has held numerous public service positions. He served on the Board of Directors for many organizations including the Worcester Public Inebriate Program, the Worcester Opportunities Industrialization Centers and the Diocese of Worcester. He continually donates his time and services to the Town of Paxton through the Paxton Democratic Town Committee, St. Columba Parish, the town's Building Needs Study Committee and, since 1996, as the elected Town Moderator where he presides over the Annual Town Meeting and any Special Town Meetings which may be convened. Additionally, he served as a cabinet member of the United Way of Central Massachusetts, a member of the Holy Cross Club of Worcester and on the Board of Directors of the Worcester Club.

Mr. Ford has received numerous awards and honors over the years. In 1994 he was the recipient of the Legal Assistance Corporation of Massachusetts Leadership Award for serving the legal needs of people living with HIV and AIDS in Worcester County. In 2005 he was the recipient of the prestigious Massachusetts Bar Association Community Service Award. Since 1999, Mr. Ford has been selected as a recipient of Martindale-Hubbell's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.

Mr. Ford is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Ford earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross in 1974 and his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1978.

Hon. Anne M. Geoffrion

Associate Justice
Probate and Family Court Department
Springfield, MA

Hon. Anne M. Geoffrion was appointed as an Associate Justice (Circuit) of the Probate and Family Court Department in September, 1988. Her appointment as a circuit judge has given her the opportunity to regularly sit in Hampden and Berkshire Counties. In November 2007, Judge Geoffrion was appointed to the Hampden Division of the Probate and Family Court.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, she specialized in civil litigation, with her practice concentrating in family law. While in private practice, she served as an assistant city solicitor for the Town of Agawam, as a member of the hearing committee for the Board of Bar Overseers, and as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. She continues to participate in continuing legal education programs for lawyers and judges alike. Presently Judge Geoffrion is a member of several committees of the Probate and Family Court including its Education Committee. In addition, she is a member of the MBA Family Law Section Council. She has served as an MBF Fellow since 1995.

Judge Geoffrion obtained her J.D. from Western New England College School of Law and her B.A. from Le Moyne College.

Daniel J. Gleason, Esq.

Nutter, McClennen & Fish
Boston, MA

Daniel J. Gleason is co-chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation group at Nutter McClennen & Fish, and a member of the firm’s Life Sciences practice group. A Fellow in the invitation-only American College of Trial Lawyers, Dan's trial practice focuses on complex, technical commercial and intellectual property litigation, including particularly patent, trade secrets and non-competition cases. Dan has served as a long time member of the Firm’s Executive Committee, and, currently serves on its Pro Bono Committee.

Mr. Gleason often serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and as a private mediator. He speaks and writes frequently on topics pertaining to litigation technique and intellectual property matters.

Mr. Gleason is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American, Massachusetts, and Boston Bar Associations. He chairs the ABA’s Business Torts Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Litigation, dealing with trial practice, trade secrets, and the Lanham Act as they relate to trial issues.

With a longstanding interest in pro bono representation, Dan has long been active in the Boston Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and serves on the Executive Committee. He is also past counsel and a member of the Board of Directors for Wide Horizons for Children, Inc., an international adoption agency.

P. Keyburn Hollister, Esq.

Gobel & Hollister
Pittsfield, MA

Keye Hollister is a partner at Gobel & Hollister in Pittsfield, MA. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and Western New England School of Law, Hollister has practiced law since 1978.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Colonial Theatre Association and the Friends of the Colonial Theater Restoration, the Berkshire Community College Foundation, and the Helen Berube Teenage Parent Program. She is a member of Zonta International, Inc. and the Berkshire Business and Professional Women Association. Attorney Hollister was a member of the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee from 1991-2001 and its chair from 1992 until 2001. She has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association since 1978. Attorney Hollister served on the House of Delegates (from 1988-1990 and from 1993-1995). In addition, she chaired the Lawyers Public Responsibility Committee from 1988-1991. She was a member of the Nominating Committee, 1997. In 1998, she was a member of the Delivery of Legal Services Section Council. Hollister is also currently a member of the Berkshire Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association.

From 1997-1999, Attorney Hollister served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. She also was a board member of the Berkshire Community College from 1984-1994, and an Advisory Board member of the Berkshire Community College Central American Scholarship Program from 1986-1990.She served on the Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. Development Committee from 1996-1998 and the Girls’ Inc. Self Evaluation Committee in 1998. In May of 1998, Hollister was a BCC Eurasia Foundation Exchange Lecturer at the Poltava Cooperative Institute in the Ukraine.

She was a recipient of the Girls’ Inc. "She Knows Where She’s Going Award" (1991), the Berkshire Business and Professional Women, Woman of Achievement Award (1995), and the Berkshire Community College Foundation Alumni of the Year Award (1997).

Hon. Randy Jill Kaplan

Circuit Justice
Probate & Family Court
Boston and Nantucket, MA

Kevin G. Kenneally, Esq.

