The Boston Bar Association (BBA) is happy to close out yet another successful pro bono month! Throughout the month of October, attorneys and law students expressed interest in our pro bono month programs. We would like to thank all our partnering organizations, including BBF grantees, and steering committees for helping us put on yet another great month of opportunities to give back.
Did you miss out on the BBA’s Pro Bono month events? Check out some of the Pro Bono month highlights below!
October 7th and October 13th: Two-Part Housing Trainings Session with Volunteer Lawyers Project
The BBA was happy to continue its partnership with the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP). This year, VLP trained attendees on how they can represent clients that are facing a housing crisis. The October 7th Eviction Defense: Basics and How to Get Involved provided attendees with a basic overview of the eviction process and the most common defenses and counterclaims that attorneys should be familiar with when representing their clients. In case you missed it, you will find a link to the October 7th training here.
On October 13th, VLP followed up their eviction basics training with their Representing Tenants in Housing Court Mediations training. In this session, VLP focused on the basics of negotiation and how to get the best results for tenants. In particular, the training covered Tier 1 mediation, the most common assistance that VLP provides tenants during their Lawyer for the Day program. After going over the basics, the attendees had the opportunity to out into small groups and put their trainings into practice.
October 12th: Pro Bono Naturalization Training
The need for pro bono assistance in immigration cases continues to grow. In order to help meet this need, the BBA hosted a pro bono naturalization training in partnership with Project Citizenship. The attendees practiced one-on-one interviews with pre-screened citizenship applicants to review Form N-400 naturalization applications. Did you miss the program but you are still interested in volunteering with Project Citizenship, check out the free recording!
October 14th: CORI Sealing Clinic
The BBA’s CORI Sealing Project, in partnership with Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), continues to be a success. The attorneys that attended our October 14th are now eligible to volunteer at a CORI Sealing Clinic. Missed the training session? Watch the recording!
We want to give a special thank you to volunteers who have participated in the project so far and we are looking forward to gaining more volunteers as the program year continues.
October 26th: Volunteering with Veterans Legal Services 101
On October 26th, the BBA hosted an introduction to volunteering with Veterans Legal Services (VLS). The program featured an experienced panel that provided the basics of working with the veterans and servicemembers community in Massachusetts and gave attendees a plethora of ways that they can get involved. Interested in volunteering with VLS but missed our program? Watch our free recording!
October 27th: Virtual Pro Bono Recruitment Fair & Open House
The BBA hosted a Pro Bono Recruitment Fair & Open House with Suffolk University. We had numerous organizations in attendance and a plethora of attorneys and law students interested in getting involved. Thank you to each of the organizations that participated and we look forward to hosting the event with Suffolk University again next year!
October 28th: How to be a Successful Pro Bono Attorney
The BBA’s New Lawyers Forum hosted a discussion on having a commitment to pro bono work as an attorney. The panelist discussed different pro bono legal service opportunities, how to balance a full-time workload with pro bono work, and various other essential topics. You can still learn how you can be a successful pro bono attorney by watching our recording here!
October 29th: A Survivor’s Perspective: On interacting with Systems Before, During, and After Being Trafficked
We closed out Pro Bono month with an information conversation between Jose Alfaro, a human trafficking survivor, and Julie Dahlstrom, the Director and Clinical Professor of Boston University Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program. Jose addressed his personal experience of being trafficked as an LGBTQ+ minor and person of color. Additionally, he addressed the legal systems he interacted with and the impact they had on his experience. You can watch this moving conversation here and learn how attorneys can better represent human trafficking survivors.
Clients receive day-of assistance on eviction day through the Housing Court Lawyer for the Day Program
October is Pro Bono Month, recognizing the valuable pro bono
contributions made by lawyers throughout the year, and aiming to increase pro
bono participation across the state in order to narrow the justice gap.
The BBA Council voted on Tuesday to recognize October 2019 as Pro Bono
Month and to “commend Boston attorneys for their ongoing pro bono
contributions, and remind all members that by engaging in pro bono work and
providing financial support they can make a significant difference in the lives
of Boston’s poor who would not otherwise have access to the legal system.”
