Issue Watch #10 – Presidential Actions, Immigration Updates, News from the Courts & More

I know the latest developments from the White House, and elsewhere, can be difficult to keep up with. (“Head-spinning” is a word that comes to mind.) But this is the place to catch up on the news that’s caught our eye, and on where the BBA stands—this time including four new statements and three new executive actions, not to mention five new state judges, a local judge’s contempt ruling against an ICE agent, and our regular round-up of items.

BBA Reaffirms Opposition to ICE Courthouse Arrests

Against a backdrop of troubling immigration-enforcement actions in Greater Boston and nationwide—including last week’s detention of a Tufts graduate student, who was then whisked to Louisiana—a Boston Municipal Court judge yesterday held an ICE agent in contempt for his role in apprehending a defendant outside the courthouse mid-trial.

The BBA has opposed such enforcement actions in and around courthouses, and we co-authored an amicus brief in 2020 in support of two District Attorneys suing to stop the practice, based on protecting the sanctity of the courts as a branch of government, guaranteeing equal access to justice, and preserving individual rights.

Recent Statements

In case you missed it on Friday, the BBA issued a statement addressing the recent executive action against WilmerHale, emphasizing the importance of an independent legal profession free from government retaliation, stating:

“The BBA is proud to stand with WilmerHale as it challenges this sweeping Executive Order, as we support any firm in standing up to similar unjust efforts. The firm’s longstanding commitment to professional excellence, public service, and integrity reflects the very values that bind us together as a profession. Efforts to punish lawyers for doing their jobs are not just attacks on one firm—they are attacks on the rule of law itself.”

On Thursday, BBA President Matt McTygue spoke out in his President’s Page in support of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts, saying:

“These values are not just abstract ideals—they are personal to me. They shaped my own path in the legal profession and are essential to ensuring fairness, opportunity, and the extraordinary potential that each person brings to the practice of law. When I first became involved with the Boston Bar Association, I found a community that embraced these values – a place where I belonged and where I saw the power of a legal profession that welcomes and lifts up all voices. …

To every member of our legal community: You belong here. This is your professional home – a place where you are valued, where your voice matters, and where we stand together in our commitment to fairness, justice, and opportunity for all.”

The BBA has joined bar associations nationwide in condemning government actions that threaten the independence of the legal profession. In two recent statements—one with the ABA and another with a coalition of metropolitan, regional, and affinity bars—the BBA reaffirmed that all individuals and entities have the right to legal representation, and that punishing lawyers or judges for their work undermines democracy and the rule of law.

“If lawyers do not speak, who will speak for our judges? Who will protect our bedrock of justice? If we do not speak now, when will we speak? Now is the time.”

Concerns about attacks on lawyers, law firms, and the profession writ large were only heightened in recent weeks by…

• A White House memo that purports to target widespread misconduct within the profession and directs the Attorney General to “seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States or in matters before executive departments and [US] agencies,” with an eight-year retrospective review.
• A letter from the federal EEOC to 20 law firms, demanding information on their DEI practices.
• New executive orders targeting more individual firms, including some named attorneys—with Jenner & Block and WilmerHale last week the latest such firms in the President’s sights.

We will of course continue to monitor these situations, and brace for more—as I’m sure you are as well.

News from the Courts

New Judicial Confirmations to Probate & Family Court:

Laurel Barraco was Owner and Attorney at Callahan, Barraco, Inman & Bonzagni, representing clients in all phases of litigation pertaining to divorce, modifications, contempt actions, restraining order hearings, paternity suits, and adoptions, since 2016. She was previously a litigation associate in Mitchell Garabedian’s practice and a partner at Pollack Law Group.

Bethany Brown was Founder and Managing Partner of the Law Office of Bethany C. Brown, where for more than two decades she concentrated on family law, handling all facets of domestic relations and probate practice. She also served as a Union Representative with the Service Workers International Union Local 254.

Brian Salisbury was a Partner at Doherty, Dugan, Cannon, Raymond, & Weil, P.C., where his practice included all aspects of divorce and family law litigation, probate, and fiduciary litigation, serving in fiduciary roles, and serving as a Special Master, Discovery Master, Category F Guardian ad Litem investigator in domestic matters, a Category V Parent Coordinator, and a Category D Guardian ad Litem in probate/fiduciary matters.

New Judicial Confirmations To Juvenile Court

Jeannie M. Rhinehart managed the Brockton office of CPCS’ Children and Family Law Division (CAFL), carrying a caseload providing legal representation. Before her 10+ years with CPCS, she was a Case Manager at the Dimock Community Health Center and a Fraud Investigator at the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance.