Partner
LeClair Ryan, A Professional Corporation
Boston, MA

Kevin G. Kenneally, an MBF Fellow since 1995, was elected to serve on the MBF Board of Trustees in March of 2005.

Mr. Kenneally is the Office Leader at LeClair Ryan in Boston and a shareholder in the firm’s Tort Defense Group. He focuses his practice on representing corporations in commercial and insurance coverage disputes, business torts, long-term care and nursing home liability litigation, and G.L. ch. 93A litigation. Mr. Kenneally also specializes in products liability and complex litigation and represents corporations in all types of casualty claims, with a concentration in medical device litigation, assisted living facilities and nursing home defense, commercial claims, plant explosion, fire loss, and burn cases. He has represented businesses in federal and state courts, in arbitrations and in mediation, and other forms of dispute resolution.

Attorney Kenneally is a past member of the American Bar Association's House of Delegates. A member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Attorney Kenneally is the editor-in-chief of the MBA’s award winning risk management publication, Traps for the Unwary, now in its fourth edition. In addition, Attorney Kenneally currently serves as a member of the Arbitration Committee for the Boston Stock Exchange.

Attorney Kenneally received a J.D. degree, cum laude, in 1987, from Suffolk University Law School, where he served as an editor of the international business law review. He received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in 1984.

Antoinette E.M. Leoney, Esq.

Assistant U.S. Attorney
U.S. Department of Justice
Boston, MA

Antoinette E.M. Leoney is an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, United States Department of Justice. She is presently assigned to the Criminal Division, Major Crimes Unit, where she is responsible for prosecuting an assortment of complex violent crime and white-collar felony cases, as well as handling appellate and post conviction matters. Ms. Leoney's varied assignments have also included time spent in the Anti-Terrorism Unit, where she was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of anti-terrorism and domestic/international terrorism matters, and the coordination and implementation of various parts of the U.S. Attorney's anti-terrorism strategic plan for the District of Massachusetts. Ms. Leoney also served as Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, where she was responsible for managing and coordinating civil and criminal forfeiture prosecutions in the District of Massachusetts.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1994, Ms. Leoney was in private practice for three years, serving as a senior litigation associate with the Law Firm of McKenzie & Edwards, P.C. In this capacity, she handled employment discrimination & sexual harassment cases, commercial & debt collection cases, and lead paint & personal injury cases. From 1990-1991, Ms. Leoney served as Director of the Office of Government Regulation & Compliance at Brandeis University. Between 1987-1990, she served as Assistant Legal Counsel and later as Deputy Chief Legal Counsel to former MA Governor Michael S. Dukakis, advising the Governor on a myriad of legislative/judicial matters, budget, and public policy issues. From 1986-1987, she served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the Public Protection Bureau, Consumer Protection Division. Between 1984-1986, she served as an Assistant Divisional Counsel with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services.

Ms. Leoney served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts and has conducted numerous seminars for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as lectured on various legal topics at the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center, the University of Massachusetts, Lesley College, and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE).

Ms. Leoney served as President of the Women’s Bar Association for 1999-2000 and President of the Women’s Bar Foundation for 2002-2003. She also served as an At-Large Delegate on the MBA’s House of Delegates from 1998-2001, and as a member of the Massachusetts Trial Court’s Gender Equality Advisory Board from 1999-2002.

In addition to serving as an MBF Trustee, Ms. Leoney is also currently a Trustee of MCLE and an elected board member of the New England School of Law Alumni Association. She is also an active member of the National Black Prosecutors Association, the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys Association, the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and is a former Trustee of Lesley College.

Ms. Leoney has received several awards and recognition for her commitment to community service and the legal profession, including awards from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, New England School of Law, and Lesley College.

Ms. Leoney received her B.A. from Lesley College and her J.D. from New England School of Law. She was admitted to the Massachusetts state and federal bars in 1985.

Robert J. Marchand, Esq.

Attorney
Fall River, MA

A fellow of the MBF since 1997 and a Brandeis Fellow since 2003, Attorney Robert J. Marchand was elected to serve as an MBF Trustee in March 2005. Attorney Marchand has participated in the Foundation’s Grant Advisory Committees since 2000.

Attorney Marchand has practiced law for over 29 years and is currently self-employed in the General Practice of Law in Fall River. Attorney Marchand is an actively involved member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and has served as a Member Board Of Directors of the Fee Arbitration Board and a present panel member, and is the recipient of the 1997 MBA Civic Service Award. He is a past member of the Board of Governors of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and has served as President for the Bristol County Bar Association (2002-2003), the Fall River Bar Association (1992-1994), and Steppingstone, Incorporated. He is also a past member of the Board of Directors for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.

Attorney Marchand received a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth in Business Administration, and his J.D. from the Suffolk University Law School.

Edward W. McIntyre, Esq.

Solo Practitioner
Clinton, MA

Mr. McIntyre is currently a solo practitioner in Clinton, concentrating in civil litigation in state and federal courts, with an emphasis on spinal cord & brain injury. His appellate experience includes the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, Supreme Judicial Court, and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Prior to his solo practice, he was a partner at Schneiders & McIntyre, in Canton; and prior to that at McGrail, McQuoid, McIntyre & Gibbons, in Clinton.

