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Leadership in Public Law Dinner Discussion Series Begins Monday, April 2nd at 5 PM

State attorneys general are leaders in many large state and federal controversies. Their roles span the full range of law and public policy: crime, public health, consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental regulation. State attorneys general also act as the lawyer for their state government in state and federal courts. They occupy a crucial and contested space on the boundaries among the branches of state government and between the federal and state governments.

A new Rockefeller Center Spring 2012 dinner discussion series will study the opportunities for public leadership presented by these roles and address such questions as:

  • How do these officials define the “public interest” at stake?
  • What types of public action (executive, legislative, or judicial) may a leader choose to address a public issue?
  • How should the roles of the state and federal governments be balanced when they may conflict?
  • We will also discuss careers in law and government that present similar opportunities for leadership in public law. 
Our guest speaker for this series is Thomas Barnico '77.  Mr. Barnico served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1981 to 2010. He represented the state and its officers in civil cases involving constitutional law, administrative law, and business regulation. He has argued three cases in the United States Supreme Court, eighteen cases in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and 72 cases in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Mr. Barnico is currently Lecturer and Co-Director of the Attorney General Clinical Program at Boston College Law School, a program he has directed since 1989. He will be a visiting professor of law at Boston College during the academic year 2012-2013. Mr. Barnico received his A.B. degree, cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1977. He received his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Boston College Law School in 1980. He served as an Assistant District Attorney in Essex County (MA) in 1980 and 1981.
Weekly topics include: 

Sessions held every Monday in April from 5pm to 6pm.  Participate in one or all of these great dinner discussions.  RSVP using the links above.