The State Bar of Arizona’s new Chief Bar Counsel is Maret Vessella, a 1989 Duquesne University graduate and a native of Ellwood City.

The Chief Bar Counsel oversees the State Bar’s Lawyer Regulation Department, ensuring that 16,000 attorneys permitted to practice in the state meet professional conduct standards.

Vessella will work closely with the Arizona Supreme Court on discipline proceedings. She will supervise the State Bar’s team of 40 lawyers and legal support staff.

Vessella already has extensive experience in the area of lawyer regulation, having worked at the State Bar for more than a decade and at the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel for three years prior to that.

She has been a member of the State Bar of Arizona since 1998 and the Pennsylvania Bar since 1992.

Vessella earned her law degree at Ohio Northern University in 1992 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 1989. She is a member of the Arizona Women Lawyers Association.

She and her husband, David McNeil, have a son, Noah, and live in Phoenix.

Duquesne University
Founded in 1878, Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation's top Catholic research universities for its award-winning faculty and tradition of academic excellence. The University is nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review for its rich academic programs in 10 schools of study for 10,000-plus graduate and undergraduate students, and by the Washington Monthly for service and contributing to students’ social mobility. Duquesne is a member of the U.S. President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for its contributions to Pittsburgh and communities around the globe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges acknowledge Duquesne’s commitment to sustainability.

This release was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Appointments & Awards, Student & Alumni Achievements.