Andrew Hoffman managed his own Boston law office for a decade, representing children, parents, relatives, guardians, and foster and pre-adoptive parents in child abuse and neglect proceedings in the Juvenile, Probate and Family, and appellate courts. He previously spent 16 years with CAFL, eventually becoming the Managing Attorney of the Boston office, and he also served as a member of the BBO’s Professional Discipline Pro Bono Panel.

Former First Circuit Judge Michael Boudin Passes Away

On Monday, March 24, 2025, Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit died at age 85. Judge Boudin sat on the First Circuit from 1992 until his retirement in 2021, including serving as Chief Judge from 2001 to 2008. He also spent two years as a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. His former colleague Judge Sandra L. Lynch, who once served as chief judge of the court—and is a past BBA President—stated:

“Judge Michael Boudin was one of the greatest federal judges of his generation, known and widely respected for his brilliance and wisdom. His work embodied the virtues of judicial restraint and showed extraordinary mastery of the doctrines undergirding the Constitution. His excellent opinions demonstrated respect for the legislative and executive branches and for the protections of individuals in the Bill of Rights.”

BBA Vice President Mark C. Fleming, one of Judge Boudin’s former law clerks, stated: 

“Judge Boudin was brilliant, kind, honest, a consummate teacher, an appellate litigator before anyone used the term, and the epitome of care, integrity, and wisdom in judicial decision-making.  We are so lucky that he devoted his life to the law.  I will never stop missing him.”
Early in his career, Judge Boudin clerked for judges on the US Supreme Court and the Second Circuit, was a partner at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

BBA Leaders Head to Capitol Hill

BBA President Matt McTygue and President-Elect Suma Nair will be traveling to Washington, DC, to meet with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation on April 9, as part of the annual ABA Day event, which brings together bar leaders from across the nation to advocate for shared priorities. This year, the ABA has selected as its top issues funding for civil legal aid through the Legal Services Corporation and bills to enhance judicial security for state judges and to create new judgeships in order to deal with expanding caseloads. In the next Issue Watch, we’ll report on how those meetings went, but you can also take part in Digital ABA Day by advocating for these (and other) measures from your own home.

Council Briefed on Healey-Driscoll Priorities

At last month’s meeting of the BBA Council, Governor Maura Healey’s Chief of Staff, former Council member Kate Cook, was joined by the Governor’s senior advisor Gabe Viator and deputy chief legal counsel Jesse Boodoo for a presentation on key issues of interest to the bar that the Healey-Driscoll Administration is addressing—among them the appointment of state judges. Cook told the Council that 63 had been nominated, with 61 confirmed—a number that rose to the full 63 the following day (see above). The trio also spoke on the Governor’s historic pardons and commutations and her issuance of new clemency guidelines, and they outlined the various ways that the Governor’s Office has been active in pushing back against, and protecting Commonwealth residents from, the actions of the new Trump Administration—an area in which they noted that Attorney General Campbell, along with officials across party lines in other states, had been very helpful.

Judiciary Committee Co-Chairs Named

Leadership of both houses of the State Legislature recently appointed co-chairs for various committees. Here at the BBA, most of the bills we are following are assigned to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, so we are always especially interested in those appointments.

Speaker Ron Mariano re-appointed Rep. Michael Day as the House co-chair. (Fun fact: Day—like Chief of Staff Kate Cook [above]—is a former co-chair of the BBA’s Civil Rights & Civil Liberties section. Feel free to use that one in conversation at the upcoming Adams Benefit!)

Meanwhile, the Senate President named Sen. Lydia Edwards as the new Senate co-chair. Sen. Edwards is a BU Law grad who prevously worked at Greater Boston Legal Services and also serves as a JAG in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. We look forward to working with them both on priority legislation this session.

BBA Budget Priorities

BBA President Matt McTygue sent a letter to the Chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, requesting support for five key BBA priorities as that body finalizes its proposed state budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026. These include:

1. $54 million in funding for civil legal aid through MLAC,
2. full maintenance-level funding for the Massachusetts Trial Court
3. $5 million for a permanent Access to Counsel program in eviction cases,
4. adequate funding for CPCS
5. and enactment of legislation on language access and inclusion.

The Committee is expected to file its budget bill in mid-April; it would then be voted on in the House before the end of the month, after which the Senate will take on the budget in May

Comments to the Courts

The BBA submitted comments recently to the SJC on proposed changes to their rules on e-signatures. Those informal comments, on behalf of the BBA’s Trusts & Estates, Family Law, and Business & Commercial Litigation Sections, make three main suggestions. These suggestions align with comments we filed last year, when a similar proposal—which has still not been finalized—was made with respect to the Mass. Rules of Civil Procedure.

Wishing you the best until next time—back then with a report on ABA Day, the House’s budget, and … the state of the legal profession, I guess.