North End resident to serve as secretary of the Mass. Bar Association

North End resident Douglas K. Sheff has been elected secretary of the Massachusetts Bar Association for the 2008-09 year, beginning on Sept. 1. Sheff is senior partner of Sheff Law Offices in Boston, where he specializes in all aspects of personal injury law and is considered an expert in brain injury law.

A past president of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, Sheff has been appointed Trustee of the National College of Advocacy, which provides superior education and training for trial lawyers across the United States. He is also a director of the Belli Society, a recognized group of outstanding trial attorneys, and has been awarded the ORT award for integrity in the law.

A five-time recipient of the American Association for Justice’s Wiedemann Wysocki Award, Sheff was elected by his peers nationally to chair the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s 100 State Delegates. Sheff has also served as chair of the AAJ’s Council of Presidents. AAJ is the largest trial bar association in the world, representing 50,000 attorneys in the United States alone.

Sheff received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1980 and went on to earn his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1984.

Alongside Sheff, the other 2008-09 MBA officers include: Edward W. McIntyre, president, Clinton; Valerie A. Yarashus, president-elect, Boston; Robert L. Holloway, Jr., vice president, Peabody; and Denise Squillante, treasurer, Fall River.

Incorporated in 1911, the Massachusetts Bar Association is a non-profit organization that serves the legal profession and the public by promoting the administration of justice, legal education, professional excellence and respect for the law. The MBA represents a diverse group of attorneys, judges and legal professionals across the commonwealth.

© Regional Review, Tuesday August 26, 2008.