On Saturday, March 10th, Armenian Bar members and friends gathered together in Boston and Los Angeles for the Young Lawyers Committee’s inaugural event. Over a hundred joined in welcoming the newly formed group organized by Armenian Bar members from across the country, who are dedicated to providing entrees into public service and stepping stones towards professional development. The Young Lawyers Committee’s overarching efforts include connecting members from coast to coast, planning networking conferences, continuing legal education workshops and panel discussions of interest to the Armenian community.
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Several gathered together to mingle with our dynamic group of attorneys and local dignitaries, including our keynote speaker, Marsha Kazarosian and special guest, State Senator Joseph Boncore of the First Suffolk and Middlesex District. Ms. Kazarosian, a nationally-recognized attorney from Massachusetts who is notable for handling high profile cases, including the precedent-setting multimillion-dollar gender discrimination verdict closely watched across the country against a prestigious country club in Massachusetts, addressed our members in person in Boston and live on webcam in Los Angeles. As she mentioned during her speech, that was the quickest she ever got to California. Ms. Kazarosian spoke about her bar involvement with the Armenian Bar Association, her former role as president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and the Essex County Bar Association, and how it shaped her into the attorney she is today. She explained how bar association resources provide guidance, services and benefits that enhance one’s practice and enriches people’s experiences in the legal field. Senator Boncore discussed how coming out of law school he joined many law associations and his involvement helped him find his way as a public defender and later learned that he was motivated to tackle criminal justice reform from a different position as State Senator. That is when he took a chance in 2016 and ran in the special election for the open First Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat and beat seven other candidates. He attributes his success to the many connections, resources and benefits his bar memberships provided him.
On a Saturday night, Senator Boncore explained that our attendees could have been anywhere else, but instead they were networking, connecting and expanding their horizons by attending this event. Ms. Kazarosian was impressed with the turnout and mingled with a room full of young professionals she says are destined for extraordinary things. The Young Lawyers Committee encourages law students and attorneys in their initial stages of their legal careers to join the Association and become active and engaged in its upcoming events. Their plan is to keep the momentum going and to continue to host events from coast to coast.
On the West Coast, over 50 young attorneys and law students gathered at Momed in Atwater Village to partake in the Young Lawyers Committee’s inaugural event. All who attended expressed great interest, enthusiasm, and excitement about the Young Lawyers Committee serving as a forum where young attorneys can come together to exchange ideas, seek advice and support, network with one another, to develop into seasoned attorneys. The live webcam with Boston served as a testament to the Young Lawyers Committee’s goal to connect its members from coast to coast and be recognized as a truly national group.
Once again, we would like to thank our speakers who generously accepted our requests to address our attendees at our inaugural event. Thank you to our Young Lawyers Committee Chair, Grant Petrosyan, for taking the initiative to gather members from across the country and form the committee. Thank you Saro Kerkonian, Chairman of the Board of the Armenian Bar Association, Lucy Varpetian and Armen Hovannisian, Board Members at Large, for your invaluable contributions towards the committee’s success. Thank you to our Event Chair of the Los Angeles event, Allen Haroutounian, and planning sub-committee members for the Boston event, George Bahnan and Gregoire Ucuz, for helping put this successful inaugural event together. Lastly, thank you to our wonderful event sponsors CMBG3 Law Firm, and ADLI Law Group, PC: Marina Manoukian for your generous donations. We hope to see you all again soon at our next event.
-Seta Eskanian, Boston Event Chair