Marsha Veron Kazarosian

Concentrates in Personal Injury, Divorce and Family Law, and Discrimination Law.

President of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Marsha V. Kazarosian, has been named by Massachusetts Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top lawyers in Massachusetts for the seventh consecutive year. She has been identified as one of the top 50 Women Lawyers in MA and New England, one of the top 100 Lawyers in MA, and a Super Lawyer in both Family Law and Personal Injury Litigation by Law & Politics. Attorney Kazarosian has been selected for the Top Women Attorneys in Massachusetts list being featured in the April 2013 issue of Boston magazine based on her inclusion in the 2012 Super Lawyers® list (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.) In 2006, she was the Massachusetts Super Lawyers magazine's cover story, featuring her career biography and her climb to national recognition. Attorney Kazarosian also has a 10.0 Superb rating from AVVO.com.

In the Summer of 2014, Attorney Kazarosian was appointed by Governor Patrick to the Commission to Study Compensation for CPCS and ADA staff attorneys.

In September 2011, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly publication identified Attorney Kazarosian as a "Top Woman in the Law" in the Commonwealth, and named her as one of Massachusetts' Top Ten lawyers, noting that she obtained one of the ten highest jury verdicts in the Commonwealth in 1999. Attorney Kazarosian has also achieved a Martindale Peer Review Rating of AV Preeminent 5.0. Over the past two decades she has built a national practice representing clients in high profile media cases, making case law with precedent-setting issues in areas such as gender and disability discrimination, and police excessive force/civil rights litigation in the Federal Court. Since 1983, Attorney Kazarosian has developed a wide range of expertise in the areas of SEC Whistleblower Retaliation, discrimination, divorce and family law, and criminal and civil litigation. She is an experienced mediator and conciliator in the Superior, Probate and District Courts dealing with such issues as contract disputes, personal injury, and lender liability.

In 1999, Attorney Kazarosian and her associate, Janet E. Dutcher, Esquire, successfully sued the Haverhill Golf and Country Club for gender discrimination. This was the first case of its kind to go to trial in the country, winning a multi-million dollar verdict. As a result of much post-trial litigation and appeals that reached the highest court in the Commonwealth, their victory in Borne, et al. v. Haverhill Golf and Country Club, Inc. became a landmark case in the nation for gender discrimination in a country club/membership based setting. Attorney Kazarosian continues to fight against gender discrimination and has affirmed her stature as a leading litigator in discrimination cases.

In addition to protecting the rights of women and minorities in membership-based club settings, Marsha continues to fight sexual harassment in the workplace. She has also defended clients accused of discrimination. In 2001, she defeated claims of disability discrimination against the manager of a racquetball club who was sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the case of Kuketz v. Petronelli.

Attorney Kazarosian has also been involved in a number of high profile criminal cases, including one in which she defended a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in multiple federal criminal indictments. In 1990, she represented one of the three young defendants in the Pamela Smart murder case. Thereafter, she filed suit on behalf of all the boys in an innovative civil action against the Winnacunnet High School for negligent supervision of Pamela Smart. The national attention of the murder case inspired tremendous media coverage including two movies, one with Helen Hunt entitled Murder in New Hampshire, the Pamela Smart Case, and one with Nicole Kidman entitled To Die For. Attorney Kazarosian also appeared in the Oxygen Network series Snapped on the episode about Pamela Smart. It has also been the subject of an episode of American Justice.

Attorney Kazarosian is past President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA). She was recently appointed to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court's Access to Justice Commission's Committee on the Bar Examination, and is a Trustee of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. In 2011 she co-Chaired the Committee for the MBA’s Centennial Celebration that was held in June, 2011. In June, 2002, she became the second female President in the history of the Essex County Bar Association, the oldest bar association in the nation. She has also served a two year term as one of twenty-five lawyers in the Commonwealth appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Pro Bono Panel, and a six year term as a Hearings Committee Officer for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers.

In April 2005, Marsha debuted as the host of her own internet radio program called The Power of Attorney with Marsha Kazarosian on the Legal Talk Network, in which she and her guests discuss relevant legal issues as they unfold in our everyday lives. The shows are available for listening and downloading at The Power Of Attorney With Marsha Kazarosian.

Attorney Kazarosian is active in the continuing legal education for lawyers in both MA and NH, and teaches courses in for MCLE, MBA, and MATA. She has also spoken for national organizations such as The American Association for Justice, (formerly ATLA).

Attorney Kazarosian has frequently spoken at various organizational events, both nationally and within the MA and NH communities, including the 15th Annual NCWP Leadership Training Conference 2010, Feminist 2000 National Convention in Baltimore, MD, the Hye Achievers for the 21st Century, and the 11th Annual Armenian Bar Association meeting held in Washington, D.C.

In addition to the time that she invests in the community and in bar associations, Attorney Kazarosian shares her commitment to youth and the law by serving regularly as a Mock Trial Judge for high school, college, and law school students for Boston University, Boston College, Suffolk University, AAJ, ABA, and the MBA's High School Mock Trial Competitions. She has also been the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremonies for North Shore Community College's graduating Criminal Justice students.

She has authored several articles and legal treatises for West Publishing, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE), MATA, and others, including a treatise for West's Causes of Action series entitled "Cause of Action Against Private Clubs or Associations for Sex Based Discrimination," (West Publishing Co. 2002). Her articles include, but are not limited to, "Where's the Risk," where she discusses insurer fraud and the New Orleans disaster, and "Whatever Happened to the Right to a Fair Trial," published in the Boston Business Journal.