Press Release  Board of Bar Overseers Announces New Leadership Role

BOSTON, MA — The Board of Bar Overseers today announced that it has appointed Attorney Stacey Best to serve in the newly created position of Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the BBO. 

The Board created the DEI role after adopting recommendations made by the BBO Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Formed in the fall of 2020, the BBO Task Force was charged with making recommendations to the Board of steps it could take to improve awareness in the disciplinary process and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. 

Attorney Best has been an assistant bar counsel in the Massachusetts Office of Bar Counsel, Board of Bar Overseers of the Supreme Judicial Court (BBO) since 2003. At the Office of Bar Counsel, Attorney Best investigated alleged violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct and litigated all stages of the disciplinary proceedings including all appeals. Since 2014, she has handled several prosecutorial misconduct cases presenting different factual and legal issues. 

Attorney Best began her career as a staff attorney in the trial division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS). She tried cases in the District and Superior Courts representing indigent clients charged with felonies. Attorney Best is also a former clinical instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI) at Harvard Law School, where several of her students tried cases. She has mentored and taught in a variety of settings including CLE, bar associations and law schools.

Using her deep knowledge and experience with the BBO, Attorney Best’s mission will be to lead strategic development and day-to-day advancement of DEI concepts in bar regulation in Massachusetts and within the BBO. 

The BBO has initiated a recruiting process to fill several vacant positions across its operations and expects the appointment of a Director of DEI to be a next step in its strategic effort to achieve a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

The Board of Bar Overseers and the Office of the Bar Counsel were established by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1974 as independent administrative bodies to investigate and evaluate complaints against lawyers.

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