Special to the Mirror-Spectator
WATERTOWN — Attorney Mark Geragos, the featured speaker on Monday, May 6, at the monthly dinner meeting of the Men’s Club of St. James Armenian Church of Watertown, MA drew an audience of over 500 men and women. The noted criminal defense attorney spoke about his new book, Armenian heritage, current events and the successful lawsuits against New York Life Insurance and AXA Corp. for claims on insurance policies issued to Armenians before the Armenian Genocide.
To help raise funds for their non-profit group, SOAR (the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief) volunteers set up an informational booth and sold scores of copies of Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal Justice System Works…and Sometimes Doesn’t, a new book co-authored by Mark Geragos and Pat Harris. Quite accommodating to guests queued up to have him autograph their books and pose for pictures, it looked as though Mr. Geragos was with his extended family and friends as he smiled, hugged, and warmly shook hands with an admiring fan club.
Middlesex County Sherriff Peter Koutoujian served as the master of ceremonies during the program and in his introduction reflected on the recent Marathon bombings saying, “We were Boston, Watertown and Armenian strong.” He described SOAR as a group that provides humanitarian relief to orphan children in Armenia, and introduced George Yacubian, SOAR founder and National President, who spoke about its mission, accomplishments and growth from its creation in 2006 to current 37 chapters mainly in the USA but even reaching out to Yerevan, Moscow and Berlin. Garo Arakelian of the SOAR Boston chapter also spoke.