Corporate Counsel® PECIAL SECTIO S Boston and New England N a Bar Association with an Illustrious History

The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel® PECIAL SECTIO S Boston and New England N A Bar Association With An Illustrious History The Editor interviews John J. (Jack) where there are foreclosure issues, and Regan, President of the Boston Bar in the Juvenile Court where there are Association and a partner in the firm, behaviorally-challenged children who Wilmer Hale LLP. need individualized educational plans. Editor: As an attorney with an active We also hear from our District Courts practice and a who’s who of Fortune that minor criminal matters increase dur- 500 clients, how have you always ing severe economic downturns. made bar association activities a At the BBA, we’ve also reached out major priority? to our seven Sections that deal with the courts and asked their members to report back to us on what they are seeing in Regan: I’ve always tried to balance my terms of the effect of under-resourced practice with pro bono work, bar associ- courts on their clients and practices. ation activities, and community service, Combining those reports with the find- which is part of my firm’s oxygen. This ings gleaned from my visits with the takes discipline on my part, but I think chief judges, we have developed data it’s well worth the effort. and stories demonstrating the impact of Editor: Massachusetts courts have funding cuts, which we present to the been perennially underfunded. What Governor’s counsel to advocate for rea- efforts have been undertaken during sonable funding for the courts, prior to your term to stimulate the legislature submission of the Governor’s budget. to allocate more resources? We will soon submit to the Massa- chusetts Legislature a research report Regan: We’ve constructed a timeline of setting forth our findings and positions advocacy activities that goes throughout on the court budget. I spend more of my the entire budget year. Initially, I sat time on court budget issues than any down with the Chief Justice of the other public policy matter. Supreme Judicial Court to understand Later in the budget process, the BBA from her perspective the history of fund- will involve general counsel from major ing (and underfunding) of the courts, companies in Massachusetts, by asking them to write letters stating the business what services and courts have been most John J. (Jack) Regan impacted, and how the BBA could be case for reasonable funding for the useful. From there I met with the other courts. The BBA is co-sponsoring a symposium at Suffolk University Law Diversity Task Force whose work led to Transition that covers three groups. First, eight chief justices of the specialty the creation of the BBA’s Diversity and young lawyers coming out of law school courts, including the Chief Justice for School on April 26, in partnership with the New England Legal Foundation and Inclusion Section. During the last year, who can’t find jobs, and young lawyers Administration and Management of the the presidents of six affinity bar associa- who found jobs but have lost them. Trial Court who oversees these specialty the Rappaport Center at Suffolk, to dis- cuss the courts’ budget from the per- tions – the Massachusetts Black Through a series of programs we try to courts. Lawyers Association, the Massachusetts provide exposure to skills that young A major concern is the significant spective of the business community. In May or June, it all comes together as the Black Women Lawyers Association, the lawyers would learn were they in actual increase in pro se litigants. This pattern Asian Lawyers Association, the South practice. We have also made pro bono is particularly pronounced in courts like Legislature’s budgetary process moves to a conclusion. Asian Bar Association, the Massachu- opportunities available to them, and the Family Court where there are domes- setts Association of Hispanic Attorneys, exposed these younger lawyers to more tic relations issues that need attention, in Editor: I understand your legislative and the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay senior lawyers who have acted as men- the Housing Court where there are ten- Bar Association – began serving as tors for them. ant/landlord issues, in the Land Court agenda is tightly integrated. Can you elaborate? steering committee members of the Secondly, we have re-energized the BBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Section, Senior Lawyers Section – developing a Regan: Our job is to be an advocate for to help set the BBA’s course in this area. series of programs to deal with their very vulnerable constituencies that use the This arrangement has led to closer rela- different issues of transition, which often HIGHLIGHTS courts’ services – such as the elderly, tionships between the BBA and these involve winding down and taking on children, veterans, victims of crime, and other bar associations, and some very more nonprofit and pro bono work while the poor – and the lawyers who