Annual Meeting + Dinner
Tuesday, June 11, 2013Bravo Brasserie
123 Empire Street, downtown Providence FREE VALET PARKING is available in front of the restaurant, on Washington Street. 5:30 p.m. | Cocktail Hour (cash bar) 6:30 p.m. | Annual Meeting 7:00 p.m. | Dinner $40 per person (paid in advance with reservation form) PLEASE R.S.V.P. BY FRIDAY, MAY 31. 
Our Guest Speaker | Christine J. Engustian, Esq.Christine J. Engustian, Esq. practices primarily in the area of zoning, land use and development law. She graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1984 and is admitted to practice law in the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York and in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court (Mashantucket, CT) and Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court (Uncasville, CT). Christine was a partner in the long–established, Providence law firm of Gardner, Sawyer, Gates & Sloan where she was involved with real estate development projects covering a wide range of planning, zoning and land use issues including impact fees, building moratoria and inverse condemnation. Christine also worked in the Westchester branch of the Manhattan firm of Wormser, Kiely, Galef and Jacobs where she worked on real estate issues, including land use restrictions, transfer of development rights and eminent domain.
Christine started her own, solo practice in early 1995 in the City of East Providence, State of Rhode Island. She continues her land use work, as well as a general, civil practice. Her land use experience and practice includes the representation of clients before Planning Boards, Zoning Boards of Review/Boards of Appeal and other municipal boards, councils and committees, and on appeals of Zoning Board decisions to state courts. Christine’s specific responsibilities cover the preparation of applications or petitions (such as those for land development projects with commercial, residential and mixed uses; zoning variances; subdivisions; and zone changes); the coordination and review of project team documents to ensure that submission requirements are met and presented to the city/town in the appropriate form and manner; the presentation of the development proposal, and oral arguments for relief/approval sought, at meetings or hearings before the various municipal boards, including the qualification and examination of expert witnesses and the introduction into evidence of exhibits necessary to establish the record in the event of an appeal. She also has represented, and continues to represent, developer/owner clients before the East Providence Waterfront Special Development District Commission, which was created under the Rhode Island General Laws. In this capacity, Christine guides and advises the land development project teams (including the clients, engineers, architects and other professional consultants) during the application process, coordinates the submission of the application and accompanying plans and materials to the Commission, and is responsible for presenting the development proposal at the hearings before the Commission and its Hearing Panel and Design Review Committee. Christine holds the distinction of being the first attorney in the State of Rhode Island to earn the designation of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional (AP) from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally recognized standard for the design, construction and operation of high‐performance green buildings. She is a member of the Rhode Island chapter of the USGBC and the Rhode Island chapter of the American Planning Association. As a long‐standing member of the Rhode Island Builders Association, she presently sits on its Land Use Committee in order to support the construction industry and keep abreast of matters important to builders and the success of their businesses. In May 2012, Christine became the General Counsel to the Rhode Island Builders Association (the first woman to hold this position) and she continues to run her own law practice. From January 1999 to December 2008, Ms. Engustian sat as Deputy Judge for the Probate Court of the City of East Providence and was appointed Judge of the same court in December 2008, a part‐time position she has continued to hold to the present. Although a member of a number of bar associations, she is most active as a member of the House of Delegates and certain standing committees of the Rhode Island Bar Association, including Chair of the Public Services Involvement Committee, and as a member of the Board of Governors and Chair of the Scholarship Committee of the Armenian Bar Association, a national/international association. In addition to her involvement with professional organizations, Christine has cheerfully volunteered her time and resources since 1987 as a member of the Volunteer Lawyer Program of the Rhode Island Bar Association, which provides free legal representation to those who cannot afford to pay for such services. The Rhode Island Bar Association recognized Christine’s efforts and devotion to the Program by bestowing upon her the Pro Bono Publico Award in the year 2000 and the Continuing Service Award in 2009. Christine is also a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Elderly Pro Bono Program and U. S. Armed Forces Legal Services Project (Pro Bono). In December 2009, the Armenian Relief Society, Ani Chapter, honored Christine for her pro bono work helping disadvantaged people and also volunteering for her church and community. The Boston University School of Law honored her with the 2011 Alumni Pro Bono Award for her outstanding service to the needy and poor. Christine has applied her interest and expertise in land use law to public service as a volunteer trainer in Grow Smart Rhode Island’s “Making Good Land Use Decisions” and “Conducting Effective Land use Reviews” workshops provided to municipalities throughout the State of Rhode Island. Christine has been actively involved with high school, college and law school alumni committees and annually volunteers her time for the College of the Holy Cross’s alumni admissions program and fundraising campaign. On a local level, she is a very active member of her church, sits on the Board of Directors of the East Providence Downtown Business Association and chairs OpenDoors, a “non‐profit organization whose mission is to strengthen communities by supporting the formerly incarcerated.” She has been a member of ad hoc committees of the East Providence Senior Center where she continues to act as a volunteer lawyer when needed and she has lectured on legal topics at the Riverside branch of the East Providence Public Library. |
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