By Jon Chesto GLOBE STAFF SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Mark Smith (left) and Vincent Pisegna were frat brothers at the St. Lawrence University chapter of Sigma Chi. (Illustration: Chris Morris for the Boston Globe)
It’s not every day when the top officers at two of the state’s most prominent legal organizations are friends from college — let alone a college in upstate New York.
Vincent Pisegna, the new chairman of the Board of Bar Overseers, and Mark Smith, the new president of the Boston Bar Association, graduated from St. Lawrence University in the 1970s one year apart, both of them frat brothers at Sigma Chi.
Pisegna, a partner at Krokidas & Bluestein, and Smith, a partner at Laredo & Smith, grew up in upstate New York. But they fell in love with Boston early in their legal careers: Pisegna went to Northeastern University’s law school, while Smith got his JD from Suffolk University. After they both settled in the Boston area, they became close, often talking every few weeks.
“Once we reconnected, it was like old times,” Pisegna says.
Now, with their two new roles, they expect to talk more frequently. They’ll compare notes about issues facing their profession, as well as the usual topics like family and legal cases.
For the BBA, a big focus will be criminal justice reforms at the State House. Smith and his colleagues want to see lawmakers tackle issues such as minimum mandatory sentences and criminal background checks. Meanwhile, the BBO is focusing on improving the way clients are cared for after their attorney dies.
The two friends are also trying to bring their respective groups together to meet within the next few weeks.
“When you go to a small school like St. Lawrence, those roots run pretty deep,” Pisegna says.
Just for the record: The new president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the other big legal association in town, did not go to St. Lawrence. Christopher Sullivan graduated from Holy Cross before getting his law degree from Fordham.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com and on Twitter @jonchesto.
About Krokidas & Bluestein
Krokidas & Bluestein provides legal services in the areas of nonprofit corporate and tax and for-profit corporate law, health and human services law, real estate development and finance, property management, civil litigation, labor and employment law, public law and education law.
