This summer, 67 Boston Public School students will start paid internships at Boston law firms, legal departments, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
While the sections and committees are wrapping up their work for the year, the BBA is preparing for a new group of professionals to take over 16 Beacon—67 Boston teens who will be participating in the BBA Summer Jobs Program. Next Thursday, employers will have an opportunity to meet the students who will be interning in their office at the first BBA Summer Jobs Program Interview Day.
Take a look below at the law offices who have committed to support our city’s youth by hiring a student (and in some cases, multiple students!) to work in their office this summer:
This is your last chance to sign up for the BBA Summer Jobs Program! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a Boston teen. Please contact Katie D’Angelo at kdangelo@bostonbar.org for more information on how your office can help.
Lawyers and judges from all over the city visit Boston public school classes to share their passion for the law with students.
Last week, you read about our successful Law Day in the Schools Program in this article. Our program wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of our volunteers who helped draft the curriculum and teach the sessions to 1,000+ Boston public school students. Beyond the Billable would like to thank the following individuals for donating their time to this program:
Curriculum Writers:
Jeremy Eisemann, Liberty Mutual Group
Dara Kesselheim, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Anuj Khetarpal, Committee for Public Counsel Services
Matthew Welnicki, Melick & Porter, LLP
Volunteer Teachers:
Warren Agin, Swiggart & Agin, LLC
Thomas Ahmadifar, Sullivan & Worcester
Stephen Brake, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Heidi Brewster, Biogen
Christopher Candon, Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green
Alison Casey, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Christine Chilingerian
Stephen M. Cohen, Choate Hall & Stewart LLP
Rebecca De Chellis
Joan Densberger
Ty Edmondson, Biogen
Nathan Edwards, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
Albert Elia
David Ferrera, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Sheila Flaherty
Tammie Garner, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Emily Gianetta, Jones Day
Galen Gilbert, Gilbert & O’Bryan, PC.
Daniel Gleason, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Marcia Gookin, Biogen
Alexandra Gorman, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates
Richard Goulding, Sullivan & Worcester
Jeffery Habenicht, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Yomarie Habenicht, Ernst & Young LLP
Brenda Hansen, Biogen
Richard Harper, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Kelly Haynes
Rachel Hershfang, Securities & Exchange Commission
Emily Hodge, Choate Hall & Stewart LLP
Erin Hogan
Yalonda Howze, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
Elizabeth Kayatta, Arrowood Peters LLP
Bethany Keating, Biogen
Sarah Kelly, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Dara Kesselheim, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Justin Kesselman, Supreme Judicial Court
Jennifer King
Lindsay Kosan, Supreme Judicial Court
Nathaniel Koslof, Sullivan & Worcester
Stacy Krause
Eric Lockwood
Anthony Low, Shapiro Law Group, PC
Stephanie Macholtz, Biogen
Andrew McArdell, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Jonathan Meindersma
Rakel Meir, Tufts Health Plan
Lisa Menelly, Raytheon Company
Laura Miller, Sullivan & Worcester
Rebecca Morton, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Maxine Norgard, Biogen
Elianna Nuzum, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Wadner Oge, Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners
Alexa O’Keefe, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Gregory Pakhladzhyan, American Student Assistance
Shirley Paley, Sonus Networks, Inc.
Michael Parran, Biogen
Kathleen Patton
Catherine Robinson
Nency Salamoun, The Victim Rights Law Center, Inc.
Jordan Scott, Strang, Scott, Giroux & Young, LLP
Gregory Shiferman, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates
Jennifer Sieczkiewicz, Biogen
Sophocles Sophocles
Alex Sugerman-Brozan, Segal Roitman LLP
Shagha Tousi, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Stephen Vander Stoep, Biogen
Robin Walker
Attorney Stephen Brake shares his knowledge of the law with middle school students at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School.
Seventy-seven attorneys are heading out to teach over one thousand Boston public school students of all ages about the Magna Carta through this year’s Law Day in the Schools Program. The Program, which aims to introduce students to the role of attorneys and the legal system, offers lawyers a way to engage with Boston public school students and share their passion for the law. While students in middle and high school drafted their own charters, elementary school students played a game and participated in a small group activity to learn about the importance of rules.