handle successful professional networking still practicing. Law Firms their cases. So in addition to advocating events. Discussions are now underway Third, we have a group that is in between – lawyers in the prime of their Weil Gotshal’s Boston Office: for the Massachusetts state court budget for the sharing of resources between the careers who are frozen in place or with- Close Communication And Nim- – and making clear the impact of organizations and cross-participation in out jobs, but who would normally be ble Solutions Mean Effective reduced staffing levels in the courts – we various activities such as substantive Partnerships With Clients Inter- advocate as well for the budgets for programming. moving between the public and private sectors. We have presented these lawyers view: Marilyn French WEIL, GOT- legal services, which support lawyers Through the Diversity and Inclusion with others, from various areas of the SHAL & MANGES LLP* Page 46 for the disadvantaged, public defenders Section, we also offer a mentoring pro- profession, to talk about what it’s like The Right Mix Of Practice and private lawyers who defend indi- gram. Approximately 45 lawyers are gents accused of crimes, and the District being actively mentored by seasoned working for the Massachusetts Attorney Areas And Skill Sets Enables General’s Office or the U.S. Attorney’s Proskauer’s Boston Office To Attorneys. All four of those groups lawyers from all practices, public and require different arguments to support private. Office, or being in-house counsel, so this Weather The Storm Interview: group can at least think about how they Steven M. Ellis PROSKAUER ROSE their cases for reasonable funding. can make connections to change jobs and LLP* Page 47 Editor: Have you undertaken any spe- Editor: Tell us about your work on the cial programs to assist lawyers in light what awaits them when they do so. The Above Partner With Corpo- diversity and inclusion front. of the economic downturn and a rate Counsel By Providing Us With changing professional landscape? Editor: Have you seen a greater par- Financial And Editorial Support. Regan: As you know, we are very com- ticipation on the part of lawyers in vol- * Supporting Law Firms mitted to advancing diversity and inclu- Regan: I’m glad you asked. We have an sion. One of my predecessors set up a umbrella program called Lawyers in Please turn to page 48 Page 48 The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel March 2010 pro se litigants present. us as officers to think about the execu- Corporate Counsel Organization Highlights Lastly, I would mention that opportu- tion of the strategic plan as a three-year nities aren’t always planned for – some- continuum. As the “Getting it Right” Letter From The Chair Of The Boston Bar Association times they walk in the door. In our case, report and the military legal services task it was a lieutenant colonel from the force show, initiatives are often so big To The Readers Of The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel: Judge Advocates General Corps of the and so complex that they rarely get done Massachusetts Army National Guard in 12 months. Longer term thinking Recently the Boston Bar Association released a new report, Getting It Right: who walked into the BBA’s offices, and leads to more cohesive programs for the Improving the Accuracy and Reliability of the Criminal Justice System in Massa- told us that soldiers and marines in BBA, which is a very complex and chusetts. The BBA Task Force that produced this report was appointed by the Afghanistan and Iraq were distracted dynamic organization. It also provides BBA’s immediate past president, Kathy Weinman, and co-chaired by David E. from their missions because of legal the staff with greater predictability about Meier of Todd & Weld and Martin F. Murphy of Foley Hoag, and consisted of problems affecting their families back what we are all trying to accomplish twenty individuals representing the broadest possible group of professionals from home – problems in many instances together. the criminal justice system. The Task Force was made up of senior law enforcement exacerbated by the economy. We have officials, a former chief justice of the Massachusetts State Appeals Court, a senior put together a diverse group of 25 peo- Editor: There has always been a scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory, a senior attorney ple, broken into subcommittees to better strong desire to provide pro bono ser- from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, leaders in understand specific issues. We are now vices to the underserved in Boston, the New England Innocence Project, chief counsel for the state’s public defender working to mobilize lawyers with certain going back to the days of John Adams agency, state prosecutors, and criminal defense attorneys, many of whom are for- skill sets to assist active duty, reserve, when he defended British occupiers of mer federal and state prosecutors themselves.

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