The MSBA Board of Governors has named Raphael J. Santini as the Association’s President-Elect Nominee for the 2023–24 bar year.
Santini, who has been a solo practitioner since 1988, focuses his practice on defending people in criminal matters and representing injured parties in personal injury cases. He serves on the Board of Governors and is a member of the MSBA’s Solo and Small Firm Practice Section. Santini is also a member of the MSBA’s Budget and Finance Committee and previously served as a member of the MSBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Maryland Bar Foundation, the MSBA’s philanthropic arm, in 2022. Outside of the MSBA, Santini previously served as the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for Baltimore County Bar and is a member of the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association.
The Board of Governors also nominated Wm. Carl Isler to keep his position as Secretary and Marisa Trasatti to keep her position as Treasurer. Isler is Program Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation, a federally created nonprofit that funds and monitors free legal aid to low-income residents across the country. Isler previously served on a number of MSBA committees and as the chair of the Young Lawyers Section. He has held multiple leadership roles within the Maryland Bar Foundation as well, and is a past winner of the Maryland Bar Foundation’s Edward F. Shea Jr. Professionalism Award.
Trasatti is the Managing Partner in Cipriani & Werner’s Hunt Valley office. She focuses her practice primarily on civil litigation, with an emphasis on products liability litigation, including cases involving drugs and medical devices, and premises liability arising from alleged human trafficking. She has held several leadership roles in the legal profession, including serving as President of the Maryland Defense Counsel and as a member of the Judicial Disabilities Commission.
The above-noted nominations will be presented for a membership vote on June 9, 2023 at the MSBA’s Annual Meeting in Ocean City, Maryland. Current President-Elect, Jason DeLoach, Senior Litigation Attorney & Vice President at Alexander & Cleaver, will be installed as MSBA President at that time as well. DeLoach is slated to succeed David Shapiro as President for the 2023–2024 bar year.