News » Two NDLS alums vie for seats on University’s Alumni Board

By: Melanie McDonald
Date: December 18, 2007

Jim Ciapciak ‘88 JD of Walpole, Mass., and Brian Bates ’79 and ‘86 JD of Denver, Colo., are nominees for the 2008-2010 Alumni Board of Directors. All Notre Dame alumni will receive ballots in February.

Ciapciak served for nine years as president of the Boston chapter of the Notre Dame Alumni and is currently serving his 19th year on the Board of Directors. He is the founding and managing partner of the Massachusetts law firm Ciapciak & Associates, P.C., with offices in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Ciapciak is a contender for Region 11.

Bates is a longtime member of the Notre Dame Club of Denver, and has received the Club’s Distinguished Service Award and its Award of the Year. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Notre Dame Law Association. Bates practices at the Denver firm Antonio Bates Bernard Professional Corporation. Bates is a contender for Region 2.

Please see the bios of the two candidates for additional information about their careers and service below.

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James J. Ciapciak ‘88
Attorney, Ciapciak & Associates, PC
Walpole, Massachusetts

Jim served for nine years as president of the Boston chapter of the Notre Dame Alumni and is currently serving his19th year on the Board of Directors. Jim represented Boston two Alumni Senates at Notre Dame, at which the Boston Club won several awards as an “A” club.

In addition to organizing many club activities, one of his goals was to raise a million dollars for the Boston scholarship fund. He chaired and inaugurated the Notre Dame/Boston College Frank Leahy Luncheons for alumni of both schools, raising tens of thousands of dollars for the scholarship fund. Jim continues to co-chair the club’s annual golf tournament which has become the group’s major fundraiser.

A 1988 graduate of the Notre Dame’s Law School, Jim is the founding and managing partner of the law firm Ciapciak & Associates, P.C., located in Massachusetts, with offices in Rhode Island and Connecticutt. Jim is a contributing author to a law text book published by the American Bar Assocation, and has authored, published and presented at several ABA and DRI conferences. He is the Co-Chair of the ABA’s EBL Committee on Benefit Claims and his firm handles civil litigation and trial work for several Fortune Fifty institutional clients throughout New England.

Jim serves on the Board of Trustees for Xaverian Brothers High School, and is currently chair of the Advancement Committee. Jim also has participated in community service fundraising for Children’s Hospital in Boston, and help to establish the “Break the Cycle of Poverty” charitable organization, raising six figures to help, among other missions, single working mothers make ends meet. Also, for many years he has coached youth and school hockey teams and in 2004 was awarded the USA Hockey – Massachusetts Hockey “Coach of the Year” Award.

Jim lives just outside of Boston with his wife Kerry, his three children, Patrick, Casey & Kristen and his dog “Rockne.”

Brian Bates ’79 and ‘86 JD
Attorney, Antonio Bates Bernard Professional Corporation
Denver, Colorado

Brian is a “double-domer,” B.A. 1979 and J.D. 1986. He has spent his entire legal career in Denver, practicing continuously with Antonio Bates Bernard Professional Corporation since its founding in 1993. Before that, he was with the Denver litigation firm Pryor Carney & Johnson, P.C.

Brian’s professional practice is devoted in almost equal parts between business planning and general business counsel on the one hand, and pure commercial litigation on the other. He represents many physician group practices in general contracting matters. One of his points of emphasis on the commercial litigation side is the area of non-competes and non-solicitations.

A longtime member of the Notre Dame Club of Denver, Brian has served as a Director of the Denver Club for about 10 years. He has been the Club’s Vice President, and was its President for a three-year term. Brian has received the Club’s Distinguished Service Award and its Award of the Year.

Brian also serves on the Board of Directors of the Notre Dame Law Association. He was first elected as the Region 2 Director and served two consecutive three-year terms. He continue to serve as an NDLA Director on the Executive Committee, and is Chair of the Public Interest sub-committee, recently succeeding Paul Mattingly.

Brian is well-connected with other NDLS alumni in Colorado. They get together for social events, participate in the local NBC affiliate station’s “Law Line 9” (call-in program for legal issues), and more. The Colorado Notre Dame lawyers also sponsor two N.D. law students to work at Colorado Legal Services through NDLS/NDLA Alumni Funded Fellowship Program.

Brian and Sharon, his wife of 19 years, have three daughters (Erin – 16; Nora -15; Mary – 11). Brian is active in his parish, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lupus Foundation of Colorado. He also does informal pro bono matters on a case-by-case basis, and serves as a volunteer lawyer for Colorado Lawyers for the Arts.