Attorney Emily Hodge teaches Bradley Elementary School students about why the Magna Carta is important.
If you want to see a closer look at the program, check out this WBUR piece on one of our volunteers, Emily Hodge’s (Choate Hall & Stewart LLP) session in a fourth grade class at Manassah E Bradley School in East Boston.
The BBA’s Summer Jobs Program places Boston high school students in paid internships at Boston law firms, legal departments, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
The BBA’s Summer Jobs Program has done it again! Last year, the program reached a record-high 64 summer jobs positions. This past week we secured another 64 summer jobs positions for Boston public schools students. Take a look below for the full list of employers signed on to the program this year:
Don’t worry, it’s not too late! There’s still time to get involved. If your office is interested in hiring or sponsoring a Boston public high school student please click here to learn more and contact Katie D’Angelo at kdangelo@bostobar.org.
This year the BBF will be funding 15 positions in legal service and government agencies.
As you may remember, the Boston Bar Foundation funds positions for Boston public high school students in government and legal service agencies each summer through the BBA Summer Jobs Program. This year, the BBF will be funding 15 positions—the highest number yet thanks to the help of a number of Boston-based law offices:
Arrowood Peters LLP*
Donoghue Barrett & Singal, P.C.
EMC
Hemenway & Barnes LLP
Peabody & Arnold LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP*
* Partial sponsorship
In addition to supporting Boston public high school students, these sponsored positions will also support legal service organizations and government agencies by providing additional help in a busy office environment.
So where will these student be working this summer? Take a look below at some of the placement organizations:
Committee for Public Counsel Services**
Legal Advocacy and Resource Center**
Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards
Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Massachusetts Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
U.S. Bankruptcy Court
U.S. District Court**
Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association**
**Hosting two students
Stay tuned throughout the summer as we update you on the students’ experiences.
Teresa (Terry) Alleyne highlighted the work of the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC).
Last Thursday, members of the Society of Fellows joined together and celebrated the end to Boston’s snowiest winter at the Fellows’ Spring Reception. After remarks by BBF President Lisa Goodheart, guest speaker Teresa (Terry) Alleyne, introduced the crowd to the work of the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), where she is a senior career counselor. As our long-time readers know, the BBA and PIC have worked together to place over 700 Boston public high school students in paid legal internships through the BBA Summer Jobs Program over the past 22 years. The PIC career specialists in each Boston public high school work tirelessly to select the best candidates for the program, help students with applications, and provide workshops to prepare students for their jobs.
Terry described her job as the best job in the world. She works with a new group of smart, quirky, funny, awkward students each year and gets to see them grow and develop, especially through their summer job. Terry talked about how the students will learn from everything single thing the lawyers do. They have so much to learn, that just by being around lawyers and professionals, they learn simply how to act in a world they have never been a part of before.
This summer the BBF will be funding internship positions for 15 students who will gain valuable paid work experience at non-profit community organizations, government offices and the courts. The support of the Society of Fellows paves the way for the BBF’s sustained funding of important public service initiatives, which not only benefit our community, but help to foster innovative and lasting partnerships between organizations like PIC and the BBA.
The many new faces at the reception highlight the tremendous growth of the Society of Fellows this year, which has welcomed 48 new members since September. These 48 new members join a community of over 400 attorneys who are committed to expanding access to justice, supporting legal aid, and enhancing our community through public service work.
Check out more photos from the event here:
Former BBA President J.D. Smeallie (Holland & Knight), BBF President Lisa Goodheart, and Michael Bogdanow (Meehan, Boyle, Blake & Bogdanow)
Members of the Society of Fellows at this year’s Spring reception.
Tom Gallitano (Conn Kavanaugh), Christine Netski (Sugarman Rogers), and Fellows Committee Co-Chair Jane Willis (Ropes & Gray)
Members of the Society of Fellows enjoy Hor d’Ourves and talk Summer Jobs at their Spring reception.