At the annual Pro Bono Recruitment Fair & Open House, attorneys and law students meet representatives from local legal services organizations to learn about pro bono opportunities
Last year, the BBA trained over 200 attorneys to take pro bono cases in
civil appeals, veterans’ issues, housing, citizenship applications, education
law, and more. Meanwhile, more than 500
of our members dedicated their time to community service and pro bono work
through our public service programs –whether by helping clients at our monthly
CORI Sealing Clinic or by teaching elementary, middle, and high school students
about the importance of First Amendment rights and free speech in our
democracy. We are grateful to our
members for giving generously of their time and talents – and embodying the
spirit of Pro Bono Month all year round by delivering unique services to our
community that only lawyers can provide!
In April, BBA members learned about how to represent veterans pro bono in discharge upgrade cases.
This year, we have a robust set of activities planned for Pro Bono Month. We hope you will think about where you might be able to lend support in the year ahead, and plug into one (or more!) of the many volunteer opportunities we will be highlighting in October. Together, we can advance access to justice for all people in Massachusetts.
PUBLIC CHARGE ATTORNEY TRAINING Wednesday, October 2, 12:00-2:00pm, at the BBA Register here.
This free, in-depth training will provide Massachusetts immigration attorneys with information about the new Public Charge regulation, which takes effect on October 15. This training will help lawyers assess how the new regulation will affect their clients and determine case strategy.
PRO BONO TRAINING : CHAPTER 7 CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY BASICS Thursday, October 10, 3:00-6:30pm, at the BBA Register here.
This program will cover all aspects of representing a low-income consumer debtor in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case, and will qualify participants to take on chapter 7 cases pro bono through the Volunteer Lawyers Project.
PRO BONO RECRUITMENT FAIR & OPEN HOUSE AT SUFFOLK LAW Tuesday, October 15, 4:30-6:00pm, at Suffolk University Law School Register here.
The Pro Bono Recruitment Fair & Open House, sponsored by the Boston Bar Association and Suffolk University Law School, is open to law students and attorneys of all levels. Join us to learn about pro bono opportunities with local legal services organizations.
PIZZA AND PRO BONO: MASS LEGAL ANSWERS ONLINE BLITZ Tuesday, October 22, 5:30-7:30pm, at the BBA Register here.
Join us for a pro bono pizza party while we work with volunteer attorneys from Massachusetts Legal Answers Online and the Volunteer Lawyers Project to answer legal questions for low-income Massachusetts residents through the Mass Legal Answers Online website.
FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM VOLUNTEER INFO SESSION Wednesday, October 23, 3:00-5:00pm, at the BBA Register here.
Learn about how you can volunteer with the BBA’s M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program and help high school students across Massachusetts build the foundational skills to make informed and effective decisions regarding their finances.
PRO BONO TRAINING FOR ATTORNEYS TO HELP CLIENTS SEAL THEIR CORI RECORDS Monday, October 28, 3:00-5:30pm, at the BBA Register here.
Learn the skills needed to volunteer at the BBA’s monthly CORI Sealing Clinic and help low-income clients who have questions about their Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) records. CORI Records can pose significant barriers to housing, employment, and educational opportunities, so advising on sealing and expungement is an important way for lawyers to help.
Boston Bar pro bono and public service projects are made possible by funding from the Boston Bar Foundation.
Students listen to a presentation on financial literacy at the Boston Branch of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Since January 2019, more than 700 students heard from volunteer attorneys about the importance of finance and budgeting. The BBA is proud to have reached so many students through this statewide program and is grateful for the support of Chief Judge Melvin S. Hoffman, Judge Frank J. Bailey, Judge Joan N. Feeney (Ret.), Judge Elizabeth D. Katz, and Judge Christopher J. Panos, as well as the Hampden and Hampshire County Bar Associations.
This past year, over 100 volunteers taught in 9 schools and addressed
the interns participating in the U.S. District Court’s Nelson Fellowship and
the BBA’s Summer Jobs Program. Prior to the first sessions, the M. Ellen
Carpenter Financial Literacy Committee updated the materials provided to the
students, which include discussions on credit card spending, budgeting, and
financing “large purchases,” including automobiles, furniture, renting an
apartment, and paying for college.
Thank you to all this year’s volunteers who made the program
possible!
