Top 10 Things the BBA Is Looking Forward to This Spring

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…and we hope you are too!

 

     10.  Warmer weather

Let’s just start by laying out a universal truth: we’re all sick of snow, transit delays, freezing temperatures, and the concept of winter in general. Time for sunshine and roses, literally.

 

     9.  Outdoor activities

Hand in hand with warmer weather is the opportunity to take advantage of outdoor activities – like the 16th Annual Charles River clean-up. Soak up the sun while doing good for our city!

 

     8.  Law Day in the Schools

And speaking of doing good for our city – Law Day in the Schools is coming up April 29-May 6, centered around the theme of the Magna Carta. It’s a great way to volunteer your time to support Boston public school students…and particularly in the younger classes, it’s really, really cute.

 

7.  The spring edition of the Boston Bar Journal

No spoilers, but we’ve heard that there’s a great line-up of articles on the way. Catch up on your reading here.

 

6.  Bench-bar conferences…

The perfect chance to meet and ask those burning questions of our esteemed members of the judiciary. Our first one on the calendar is the Superior Court Bench Meets Bar Conference on April 6, along with the Young Bar Meets Bankruptcy Bench on the same date and Bankruptcy Bench Meets Bar in May.

 

     5.  …and spring receptions

The perfect chance to catch up with other attorneys! We have several lined up with more on the way, so once again, we urge you to keep an eye on that calendar.

 

     4.  Let’s not forget our affinity bar partner galas!

Our six affinity bar partners throw some pretty great events for the end of the year; not to mention, we’ll be capping off the spring with a multi-bar association mixer.

 

     3.  The end of the semester

For our law student readers who have been poring over their readings, spring signals the end of, well, seemingly endless studying. Now you can focus on career-oriented events, like our Essential Skills for Succeeding in Multigenerational Workplace (this one is for everybody) and several speed networking events.

 

     2.  That reminds us – plenty of networking opportunities (with a twist)

The BBA believes in getting groups together as often as we can over educational topics, pressing matters in the profession, and evening events. Of course, we like to spice these up when we can. Have you heard about the New Lawyers Scotch Tasting with the Junior Fellows, with oysters to boot? You have now.

 

     1.  The Law Day Dinner

Because seriously, have you seen this lineup?

Voices of the Bar 3-26-15: What is your favorite travel destination?

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In the wake of President Obama’s recent Cuba Initiative, the BBA is excited to present an all-star panel at March 30’s “Cuba: Open for Business” educational program. These experts will explore recent legal developments, including the sanctions that have been eased and those that remain; the broader landscape and history of the Cuban-American relationship; and new opportunities for engagement in business, educational, and cultural activities. The thought of these new opportunities inspired us to think about broadening our horizons – literally.

With this in mind, BBA Week reached out and asked:

“What is your favorite travel destination?”

Sam A. Mawn-Mahlau — Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C.
“Greece. The history is humbling, the food fantastic, the art everywhere, and the people and climate both hospitably warm. And the museums stay open late into the night.”

 

Vatsady Sivongxay — City of Boston
“I love traveling! My favorite destination is Laos because I get to enjoy the best foods with my family.”

 

Matthew Ball — Boston University School of Law
“My favorite travel destination is Ventura County, California, especially after this last Boston winter. North of L.A. just enough to avoid the congestion, it’s right on the beach with beautiful sailing opportunities around the Channel Islands. Hiking paths in the hills around Ojai, a short drive from Malibu, and most of all, In-N-Out Burger, make it pretty much the perfect getaway.”

 

Ellen S. Kief — The Law Office of Ellen S. Kief
“Foremost, my favorite mode of travel is cycling. Vermont, as a local destination, is beautiful, with rolling hills and miles of fields, farms, flowers, and lakes. However, currently we are still in snowshoeing mode!”

 

If you would like to respond to a future Voices of the Bar, make sure you send a headshot, and contact Gabrielle Guarracino at gguarracino@bostonbar.org.

Boston School March Madness Round 3

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This shouldn’t have been a surprise, but the second round of March Madness was even closer and more tense than the first. Northeastern staged an upset over BC, and the neck-and-neck race between MIT and UMass only broke at the last minute to see UMass edge into the final four.

