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AMBASSADOR JOHN MARSHALL EVANS FEATURED
AT ARMENIAN BAR ASSOCIATION’S 19TH ANNUAL NATIONAL
MEETING IN NEW YORK CITY, MAY 2-4, 2008
John Marshall Evans, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, was welcomed with a standing ovation by over 100 legal scholars, law professors, law school deans, judges and lawyers from throughout the United States, Canada, France and Armenia, as he was the keynote speaker at the Armenian Bar Association’s (ArmenBar) 19th Annual National Meeting May 2-4, 2008 in New York City.
The conference was punctuated by legal seminars, receptions and a meeting of the Board of Governors. The meeting took place on May 3 at the Stately New York City Bar Association building in Manhattan.
“Our 19th Annual Meeting was nothing less than spectacular, and provided our members with access to some of the brightest speakers the legal community has to offer,” said Sonya Nersessian from Boston, the newly elected Chair of the Armenian Bar. “We will strive in the coming year to continue our efforts at home and follow through with our projects abroad. We hope to capitalize on the momentum created by this meeting and continue to expand our membership and community based programs,” she said.
Those in attendance received an unexpected bonus when U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone addressed the attendees at the meeting luncheon. Pallone, a democrat from New Jersey, is the Co-Chair of the Armenian Caucus, an Honorary Member of ArmenBar, and one of the most vocal proponents in congress for issues relating to Armenia. He updated the group on the efforts of the Armenian Caucus in the House of Representatives and encouraged the group to be vigilant and continue its efforts toward Genocide recognition.
Raffi K. Hovannisian, the founder of ArmenBar nearly twenty years ago, also made an unexpected appearance at the meeting, addressed the group at the luncheon and was met with a rousing response. Hovannisian praised the group for its continued hard work for the Armenian community and recognized Ambassador Evans as a man with tremendous courage and conviction. Hovannisian is the first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia and recently became the first Armenian from the Diaspora to be elected as a member of Armenia’s Parliament as head of the Heritage Party. He received an Honorary Member award at the luncheon.
Armen Harutyunyan, the Ombudsman from the Republic of Armenia, was another guest speaker at the meeting. He described the duties of his position: representing the interests of the public and ensuring the recognition of human and civil rights. He is appointed by Parliament, and spoke about the current landscape in Armenia. Harutyunyan was criticized by Armenian President Kocharian after the Ombudsman expressed concerns about the government’s use of force against peaceful demonstrators.
Lecture topics included “The Treaty of Sevres and its Significance to Modern Day Armenia,” “Selected Contemporary Ethical Issues Confronting Criminal Attorneys, Civil Attorneys, and International Commercial Arbitrators,” and “Financing the Armenia Lobby Effort-The Insider Players’ Prospective.” Each lecture panel will consist of legal experts, law professors, politicians and community leaders.
The Treaty of Sevres panel was moderated by Catherine Kessedjian, a professor at the University of Pantheon-Assas in Paris. She was joined by Ara Papian, the former Armenian Ambassador to Canada, David Nercessian, the Executive Director of the Harvard Law School program on the legal profession, and Dennis Papazian, a Professor Emeritus and founding director of the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan, Dearborn.
The panel analyzed the treaty which included an acknowledgment by the Ottoman government that it had committed crimes against humanity in the attempted extermination of the Armenians, and created borders delineating an Armenian state. The treaty was never ratified, and was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne. However, its significance to modern day Armenia lies in its value as an historical and precedential document.
Selected contemporary ethical issues confronting criminal attorneys, civil attorneys, and international commercial arbitrators was the topic of another panel. Mary C. Daly, Dean and John V. Brennan Chair of Law and Ethics at St. John’s University School of Law, was the moderator of the panel. Joining Dean Daly were Peter Kougasian from the New York County District Attorney’s office, who is a prosecutor from the bureau of special narcotics. In addition, Mark Movsesian, a professor of contract law at St. John’s University School of Law and Anthony P. Colavita, the managing partner at L’Abbate, Balkan, Colavita & Contini, LLP, participated in the panel.
Hypothetical situations creating ethical problems were posed to the audience, which participated in discussing the potential dilemmas and their resolution. Zealous advocacy and the protection of client confidential communications without violating ethical rules was the theme of the lecture.
The third panel, dealing with financing the Armenia lobby effort, was moderated by Jared DeMarinis, the Director of the Division of Candidacy and Campaign Finance for the Maryland State Board of Elections. He was joined by Bryan Ardouny, the Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America; Jason Capizzi, the Executive Director of ArmenPac, the Armenian American Political Action Committee; Peter Kezirian, Jr. Vice President for corporate strategy and business development for the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc., Mutual Protection Trust (CAP MPT), Kate Nahapetian, Government Affairs Director of the Armenian National Committee of America, and Ross Vartian, Executive Director of the U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee.
The panel focused on efforts by lobby groups to influence politicians to vote in favor of issues relating to the Armenian community. A comparison of the effectiveness of the Armenian lobby groups, other lobby groups and the amount of income produced was also discussed.
The luncheon included the acknowledgment of Pallone, Hovannisian, and ArmenBar’s outgoing Chair Frank Zerunyan, who is the Honorable Mayor of Rolling Hills Estates, California. Zerunyan was appointed by Governor Schwartzenegger to the California Medical Board, and will be installed as the President of the California Contract Cities Association this month.
In a touching ceremony, an Honorary Member award was given posthumously to Illinois Judge Jack Hoogasian, who was a founding member and officer on the Board of Governors. Three-time past Chair Ann Lousin, a professor of commercial law at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, presented the award to Hoogasian’s wife Claudia and daughter Amy, both attorneys. The keynote speaker was introduced by the Master of Ceremonies, Vicken Simonian, also a past Chairman of ArmenBar.
Evans, who has had a distinguished 35-year career as a diplomat, gained notoriety in 2005 when he publicly used the word Genocide in correctly describing the fate of Armenians killed during World War I by the Government of Turkey. His use of the word Genocide was in contradiction to the policy of the Bush Administration and, as a result, Evans was dismissed from his post as Ambassador to Armenia, and forced into early retirement.
Evans spoke about recent developments in the Republic of Armenia and the issues of Genocide recognition and the prospects of obtaining redress. He then related the two issues to each other. He encouraged the group to press the case in the court of public opinion, to enlarge the constituency for support of the Armenian Genocide acknowledgment while keeping pressure on Turkey to take some form of remedial action. His speech was acknowledged by a standing ovation.
Following his remarks, he was presented with the “Hrant Dink Freedom Award” which is given annually by the Armenian Bar to a person who, like Dink, speaks out about the Armenian Genocide at great personal risk. The award is a replica of the Liberty Bell, and is symbolic of Dink’s participation in the Armenian Bar’s meeting in Philadelphia in 2006, four months before he was assassinated by Turkish extremists.
Joining the Ambassador at the meeting was his wife Donna and daughter Jennifer. Donna Evans is the past President of the World Affairs Council, and was presented with a signature Seeroon Yeretsian artwork by ArmenBar, with an inscription acknowledging her lifetime of community service and recognizing her as a tremendous role model.
Those in attendance earned 4.5 continuing education credits, as ArmenBar is an approved provider of CLE and MCLE credits in several states, including California, New York and Philadelphia. Attendees also had the opportunity to experience all of the attractions that New York has to offer, including Times Square, the Empire State Building, Statute of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza and much more.
The group will next meet in Las Vegas, the weekend of October 17-19, 2008 for its Midyear meeting and the 2009 Annual Meeting will be in Palm Springs.
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