Board of Trustees

MBF Fellow since 2002

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2006

Prior to joining Burns & Levinson LLP in January 2006, Jerry Cohen was a partner with the firm, Perkins Smith & Cohen LLP. He has more than forty 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. Drawing on this extensive experience, he is a neutral for JAMS.

Cohen is a member of numerous professional associations including the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He has served on the United States Patent Quarterly Advisory Board since 1987 and on the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. Cohen also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Massachusetts Law Review and is currently on the Board of Editors for both that publication and the Rhode Island Bar Journal. Cohen holds adjunct faculty positions at Suffolk University Law School and Roger Williams University Law School.

Cohen is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and George Washington University Law School. He is an Oliver Wendell Holmes Life Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1992

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2008

Robert J. Ambrogi focuses his law practice on media and new media law, arbitration and mediation.  A longtime journalist, he is the only person ever to hold the top editorial positions at both national U.S. legal newspapers, the National Law Journal and Lawyers USA. He is also internationally known for his writing about the Internet and technology.

Ambrogi represents a range of businesses and individuals in issues relating to print media, electronic media, and technology. In addition, he counsels businesses and individuals in employment matters.  An established professional in alternative dispute resolution, Ambrogi has been an arbitrator since 1994, focusing on labor and employment and securities disputes, as well as a mediator in a range of civil disputes. Ambrogi is also CEO of Ambrogi Legal Media, a media consulting firm serving the legal industry.

Ambrogi is a graduate of UMass Amherst and Boston College Law School. He is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1980

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2010

Janet F. Aserkoff is currently the managing partner of Rappaport, Aserkoff & Gelles, having joined its predecessor law firm in 1969.  She has concentrated her practice in commercial real estate matters.  Aserkoff serves as counsel to the original developers of Charles River Park, a mixed-use community in Boston, Massachusetts, and has served as general counsel to New Boston Fund since its founding in 1993. 

Aserkoff has served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Rashi School in Newton, Massachusetts, and is a founding member of the Boston Jewish Community Women's Fund. An active volunteer on behalf of Mount Holyoke, she chaired the Alumnae Fund's first million dollar annual campaign in 1976, has served on the Board of Directors of the Alumnae Association, and is the recipient of its Medal of Honor. In 2009, Aserkoff received an MBF President's Award for exemplary service to the Foundation.

Aserkoff is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Emory University School of Law.  She is a member of the MBF President's Circle.

MBF Fellow since 1994

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2010

Lawrence J. Farber is a solo practitioner specializing in landlord/tenant law, discrimination, wrongful termination, and general civil trials. Farber also conducts trainings on landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities.

Farber has given his time to many professional organizations including the Hampshire County Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Western Division Housing Court Bench/Bar Committee, and the Statewide Housing Court Bench/Bar Committee. He is a Past President of the Hampshire County Bar Association.

Farber is a graduate of the University at Buffalo and Northeastern University School of Law. He is an Oliver Wendell Holmes Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1993

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2004

Joseph P. J. Vrabel is General Counsel to BlaisCo, LLC, in Framingham. He was a Senior Partner for twenty-two years at the law firm of Bowditch & Dewey LLP, where he founded their Framingham office. Vrabel's expertise is 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.

In addition to his service to the MBF, Vrabel serves on numerous nonprofit boards of directors, including Longfellow's Wayside Inn, where he is the current President of the Board of Trustees. He was a Founding Trustee of Crossroads Community Foundation (now known as the Foundation for Metrowest).  He is the current Secretary of MCLE and a member of its Board of Trustees. Vrabel is also a Past President of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He has been the Massachusetts State Chair of the American Bar Foundation, served on the American Bar Association's House of Delegates and its Standing Committee for Continuing Legal Education.

Vrabel is a graduate of Lake Forest College and Boston College Law School. He is a member of the MBF President's Circle.

MBF Fellow since 2007

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2011

Jeffrey N. Catalano is a Partner at Todd & Weld, where he specializes in representing victims of catastrophic injuries in the areas of medical negligence, product liability, auto accident, class action and other personal injury cases.

Catalano is currently Vice President of the Massachusetts Bar Association, is a former chair of the MBA's Civil Litigation Section, and has served on the MBA's governing board, the House of Delegates, since 2006. He is also a member of the executive committee for the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA). Catalano is also on the board of directors for the non-profit law firm Health Law Advocates, Inc., where his pro bono work includes patient advocacy and representing chronically ill and impoverished people who are denied access to health care services. Catalano is a recipient of Boston College Law School's Commencement Award for Professional and Personal Achievement.

