Officer Profiles

Lynda L. Laing, Esq., President

Lynda L. Laing, Esq. is President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. She is a partner at Strauss, Factor, Laing & Lyons concentrating her practice to creditors’ rights.  Lynda graduated from Albion College and earned her law degree from Case Western Reserve University.  She has been nominated as a “Super Lawyer.”  Lynda has taught numerous seminars for the Rhode Island Bar Association and other national groups.   She was chairperson of the District Court Bench/Bar Committee, the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, and the Committee on Limited Scope Representation.  Lynda is married to Thomas Lyons, Rhode Island Bar Association President 2007-2008, and has two daughters.

Mark B. Morse, Esq., President-Elect

Mark B. Morse, Esq. is President-Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island and the New England School of Law where he served as research editor of the New England Law Review. Mark lectures on a variety of legal issues, including ERISA litigation, evidence, subrogation liens, expert testimony, civil trial practice, the Rhode Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rhode Island domestic law.  He has volunteered as a judge to the regional law school mock trial competition, and acted as chief judge for the regional competition on multiple occasions. Mark served as Editor-in-Chief of the Rhode Island Bar Journal. He is a member of the Animal Law Committee, the Family Court Bench Bar Committee, the Superior Court Bench Bar Committee, and past chair of the Superior Court Bench Bar Committee and Annual Meeting Planning Committee. He also chaired the Subcommittee to Review and Revise the Rhode Island Civil Rules of Procedure enacted June 15, 2006. He is a fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation. He is past president of the RI Association for Justice and presently serves on its Board of Governors.  Mark is also active in the American Association for Justice and served as Chair of the State Delegates, and as a member of its Executive Committee. He has been nominated through peer recognition as a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters for twelve consecutive years in the state of Rhode Island. Mark was chosen by the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Commission to be co-editor of the Discovery and Depositions Rhode Island Practice Volume published in September 2010.  The publication was honored with an ACLEA's Best Award from the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) for outstanding achievement in the category of Best Publication. He is legal counsel to Defenders of Animals, the Friends of the Music Mansion, and The Feinstein Foundation.  In 2011, Mark was awarded the Dorothy Lohmann Public Service Award for his work with Defenders of Animals. Mark is married with three children.

Nicole J. Benjamin, Esq., Treasurer

Christopher S. Gontarz, Esq., Secretary

Christopher S. Gontarz, Esq. is the Secretary of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He is of counsel at Lynch & Pine, Providence & Newport, concentrating on criminal defense, ethics, and professional misconduct. He is a former Special Assistant Attorney General in the Rhode Island Department of Attorney General. He serves on the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel and was previously a commissioner on the Rhode Island Supreme Court Judicial Tenure and Discipline Commission. He is the 2008 recipient of the Dorothy Lohmann Community Service Award and the 2017 Joseph T. Houlihan Lifetime Mentor Award. He was chairperson of the Criminal Law Bench Bar Committee and was the president of the Newport County Bar Association from 1993 to 2007. He has represented the Bar Association on numerous legislative committees involving criminal law. He was elected to the American Law Institute (ALI) in 2017. He is the author of Sentencing in Superior Court, Guide to Superior Court Practice in Rhode Island published by MCLE, New England. He graduated from Salve Regina University, The American University, and The New England School of Law.