Boston, MA— LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Michael S. Greco, a partner in the Boston office of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP (K&LNG), was today sworn in as the 129th president of the American Bar Association (ABA) at the close of the ABA Annual Meeting, held in Chicago.
As president, Greco will focus on three major initiatives that support the central goal of the ABA. First, he will lead a “Renaissance of Idealism” aimed at inspiring the legal profession to reinvigorate and revitalize the profession’s commitment to pro bono and public service work. He will also work to enhance civic education regarding the roles of our three branches of government, with a particular emphasis on highlighting the importance of an independent judiciary. Greco’s third priority will involve expanding access to justice to the disadvantaged and the poor, a cause he has championed throughout his career.
Peter J. Kalis, chair of K&LNG’s management committee, commented: “Mike’s civic participation at K&LNG is but one small dimension of his commitment to improve the circumstance of his chosen profession and our system of justice. His election as President of the ABA is the capstone of decades of involvement in the organization. Mike’s priorities as President mirror the priorities of his entire career, as he will seek to inspire a renaissance of idealism in the profession, to reinvigorate provision of legal services to the poor, and to educate the American public on important aspects of the rule of law. We congratulate him on this extraordinary honor.”
Greco, who immigrated to America from Italy as a young boy, is the first ABA president to be born outside the United States. Over the past several decades, Greco’s involvement in the ABA has included service in the ABA House of Delegates since 1985 and as State Delegate from Massachusetts since 1993. He has chaired the association’s Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary and its Individual Rights and Responsibilities section. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Greco was appointed to the ABA Task Force on Terrorism and the Law, which provided analysis of legislation that resulted in the U.S. Patriot Act, and he helped develop ABA policy regarding the use of military tribunals to try suspected terrorists. He also served on the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security.
Greco is a trial lawyer with more than 30 years of litigation experience in business, employment and real estate law. He has also served as mediator and arbitrator in complex business and other disputes on both the state and national levels. He joined K&LNG in 2003, after 30 years as partner with Hill & Barlow of Boston.
Greco earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1972, and his B.A. in English from Princeton University in 1965. Raised in Hinsdale, Ill., Greco and his family have resided in Wellesley Hills, Mass., for the past 30 years
