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On Wednesday, September 7th, the BBA's State and Local Tax
Committee will host A Conversation with General Counsel of the
Massachusetts Department of Revenue, who will discuss the
status of state revenue and current and upcoming initiatives at the
DOR. The topic of an hour long discussion got BBA Week
thinking who BBA members would like to chat with one on one if they
had the opportunity, so we asked:
"If you could have a one
on one conversation with any historical or contemporary figure,
who would it be?"
If you would like to respond to a future Voices of
the Bar, make sure you send a headshot, and
contact Eric Fullerton at efullerton@bostonbar.org. |
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James Marcellino - Murphy &
King
"Shakespeare wrote centuries ago, but is
still, and always will be remembered for his trenchant
observations and elegant language. Ask just about any
high schooler and she or he will know something about
Shakespeare and his works, and even may hearken to the
favorite of many – Shakespeare's St. Crispen’s Day
Speech."
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Christina Miller - Suffolk County District
Attorney's Office
"I could easily spend an hour
talking with Molly Ivins. With statements like, 'It is
possible to read the history of this country as one long
struggle to extend the liberties established in our
Constitution to everyone in America' and 'I dearly love the
state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on
my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults,' she was
a wise, wise woman. If I could include Ann Richards, I’d
be in heaven!"
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Harlan M. Doliner - Verrill Dana,
LLP
"While the intriguing choices are infinite,
I’d opt for Franklin D. Roosevelt. It would wonderful to
get an insight into the intellect and personality of the
leader who re-started our economy twice, waged the largest
conflict in history, led four successful presidential runs and
managed to advance and reform the country’s domestic social
agenda all while fighting congressional obstructionism,
hyper-partisanship and false charges of advancing socialism
(sound familiar?). Of course, he did all this without
computers, e-mail, faxes, smart-phones or satellite
communications and while maintaining his humor, humanity and
daily cocktail hour, at which he maintained his skill at
whipping up batches of martinis for the West Wing
staff."
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George Cushing - McLane, Graf, Raulerson &
Middleton
"Ever since attending law school, I have
been intrigued by one of our Country's earliest serving
judges, Justice William Cushing , who served on the
Massachusetts colonial court, then the Massachusetts state
courts (including the Supreme Judicial Court where he served
as Chief Justice), and then as one of the original
Associate Justices on the US Supreme Court (where he declined
the nomination of President Washington to serve as Chief
Justice). Justice Cushing is not my ancestor - he had no
children - but we are members of the same family, which
settled in Hingham in 1638. Justice Cushing was one of
the few colonial era jurists who sided with the rebels in the
Revolutionary War (most returned to England) and he is
credited with having ruled in an early criminal case (in 1783)
that slavery violated the principles of the Massachusetts
Constitution (which states that "all men are born free and
equal") and thus would not be enforced here. He served
on the US Supreme Court from 1791 until his death in
1810.
I suspect that Justice Cushing had a very
different view from Chief Justice John Marshall, who joined
the US Supreme Court in 1800, of the role of that Court
in the American constitutional system. I think that it would
be fascinating to speak with him about his experiences and his
thoughts as a judge and as a citizen during that time
period."
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