Law students honored at ethics awards dinner

The Northeast Chapter held its third annual Law Student Ethics Awards dinner on April 12 in the intimate setting of the Union Club in Boston.
The Chapter created the awards program to recognize and encourage the ethical practice of law at the earliest stages of a young lawyer’s professional career, and at the same time to shine a spotlight on ethics more generally, demonstrating that the legal community values lawyers who are guided by ethical principles.
The award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship, is given to the six students, one from each of the six participating local law schools, who have demonstrated an early commitment to ethics through their work in a clinical program representing their first real clients.
After a cocktail reception and dinner, Professor Daniel R. Coquillette, the J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor of Law at Boston College Law School and the Lester Kissell Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, gave the keynote address. Professor Coquillette, a former dean of Boston College Law School, is the author of numerous works on the subject of legal ethics, including Real Ethics for Real Lawyers. His address drew from his most recent work, Portrait of a Patriot, the Major Political and Legal Papers of Josiah Quincy, Jr., and brought vividly to life events in revolutionary Boston.
In particular, he talked of Quincy’s brave representation of British soldiers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, reinforcing the fundamental notion that everyone is entitled to legal representation.
Following the keynote address, Fred Krebs, president of ACC Global, presented the students with their awards.
Underscoring the legal community’s support for the awards and what they stand for, the event was attended by many prominent judges of the state and federal trial and appellate courts in Massachusetts; deans and faculty from the participating schools; the presidents of the Boston Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association; the chair of the Board of Bar Examiners; general counsel from local companies such as Biogen, Hasbro, Timberland and Hood, and managing and senior partners from the 13 law firm dinner sponsors.
The presence of so many distinguished members of the bench and bar, the inspiring stories of the award-winning students, and the collegial atmosphere all made for a very memorable celebration. Now that the program is firmly established, the chapter hopes to expand it next year to include additional schools from the Northeast.