But the biggest shock came from the Greater Boston bracket:

screenshot zoom1 zoom2

 

An unexpected tie!

We do have a tiebreaker rule, however, and we’re sad to say it’s not looking good for the Crimson, although we applaud their valiant effort. The fairest way to determine who advances was to count the total number of votes between two rounds, which left Harvard with 26 and Tufts taking the lead with a solid 30.

So we’ve moved from our Elite 8 to the Final 4. Who’ll take it all the way to the end?

Boston Proper

Boston University vs. Northeastern University

  • Northeastern University (61%, 11 Votes)
  • Boston University (39%, 7 Votes)

Total Voters: 18

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Outside of Boston

Umass System vs. Tufts University

  • Umass System (75%, 12 Votes)
  • Tufts University (25%, 4 Votes)

Total Voters: 16

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The Unexpected Power of a Good Headshot, and How to Get There

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We all know the feeling: you need to get your professional headshot updated into something a little sleeker and modern. You get dressed to the nines. You’re ready to go. In front of the camera, you take a deep breath, throw your shoulders back, and give it your best 100-watt toothy grin. You feel calm, cool – regal, even. You feel a little something like this…

lynx

…but in reality, you look a little more like this…

crazy cat 1

…or this…

crazy cat 2

…or maybe even this.

crazy cat 3

Something about being in front of a camera changes a lot of people. We go from well-adjusted, functioning human beings to something that looks like Dr. Frankenstein got a little too carried away halfway through and then gave up. We go from the Jekyll of our regular personas to the Hyde of our photographed selves. There are so many rules about how to hold yourself to put your best features forward – and the more you try to follow them, the more those features go running for the hills and your worst features decide to throw a party in their absence.

You also need to think about what your headshot says about you: the best professional headshots will communicate that you’re serious and competent, but also affable and approachable, with a background to match.

Never thought this hard about the psychology of your headshot before, or not quite sure if you believe in it? Let us prove it to you with the help of the BBA’s own Director of Communications, Kerry Crisley, who has bravely offered herself as a subject of our headshot What Not to Do portion and has personally provided candid interpretations of what her past headshots are really saying.

What Your Headshot Says About You

In the “no, never” category:

And in the “nice try, but still maybe not” category:

If you’re starting to feel a bit sheepish about your own headshot, don’t worry: as usual, the BBA has you covered. With the backdrop of the BBA’s classy-chic Claflin Center, we’ll be hosting a headshot photo shoot for BBA members from 2:00-6:00 on Thursday, April 2. Just sign up here, email Maggie DeMoura with your preferred time frame, and you can get on this level:

composite

p.s. here’s a picture of a kitten with a camera. Because – well, do we really need a reason?

kitten with a camera

Names in the News: Here’s Looking at You, Prince Lobel!

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Taking a glance back at the past couple of weeks, we wanted to offer a shout-out to a couple of names from Prince Lobel we happened to notice while perusing the news.

Tired of winter? So are attorney Amanda Schreyer and managing partner Craig Tateronis, quoted in an NPR story on the effects of the snow on the economy. We also caught the name of Council member Jeff Pyle in a Boston Globe story discussing public records laws.

It was great the see these familiar names quoted as experts in our reading. Moving forward, we’re going to keep skimming the headlines to see if we recognize any notable quotables — hope you enjoy!

Overheard @ This Week’s Export Control Risks and Regulations CLE…

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“Imagine yourself sitting in your office. You get a call from a big client of your firm – and the person says to you, ‘I just got a call from BIS. CBP just detained a package, and they said that I had filled out the EEI information incorrectly and listed NLR for the parts and the ECCNs were actually 2B230.’ And you say to yourself, ‘Why didn’t I let the associate get this call?’”

– Stephanie Siegmann (U.S. Attorney’s Office) on navigating the complex world of export-related acronyms and opening her presentation covering an overview of export laws.

Voices of the Bar 3/19/15: What’s your signature dish?

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You might’ve seen us mention “Tweets for Pizza” lately. For the curious: we’re asking students at our sponsor law schools (BC, BU, New England Law Boston, Northeastern, and Suffolk) to follow the BBA on Twitter and tweet #BBAtweetsforpizza at us; students who do so have the chance to win an exam-period pizza party. The BBA will also be visiting each school and offering a second chance to win for students who tweet a picture at our info desk.

