MBF Board & Staff

Bio coming soon.

Jennifer C. Boal currently serves as a United States Magistrate Judge in Boston, Massachusetts. She has served in that capacity since 2010.  She was the Chief Magistrate Judge from 2014 to 2017.  She served on the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules from 2018 to 2024. Prior to her selection as a federal judge, she served in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, as well as the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.  She worked in both the civil and criminal divisions. For the last eight years of her career at the Department of Justice, she was the Chief of the Civil Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Judge Boal began her legal career in private practice at Shearman & Sterling in New York City.  She is a graduate of Haverford College and Cornell Law School.  She served on the Board of Managers of Haverford College for twelve years and as the First Circuit representative to the Federal Magistrate Judges Association for six years.  She currently serves on the Board of Editors for the Boston Bar Journal and the Federal Courts Law Review.

Frank J. Ciano is an experienced General Practice Lawyer, assisting clients in personal injury claims, criminal matters, will preparation, real estate, business transactions, and divorce cases.

Ciano served as president of the Middlesex County Bar Association and of the Cambridge, Arlington, Belmont Bar Association, and he also served as a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association House of Delegates.  Ciano is Chairman Emeritus of the Dante Alighieri of Massachusetts and recipient of the I Migliori award, which honors Americans of Italian Ancestry who have excelled in their chosen field and made a significant contribution to society.  In 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2017, Ciano received the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Reviewing Rating Plaque for his high ethics and legal ability.

Ciano is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk Law School.  He is a Louis D. Brandeis Life Fellow of the MBF and a member of the MBF Justice Circle.

Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Jim is an experienced full-time mediator and arbitrator. In addition to his private dispute resolution practice, he also mediates for Mediation Workshops, Inc. in Boston and Cape Cod Dispute Resolution Center. He is a Panelist on the American Arbitration Association National Roster of Commercial Arbitrators. Jim’s effectiveness as a mediator and arbitrator is attributable to his intelligence, fairness, and measured temperament, over 40 years of experience as a civil litigator, and the many board and other leadership positions in governance he has held in higher and elementary education and for numerous other non-profits.

Margaret J. Hurley serves as the Chief of the Attorney General’s Central Massachusetts Division, located in Worcester. She is also the Director of the Attorney General’s Municipal Law Unit, which is charged with review and approval of all town bylaws and municipal charters.

Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Hurley worked in private practice at Morrison, Mahoney & Miller (now Morrison Mahoney) in Boston and at Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee in Worcester. While in private practice, she represented various cities and towns as Special Litigation Counsel and Acting Town Counsel, and defended numerous medical malpractice and other civil cases through trial.

Attorney Hurley previously served on the Executive Committee of the City Solicitor and Town Counsel Association and as a Hearing Committee Member of the Board of Bar Overseers. She is a Past President of the Worcester County Bar Association and a former co-chair of the Public Law Section Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Hurley has served on both the Planning Board and Town Administrator Screening Committee for the town of Grafton.

Hurley is a graduate of Boston College and Boston College Law School. She is a President's Circle – Bronze Fellow of the MBF.

Bio coming soon.

Michael J. Leard is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg’s Boston office, where he represents individuals and companies in the areas of commercial litigation and product liability, including pharmaceutical medical device, and consumer product mass tort litigation. He also has an active pro bono practice, which has centered around immigration, veterans’ advocacy, and relief for Covid-19 frontline workers.

For over a decade, Leard has been actively involved in the MBF and the Massachusetts Bar Association. He also dedicates time to the Defense Research Institute’s Drug and Medical Device section. Leard has been recognized by Chambers USA, Lawdragon, Legal 500, Best Lawyers in America; Massachusetts Super Lawyers; and Boston Magazine.

Leard is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Tulane Law School. He is a Foundation Fellow of the MBF.

Hon. Mark D Mason (Ret.) conducts mediations, arbitrations, case evaluations, and discovery conciliation. Prior to opening Mason Mediation, he had been a Massachusetts judge for over 14 years, serving in the District and Superior Courts. Before joining the bench, he worked in private practice in Springfield for over two decades and was a Partner at Cooley Shrair, specializing in business litigation and family law.

Judge Mason has served on a number of Superior Court committees since his appointment and currently acts as Chair of the Trial Court’s Public Outreach Committee. He was a member of the Supreme Judicial Court’s Committee on the Code of Judicial Conduct and served as Chair of both the Superior Court’s Civil Committee and the Trial Court’s Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution.

A Vice President of the Massachusetts Judges Conference and Past President of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Judge Mason is a frequent lecturer and has taught law and ADR at several colleges and universities in Massachusetts. In addition to serving on numerous community boards, he is also a violinist with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra in Greenfield.