Catalano is a graduate of the University of Scranton and Boston College Law School. He is a Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1991

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2007

Judge Francis R. Fecteau was appointed Associate Justice for the Massachusetts Appeals Court in 2008.  Prior to his appointment, he served as Associate Justice of the Superior Court from 1996-2007.  Before his time on the bench, Judge Fecteau was a member of the firm of Healy & Rocheleau, P.C., an attorney in the Law Office of Lawrence Fisher, and an Assistant District Attorney in Worcester. He also worked for Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.

Judge Fecteau is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Worcester County Bar Association, where he served on the Executive Committee from 1981-1983.
He is a frequent panelist in continuing education programs offered by the Worcester County Bar Association and MCLE. 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. Judge Fecteau was honored with an Award of Judicial Merit from the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA).

A Massachusetts Native, Judge Fecteau is a graduate of the College of Holy Cross and Boston College Law School. He is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1995

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2006

Judge Anne M. Geoffrion was appointed to the Hampden Division of the Probate and Family Court in 2007, and currently serves as First Justice of that division. Preceding this appointment, she was an Associate Justice (circuit) of the Probate and Family Court Department beginning in 1998. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Geoffrion specialized in civil litigation with her practice concentrating in family law.

While in private practice, Judge Geoffrion 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.

Judge Geoffrion is a graduate of LeMoyne College and Western New England College School of Law. She is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1994

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2009

Judge Wendie I. Gershengorn was appointed to the Massachusetts District Court bench in 1983, and appointed to serve as a Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court in 1989. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Gershengorn served in a legal capacity at the Massachusetts Defenders Committee, the Massachusetts Parole Board, was Deputy Chief Counsel of the Ethics Commission, and served as a Federal Defender. She retired from the bench in May of 2011.

In addition to her service to the MBF, Judge Gershengorn was one of the founding members of the Women's Bar Association and elected Co-President Pro Tem in the organization's first year. In that position, she organized the initial meeting of what is today the Commonwealth's largest association of women lawyers.

Judge Gershengorn is a graduate of Ohio University and Columbia University Law School. She is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1996

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2008

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, Gleason's trial practice focuses on complex, technical commercial and intellectual property litigation, including particularly patent, trade secrets and non-competition cases.   Gleason has served as a long time member of the firm's Executive Committee, and, currently serves on its Pro Bono Committee. He also 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.

Gleason is a member of the American, Massachusetts, and Boston Bar Associations and 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, Gleason has long been active in the Boston Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and serves on the Executive Committee. He is also former counsel and a member of the Board of Directors for Wide Horizons for Children, Inc., an international adoption agency.

Gleason is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He is a Louis D. Brandeis Life Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1995

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2012

Richard J. Grahn's practice primarily involves litigation related to governmental enforcement actions and related claims in both civil and criminal proceedings. He represents companies, other organizations, and individuals in a broad range of investigations. Grahn also specializes in internal investigations for companies and their committees; privately held companies and non-profit organizations, including SOX whistleblower complaints, employee dishonesty and auditing and monitoring compliance programs. He has been Looney & Grossman's Managing Partner and is currently a member of the Management Committee.

Grahn frequently lectures and holds leadership positions in several nonprofit organizations, including the Legal Advocacy and Resource Center and the Coast Guard Foundation, Inc. He was also appointed a Special Assistant Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to investigate and pursue claims of contracting abuse arising out of the Big Dig construction project.

A Massachusetts native, Grahn is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Emory University School of Law. He is a Life Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1995

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2012

A founding partner of Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, Katherine A. Hesse concentrates her practice primarily in labor and employment and employee benefits law serving as counsel to individuals, business, government, and tax exempt organizations including hospitals, colleges, churches, and major private and public retirement and health plans. She is also an active practitioner in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, conciliation, fact finding and various forms of arbitration.

Hesse is past Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Boston Bar Association and member of the Labor Law Section Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association. She has served as president of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists and as chair of the Attorney's Committee of the International Foundation of Employees Benefit Plans. A member of the Editorial Board of Benefits Quarterly, she leads the team of attorneys who write its Legal-Legislative-Regulatory Update. An MCAD certified trainer, she frequently conducts training seminars for the MBA, MCLE, BBA, and for clients and other professional and business groups on employment and benefits related topics including sexual harassment and diversity.

Hesse is a graduate of Smith College and the Boston University School of Law. She is an Oliver Wendell Holmes Life Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1998

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2005, President 2008-2010

Laurence M. Johnson is an attorney and shareholder 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 thirty years, and has successfully represented numerous large and medium sized business corporations, including over fifteen Fortune 500 companies.

Over the past twenty-five years, Johnson has taught trial and appellate advocacy courses in numerous law schools and trial advocacy programs. 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. Johnson is also a Past President of the MBF.

Johnson is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University School of Law. He is a member of the MBF President's Circle.