Hon. Frank J. Bailey, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Ana Balcarcel, Charles River Associates
Joseph Baldiga, Mirick O’Connell
Jeremy Bardsley, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Joshua Beiser, Liberty Mutual Group
Jesse Belcher-Timme
Tamarah Belczyk, Audax Management Company, LLC
Jessica Berrien
Janet Bostwick, Janet E. Bostwick, PC
Christopher Candon, Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green PA
Ariel Clemmer, Hampden County Bar Association
Michele Collins, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Gary Cruickshank, Law Office of Gary W. Cruickshank
Kathleen Cruickshank, Murphy & King
Elizabeth Downing, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Julie Evrard, Liberty Mutual Group
Andrew Farrington
Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Ret.)
Kate Foley, Mirick O’Connell
Eric Forni, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Maya French, Office of the Inspector General of Massachusetts
Jessica Galimberti, ACCION International
Henry Geberth, Hendel, Collins & O’Connor, P.C.
Robert Girvan, Weiner Law Firm, PC
Lane Goldberg, Goldberg Law
Pamela Harbeson, Board of Bar Overseers
Lee Harrington, Nixon Peabody LLP
William Harrington, U.S. Department of Justice – Office of the U.S. Trustee
Everald Henry
Rachel Hershfang, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Hon. Melvin S. Hoffman, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Jonathan Horne, Murtha Cullina
Hon. Elizabeth D. Katz, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Ryan Kelley, Pierce Atwood, LLP
Justin Kesselman, Arent Fox
Anna Kordan, Liberty Mutual Group
Eric Kornblum, Law Office of Eric D. Kornblum
Leah Kunkel
Cory Lamz, Buoy Health, Inc.
Donald Lassman, Law Office of Donald R. Lassman
Maren Law, Attorney at Law
Amy Lipman, White, Lipman & White
Lisa Lippiello, Olin Lippiello LLP
John Loughnane, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Cornelio Lozada
David Madoff, Madoff & Khoury LLP
Nora Marantz, Liberty Mutual Group
Alex Mattera, Partridge, Snow & Hahn LLP
Rose Miller, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
René Moniz, Partridge, Snow & Hahn, LLP
Catherine Neijstrom, Gilmore, Rees & Carlson P.C.
Andrea O’Connor, Hendel, Collins & O’Connor, P.C.
Robert Opsitnick
David Ostrander, Ostrander Law Office
Bridget O’Sullivan Somogie, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Securities Division
Maureen Pachucki, Liberty Mutual Group
Gregory Pakhladzhyan, American Student Assistance
Hon. Christopher J. Panos, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Danielle Panos, Liberty Mutual Group
Steffani Pelton Nicholson, Madoff & Khoury LLP
Steven Pohl, Brown Rudnick LLP
Cassandra Prince
Nestor Ramirez, Liberty Mutual Group
Louis Robin, Law Offices of Louis S. Robin
Alex Rodolakis, Fletcher Tilton, PC
Douglas Rosner, Goulston & Storrs PC
Adam Ruttenberg, Arent Fox
Natalie Sawyer, Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management
Mary Sharon, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Rosa Sierra, Brown Rudnick LLP
Jacob Simon, Simon Law
Christina Simpson, The Law Office of Christina Simpson
Stephen Smith, National Association of Consumer Advocates
Leslie Storm, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Leslie Su, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts
Erica Sullivan, Liberty Mutual Group
Mark Tanner
Rebecca Thibault
Jennifer Tracy, Liberty Mutual Group
Christina Turgeon, Law Office of Christina M. Turgeon
Steven Veenema, Murphy & King
Steven Weiss, Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, PC
Thomas Wilson, Dunn & Wilson
Keri Wintle, Duane Morris LLP
Jessica Youngberg, Veterans Legal Services
David Zou, Harvard Kennedy School
Marianne Zurn
The BBA is
pleased to welcome 23 attorneys to the 2019-2020 Public Interest Leadership
Program (PILP). PILP promotes civic
engagement and public service by advancing the leadership role of lawyers in
service to their community, their profession, and the Commonwealth. This impressive group of new lawyers, all in
practice for 10 years or less, will join a growing network of PILP participants
past and present, and will spend the next year developing leadership skills and
pursuing public service initiatives. You
can read about this year’s class below.
Charlie Ahern is Assistant Counsel in the Office of the Senate
Counsel to the Massachusetts State Senate.
After graduating from Boston College with a double major in political
science and Slavic studies, he began his career as a legislative aide to State
Representative Kevin Honan, who is the chair of the Legislature’s Committee on
Housing and represents the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston. Shortly
before entering Suffolk University Law School’s night program in the fall of
2013, Charlie started a job as an assistant at the government relations firm
Murphy Donoghue Partners, where he advised clients from a variety of industries
on navigating the legislative and regulatory processes in Massachusetts.