With this in mind, BBA Week reached out to a random sampling of its members and asked:

“What is your signature dish/drink to serve at or bring to a party?”

Karen L. McKenna – Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C.
“Every year we have a party on the 4th of July (which also happens to be my birthday) where we serve our special smoked BBQ ribs, made by my husband in his Big Green Egg after being marinated overnight in my family’s secret BBQ sauce recipe, and either margaritas or “Mexican Mules” – a refreshing combination of tequila, lime juice and ginger beer. For a less time intensive dish to bring to parties or pot lucks, I often make my sour cream corn bread (it travels well and goes with everything) or cream cheese roll-ups, which are always a big hit with the kids (and the dogs!).”

 

Brad Bedingfield – Goulston & Storrs, P.C.
“Pigs in a blanket. The only parties I go to these days involve lots of grubby little kids, so it has to be quick, filling, and relatively easy to scrape off the floor.”

 

Elizabeth W. Kaloyanides – Robinson+Cole
“I love to bring a tray of my “YiaYia’s Macaroni and Cheese.” It’s very indulgent and always a crowd pleaser, but I cannot divulge my grandmother’s secret recipe.”

 

Daniel T. Janis – Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C.
“Exclusive craft locovore beer.”

 

Paul C. Bauer – Bowditch & Dewey, LLP
“My go-to choice for parties would have to be a hoppy, locally-brewed beer, typically from one of our craft brewery clients. I am no connoisseur, but I try to bring a beer that sparks conversation and tastes great.”

 

If you would like to respond to a future Voices of the Bar, make sure you send a headshot, and contact Gabrielle Guarracino at gguarracino@bostonbar.org.

Boston School March Madness Round 2

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Our members have spoken; the votes have been cast; and the results are in. Who made it to the second round of BBA Boston School March Madness?

 

Bracket2

 

You know what to do next…

Boston Proper

Boston College vs. Northeastern University

  • Northeastern University (61%, 17 Votes)
  • Boston College (39%, 11 Votes)

Total Voters: 28

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New England School of Law vs. Boston University

  • Boston University (62%, 18 Votes)
  • New England School of Law (38%, 11 Votes)

Total Voters: 29

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Outside of Boston

Umass System vs. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Umass System (54%, 13 Votes)
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (46%, 11 Votes)

Total Voters: 24

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Harvard University vs. Tufts University

  • Harvard University (50%, 13 Votes)
  • Tufts University (50%, 13 Votes)

Total Voters: 26

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BBA on the Road: Tweeting for Pizza

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The BBA is a historic institution with a proud history of ensuring access to justice, working in the community, and upholding the word of the law. It also happens to know how to throw a great party. (Anybody who needs proof of that can check out photos of Casino Night in our sidebar!)

This week, some of the BBA staff ventured outside the walls of 16 Beacon Street to visit a few of our sponsor law schools and offer some information about the BBA to curious students. And we figured — why not throw a party in the mix?

Thus “Tweets for Pizza” was born (or “Tweetza,” if you’re feeling punny). You can learn more information about the rules in this week’s Voices of the Bar question coming later today; for now, we wanted to share a photo gallery of students from Suffolk Law and New England Law Boston getting in on the fun and proudly declaring their desire for an exam period pizza party. But other students, don’t worry: we’re planning visits to our other sponsor law schools in the coming weeks.

And if you want to get in on the action early, start tweeting #bbatweetsforpizza @BostonBar now — because we’re pretty sure you’ll be jonesing for a pizza study break once exam period comes around.

Not Just Voices of the Bar — Photos of the Bar, Too!

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There’s a big week ahead for ‘Voices of the Bar,’ but we don’t want to forget anything that happened last week — including Casino Night, one of the most unabashedly high-energy BBF events, which not only transformed 16 Beacon Street into a two-levels casino but also raised money to provide Boston youth with summer job opportunities. Not a bad deal* right there, eh?

We hope you didn’t miss out on Casino Night; if you did, you can relive the magic by scrolling through our event photo album, linked to the right. Keep an eye on the sidebar, since we’ll be changing it up from time to time to feature different albums and events.

Stay tuned later this week for notable quotes, more photos, the week’s question, and of course, the next round of March Madness!

*even worse puns than this to be continued…