A graduate of Columbia University and the Boston University School of Law, he is a Life Fellow of the MBF.

Robert S. Molloy, Esq. has been the General Counsel & Secretary of a men’s big + tall retailer, Destination XL Group, Inc. [Nasdaq:DXLG], since 2008.  Prior to that, he was an Assistant General Counsel at Staples, Inc.  for 8 years. Between 1984 and 1999, he was a trial lawyer, 12 years of which were with Cooley, Manion, Moore and Jones, P.C. in Boston.

Molloy has been an MBF reviewer since 2008.  He received the 2016 President’s Award. 

Molloy is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University School of Law.  He is a President’s Circle Life Fellow of the MBF.

Mary Jeanne Stone focuses her practice on Family Law, Bankruptcy and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Prior to starting her own firm in 2010, she was a Partner at Belford & Stone in Fall River, MA. She is an Associate Attorney with Lider, Fogarty & Ribeiro, P.C. and is Of Counsel to the Law Office of Nancy C. Stanton.

Stone is an MLAC Board Member, and serves on the IOLTA Committee. She regularly serves as a Guardian Ad Litem in disputed custody cases and is a volunteer ARC Attorney. Stone is a Past President of the Bristol County Bar Association and a Past member of the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments.

A graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University and New England School of Law, Stone is a Life Fellow of the MBF.

Christopher P. Sullivan is a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP in Boston, where he represents clients in civil trials involving complex litigation matters, including financial and securities cases and intellectual property disputes. He is an accomplished trial lawyer who has been named a Massachusetts or New England Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers every year since 2004. Sullivan was listed in The Best Lawyers in America in 2020, he was named a Top Rated Lawyer for 2019 by New York Magazine and the New York Law Journal and was named one of the Top 100 Irish American Lawyers, among other accolades.

In the fall of 2018, immediately following his Massachusetts Bar Association presidency, Sullivan spearheaded a “Hamilton” fundraiser, which raised $57,000 to establish a Hamilton Hurricane Relief fund for Puerto Rican residents impacted by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The fundraiser was a joint effort between the MBF, the MBA, and the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys. In 2014, Sullivan worked with the MBA and the Federal Bar Association to launch the Massachusetts chapter of SOLACE (Support of Lawyer/Legal Personnel – All Concern Encouraged), an email-based network of Massachusetts legal professionals who provide critical aid to members of the legal profession in times of need.

Sullivan is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Fordham University School of Law. He is a Life Fellow of the MBF.

Kimberly E. Winter has been a member of the firm of Richards, Biller, Schindel, Winter, & Mulcahy, LLP since 2018. Prior to that she was a partner in the law firm of White, Freeman & Winter, LLP in Weston after coming to that firm from Sugarman & Sugarman, PC in Boston. Winter concentrates her practice in health care law and civil litigation- primarily medical malpractice and other   types of serious injuries caused by negligence. Winter is also a Registered Nurse with a current specialty certification is Neonatal Intensive Care. 

Winter is Past President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and a current member of their Board of Governors. Winter is also on the Emeritus Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association and is an active member of the Massachusetts Bar Association (former chair of the Health Law Section Council and a member and past chair of the Lawyer Referral Service Committee). Winter presently serves as a Hearing Officer for the Board of Bar Overseers. She lectures frequently on liability issues affecting health care professionals and has lectured and authored material for numerous educational programs and publications related to civil practice in her area of concentration.

Winter is a graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Northwestern University and Suffolk University Law School. She is a Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

Judge Valerie Yarashus was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court by Governor Baker in 2018.  She is the current Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission.  She serves on the Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Judicial Guidelines Concerning Self-Represented Litigants.  She is a frequent speaker at MCLE and serves on their Civil Litigation Curriculum Advisory Committee.  She has written and edited numerous legal articles and books, including “Approaching 50 Years of Modern Day Wrongful Death Litigation in Massachusetts,” Massachusetts Law Review, vol. 103, p. 1 – 11 (2022) and MCLE’s Massachusetts Personal Injury Law Sourcebook & Citator.  Judge Yarashus also enjoys teaching trial advocacy as guest faculty at multiple law schools and judging multiple mock trial competitions at all levels from high school to law school. She has served in many active roles in the MBA Tiered Community Mentoring program since its inception in 2009.

Prior to her appointment to the Superior Court, she practiced for more than 25 years as a trial lawyer. She also served as President of the Massachusetts Bar Association in 2009-2010 and as President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys in 2002-2003. She is a graduate of George Washington University (summa cum laude) and Harvard Law School (cum laude), where she served as an executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review.