Governor Donald L. Carcieri today appointed John D. Lynch, Jr., Esquire and Mark Heffner, Esquire to the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. The Speaker and the Senate President each submitted five names to the Governor for consideration.

Governor Carcieri thanked the Speaker and Senate President for their considerate choices for appointment to the Ethics Commission. “The names submitted by the Speaker and Senate President are exceptional, and I am confident Mr. Lynch and Mr. Heffner will serve with honor.”

John D. Lynch, Jr., of Warwick, is an attorney with the law firm of Lynch, Bernard & Lynch (formerly Lynch & Friel), where he has extensive experience in civil and criminal law before the Rhode Island Family, District, Superior and Supreme Courts, as well as appearing before the United States Federal Court, District of Rhode Island. Mr. Lynch is a member of the Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association, American Trial Lawyers Association, and the Kent County Bar Association, where he currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee. Mr. Lynch is a graduate of Boston College and received his juris doctorate degree from Nova Southeastern University School of Law.

Commenting on the appointment, Speaker Murphy said, “John Lynch is a well-respected member of the Rhode Island legal community. He will serve our state well as a member of the Ethics Commission and possesses the intestinal fortitude to do what is right and just.”

Governor Carcieri also appointed Mark B. Heffner, 54, of Barrington. Mr. Heffner, a graduate of Harvard College and Boston College Law School, is an elder law attorney. A member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys since 1990, Mr. Heffner has been a speaker at national elder law conferences, as well as frequent lecturer at Rhode Island Bar Association presentations on elder law topics. First elected in 1990, he served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives for five terms until his retirement in 2000.

“Throughout his service in the General Assembly, Mark Heffner has been a vigorous advocate for transparency in government”, Senator Paiva Weed stated. “Representative Heffner, working with Senator Michael Lenihan, worked to enact in 1998 a comprehensive reform of the State’s open meetings and open records laws. Mr. Heffner’s skills and experience will serve both the Ethics Commission and the people of Rhode Island well.”

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