Mr. McIntyre is currently president-elect of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He has held many roles and served on many committees within the MBA, including the House of Delegates, 1998-2004; Executive Management Board 2002-2004; President’s Task Force on Judicial Evaluation 2003-2004; Judicial Administration Section Council, chair, 2003-2004, vice-chair, 2002-2003; member 2000-2004; MBA’s ABA Nominating Committee 2003, 2004; Mock Trial 1998-2004; Conversations 2004. He is a Brandeis Fellow of the MBF and has served on Grant Advisory Committees for many years.

In addition to his active role within the MBA, Mr. McIntyre has served on the following committees, associations and boards: Supreme Judicial Court’s Clients’ Security Board, chair 2003-04, vice-chair 2003, member 1999-2004; Supreme Judicial Court’s Pro Bono Standing Committee, 1999-2004; member, Hearing Committee, Board of Bar Overseers, 1999-2005; president, Worcester County Bar Association 1998-99; director, Worcester Bar Foundation, 1998-2004; Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, 1982-1998; Board of Governors, Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, 1992-1997; Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1982-1999; panel member, Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments 1997-1998; member, Worcester Courthouse Site-Selection Advisory Committee, 1998-1999.

Mr. McIntyre attended New England School of Law, Saint Bonaventure University, and Assumption College.

Elizabeth H. Munnell, Esq.

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge
Boston, MA

Betsy focuses her practice on commercial lending, corporate and venture capital finance and mergers and acquisitions. She has extensive experience representing banks and finance companies and mezzanine and private equity funds and the businesses they finance in structuring sophisticated debt and equity financings. She has led teams of lawyers representing borrowers and lenders in a wide range of business sectors, including media and communications, healthcare and other specialty industries.

Betsy chairs the Women's Initiative for both the Firm and its Boston office. She is also an active member of the firm-wide Teamwork and Diversity Strategic Committee, having spearheaded the diversity efforts in Boston in 2005 and 2006. In part through Betsy's efforts, EAP&D has made substantial commitments to The Partnership, a career mentoring and leadership organization in Boston, and The Boston Lawyers Group and last year funded a two-day retreat for all of its women lawyers (the EAP&D Women's Leadership Forum). She has been recognized as a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer" by Law and Politics magazine.

Wendy Sibbison, Esq.

Greenfield, MA

Wendy Sibbison’s solo practice has been exclusively devoted to civil and criminal appeals since 1982, before which she was a partner in the Northampton firm of Lesser, Newman, Sibbison and Souweine for five years. A frequent writer and lecturer on appellate practice, she is a contributing author of MCLE's Appellate Practice in Massachusetts (2000) and Massachusetts Superior Court Criminal Practice Manual (2003) and the sole author of MCLE's Massachusetts Divorce: A Consumer Guide (1996). She has served on the Supreme Judicial Court Ad Hoc Committee on Appeals in Cases of Murder in the First Degree, on the amicus committee of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and on various section councils of the Massachusetts Bar Association, including the Appellate Bench Bar Committee. She was counsel of record for Amicus Curiae, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, in support of the successful appellant in Richardson v. United States, 526 U.S. 813 (1999) and is noted for obtaining reversals in eight first-degree murder convictions since 1988. She is also noted for representing the winning party in such precedent-setting civil appeals as Messing, Rudavsky & Weliky, PC, v. Harvard, 436 Mass. 347 (2002); Woods v. O'Neil, 54 Mass. App. Ct. 768 (2002); Roberts v. Southwestern Bell Mobile Sys., 429 Mass. 478 (1999); and Heins v. Ledis, 422 Mass. 477 (1996).

Attorney Sibbison was elected to the Massachusetts Bar Foundation Board of Trustees in Jan. 2004, as a representative from Franklin County. For several years, she has served the Foundation on a regional committee, reviewing IOLTA grant applications and making funding recommendations. She joined the MBF in 1994, and is a Life Fellow.

Anthony K. Stankiewicz, Esq.

Boston Stock Exchange, Inc./ Boston Options Exchange, LLC
Boston, MA

Attorney Anthony K. Stankiewicz of Andover has served on the MBF Board of Trustees since January 2001. During his term as the 2004 President of the Mass Bar Foundation, the Foundation held its 40th Anniversary Gala Dinner at the State Room in Boston with over 300 attendees and raising over $100,000.

Attorney Stankiewicz is an officer at the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. and practices in the areas of federal and state corporate finance law, SRO rules and regulations, federal and state government issues, in-house corporate matters and community relations. He is also affiliated with the recently launched Boston Options Exchange, serving on its steering committee and handling corporate governance matters. In addition, Attorney Stankiewicz serves as a Trustee of Caritas Christi Holy Family Hospital of Methuen. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School. Stankiewicz also serves as a Trustee for the Boston Securities Traders Foundation, Inc. and the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union.