MBF Fellow since 1993

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2012

Marsha V. Kazarosian's national practice benefits from her wide range of expertise in the areas of discrimination and harassment, divorce and family law, and criminal and civil litigation. She represents clients in high profile media cases, making case law with precedent-setting issues in areas such as gender and disability discrimination, and police excessive force/civil rights litigation in the Federal Court. She is an experienced mediator and conciliator in the Superior, Probate, and District Courts, dealing with such issues as contract disputes, personal injury, and lender liability.

Kazarosian is past President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA). Most recently, she was elected a Vice President of the Massachusetts Bar Association and chairs its Education Committee. In 2002, she became the second female President in the history of the Essex County Bar Association, the oldest bar association in the nation. She has also served a two year term as one of twenty-five lawyers in the Commonwealth appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Pro Bono Panel, as well as a six year term as a Hearings Committee Officer for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers.

In April 2005, Kazarosian debuted as the host of her own internet radio program called The Power of Attorney with Marsha Kazarosian on the Legal Talk Network, in which she and her guests discuss relevant legal issues as they unfold in our everyday lives.

Kazarosian is a graduate of the UMass Amherst and Suffolk University Law School. She is a Life Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1995

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2005

Kevin G. 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. Kenneally also specializes in products liability and complex litigation and represents corporations in all types of casualty claims. He has represented businesses in federal and state courts, in arbitrations and in mediation, and other forms of dispute resolution.

A member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, he 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, Kenneally currently serves as a member of the Arbitration Committee for the Boston Stock Exchange. Kenneally is a former member of the American Bar Association's House of Delegates.

Attorney Kenneally is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School. He is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 2001

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2005

Judge Antoinette E.M. Leoney is an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court, District Court Department. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Leoney served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, and was a Senior Litigation Associate with McKenzie & Edwards, P.C.

Judge Leoney also 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. Judge Leoney is a former President of the Women's Bar Association and the Women's Bar Foundation. She also served as an At-Large Delegate on the MBA's House of Delegates and as a member of the Massachusetts Trial Court's Gender Equality Advisory Board. Judge Leoney is a former Trustee and President of the Board of Trustees of MCLE.

Judge Leoney is a graduate of Lesley College and New England School of Law. She is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 1998

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2008

Edward W. 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.

McIntyre has held many roles and served on many committees within the MBA, including President, House of Delegates, Executive Management Board, President's Task Force on Judicial Evaluation, Judicial Administration Section Council (chair, vice-chair, and member), MBA's ABA Nominating Committee, Mock Trial, and Conversations. In addition to his active role within the MBA, McIntyre has served on the following committees, associations and boards:  Supreme Judicial Court's Clients' Security Board (chair, vice-chair, and member), Supreme Judicial Court's Pro Bono Standing Committee, Hearing Committee, Board of Bar Overseers, Worcester County Bar Association (President), Worcester Bar Foundation (Director), Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (Board of Governors), Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments, Worcester Courthouse Site-Selection Advisory Committee.

McIntyre is a graduate of Assumption College, Saint Bonaventure University, and New England School of Law. He is an Oliver Wendell Holmes Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 2000

Elected to MBF Board of Trustees in 2001

Robert V. Ward, Jr. has been a law school instructor since 1978, and served as Dean of University of Massachusetts School of Law Dartmouth from 1999 until 2011. His areas of expertise are evidence, criminal law, criminal procedure, prisoner's rights, homicide, and race and the law. 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.

Presently, 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. He 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.

Ward is a graduate of Northeastern University and Suffolk University Law School. He is an Oliver Wendell Holmes Fellow of the MBF.

MBF Fellow since 2005

Elected to the MBF Board of Trustees in 2010

Harvey Weiner is the Chairman of the Litigation Department at Peabody & Arnold LLP, where he has practiced civil litigation for almost forty years. He now concentrates his practice in the defense of lawyers, of credit unions, and of insurers in complex insurance coverage litigation around the country.

Weiner is Past Co-President of the Boston Inn of Court and Past President of the Massachusetts Association of Town Counsel and City Solicitors. He has served as Millis Town Counsel for over a decade. He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a member of the American Law Institute, where he has served on the Members Consultative Group for three different Restatements. He has been an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He has written and spoken on various law topics around the country for almost thirty years and has been a trial advisor for the Harvard Law School Advocacy Course for twenty-five years. Weiner served as a U.S. Army Captain in the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star (m). He is a U.S. Department of Veterans Accredited Attorney and is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He is a frequent participant in the MBA's Veterans' Dial-a-Lawyer program.

Weiner is a graduate of Harvard College, Columbia Law School, and the London School of Economics. He is a Louis D. Brandeis Fellow of the MBF.