Last year, attorneys loved the opportunity to work with Boston public elementary, middle, and high school students through the BBA Law Day in the Schools Program.
Spring is finally here and the BBA is gearing up for the annual Law Day in the Schools Program. If you’re interested in sharing your passion for the law with Boston public high school students, don’t miss the opportunity to volunteer for this year’s program on April 29th, April 30th, May 1st, May 4th, May 5th, or May 6th. Volunteers will teach elementary, middle, and high school students about the theme, “Magna Carta: Symbol of Freedom Under Law” during one class period. Don’t be scared off if you can’t remember your high school lesson on the Magna Carta! Attorneys can volunteer in pairs, and we provide all of the materials needed to present on the topic.
The BBA continues to support the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program by placing Boston high school students in paid internships at Boston law firms, legal departments, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
You may remember this article, which highlighted the Mayor Walsh’s personal phone calls to employers asking them to hire Boston youth this summer. Well, the Mayor’s at it again. This time, he’s reaching out to the larger business community with a personal call to hire Boston teens through an article in the Boston Business Journal.
In the article he wrote, “We take pride in how highly Boston ranks in so many measures of success. But we also rank among the cities with the greatest inequality. We are fighting it on many fronts. But none is more important than getting our young people the opportunities they deserve. They are the next generation of Boston’s workers, innovators, and leaders. Help me prepare them—and us—for success. All they need is a chance.”
While 43 legal offices have stepped up to support Boston youth, there is still a greater need. Every year the BBA receives over 100 applications and we have to turn away talent and eager Boston public high school students because we don’t have enough positions. However, this is where your office can help. Are you interested in joining Mayor Walsh’s efforts to provide Boston teens with a valuable summer job? Click here to learn more.
Don’t forget to check out the list below to see if your office has already committed to the program:
200 attorneys came out to test out their gambling skills and to support the BBA Summer Jobs Program at the 6th Annual Casino Night Fundraiser last Thursday night.
Last Thursday night, the BBA replaced its meeting room tables with craps, roulette, blackjack, and poker tables for the Boston Bar Foundation’s 6th Annual Casino Night for Summer Jobs. As we mentioned in this post, 100 percent of the proceeds from the event support the M. Ellen Carpenter Fund to pay for summer jobs for Boston teens in government and nonprofit organizations each summer.
Thanks to our sponsors, ticket holders and our silent auction winners the BBF raised nearly $35,000 last night to support the BBA Summer Jobs Program, and put 13 students to work this summer! Click here to see a full list of the 2015 Casino Night sponsors.
This year’s event featured a raffle, snacks and drinks, and authentic casino games that gave the 200 attendees a chance to test out their gambling skills. As always, the famed silent auction table got heated as bidding wars broke out over prize packages including luxury box seats to the Celtics, hotel stays on the cape, and various Boston adventures. The most sought after package included a private butchering lesson at The Butcher Shop, a hand crafted cutting board from Birch Barn Designs and a gift certificate to the South End Formaggio that went for a winning bid of $450.
So who were the big winners of the evening? Rob Lashway (Floyd Advisory, LLC), Andy Caffrey (Birnbaum & Godkin, LLP), and Jen Lynn (Strang, Scott, Giroux & Young, LLP) “cashed in” the most chips at the end of the evening. However, the real winners are the Boston teens who get the opportunity to earn money and gain professional experience by interning in a legal office this summer.
The Boston Bar Foundation’s annual Casino Night helps fund positions for Boston teens at legal service and government agencies.
Don’t miss the chance to show off your poker skills and support a good cause at the Boston Bar Foundation’s Casino Night on March 12th. The offices of the BBA will be transformed into a two-story casino, complete with real game tables, professional dealers, a silent auction, live entertainment, and complimentary refreshments. More importantly, the proceeds from the event will fund internships for Boston public high school students working at legal service and government agencies through the BBA Summer Jobs Program. In addition to providing Boston teens with professional experience and a paycheck, the BBF funded students offer office assistance to organizations that need extra help but can’t afford to hire a student on their own. To get a first-hand account of our BBF funded students’ experiences, click here.