Upon graduating law school, he was promoted to an associate position at
Murphy Donoghue Partners; however, he wanted to use his law degree to go back
to the State House and continue his career in public service. In January 2019 he accepted the job of Assistant
Counsel in the Office of the Senate Counsel. In his current role, he works with the offices
of all 40 state senators and advises them on issues such as legislative
drafting, constitutional law, and compliance with the state’s ethics laws. He
hopes that his participation in PILP will open the door to further
opportunities to get involved in pro bono and public service work.
Julianne Campbell is an Assistant District Attorney in the
Appellate Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. In this
capacity, she represents the Commonwealth in a wide variety of post-conviction
criminal litigation and interlocutory matters in the Supreme Judicial Court,
Appeals Court, and trial courts.
Julianne also works closely in support of the Homicide Unit and other
felony trial units, providing legal and strategic assistance to trial Assistant
District Attorneys prior to and during the trial phase of prosecutions.
Before joining the Appellate Division, Julianne served as the
supervising Assistant District Attorney in the South Boston Division of the
Boston Municipal Court. As a prosecutor
in the district and municipal courts, she represented the Commonwealth in
pending criminal cases from arraignment through trial throughout Suffolk
County. Prior to joining the Suffolk
County District Attorney’s Office in 2015, Julianne was an Assistant District
Attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
Julianne received her J.D., summa
cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School, where she was a note editor
of the Suffolk University Law Review.
Julianne earned her B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross.
Andrea Carrillo is a Staff Attorney in the
Family Law Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), a non-profit
organization that provides free legal assistance and representation on civil
matters to hundreds of the neediest residents in the city of Boston and 31
surrounding cities and towns. Andrea represents survivors of domestic
violence in highly contested custody and divorce cases, with the aim of
empowering them so that they can take back a sense of controland
agency in their lives.
Prior to joining GBLS, Andrea was
a Staff Attorney at Community Legal Aid, serving Central and Western Central
Massachusetts, where she represented low-income individuals in family,
consumer, bankruptcy, and housing matters. As a pro bono attorney for De
Novo, Andrea began her legal career by representing a Spanish-speaking
Salvadoran woman in a removal hearing and won asylum for the client within four
months. Prior to practicing law, Andrea worked at CoachArt in Los Angeles
and served as a Planning Commissioner Vice Chair in her hometown, Baldwin
Park, California.
Andrea is a graduate of Boston University School
of Law, where she served as the Fundraising Co-Chair of the Public Interest
Project, a non-profit dedicated to help law students fund summer internships in
public interest, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of
California, San Diego. Andrea currently serves as a member of the
Steering Committee of the Women of Color Committee for the Women’s Bar
Association, a member of the legal services subcommittee of the Supreme
Judicial Court Steering Committee on Lawyer Well-Being, and a Clerk for the
Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys.
Edmund Donnelly currently serves as Area Manager for External
Affairs, State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for AT&T Services,
Inc. In this role, Edmund plays a lead
role in municipal engagement on permitting and siting issues related to
wireless technology. Additionally, in this role, Edmund facilitates the public
policy advocacy of the company at all levels of state government for
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Edmund
also leads AT&T’s community engagement efforts to bring training sessions
to local senior centers across Massachusetts to teach seniors how to avoid
consumer scams and develop their skills with technology.
Prior to AT&T, Edmund served as the Deputy Director of the
Massachusetts Broadband Institute, a state quasi-public agency working in
partnership with the Administration of Governor Charlie Baker to expand access
to broadband in 54 communities in western and north central Massachusetts. Edmund also served as an Assistant Attorney
General in the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General from 2010-2015,
serving in the Trial Division and in the Policy & Government Division. Edmund also served as a Special Assistant
District Attorney in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court. Edmund started his career in the
Massachusetts legislature, where he worked from 2004-2010, including during law
school, holding various staff positions for two members of the Democratic
leadership of the House of Representatives.
Edmund currently volunteers with Veterans Legal Services, providing pro
bono representation. In addition, Edmund volunteers as a youth hockey, Little
League, and soccer coach in the town of Andover. Edmund is a graduate of Georgetown University
and New England School of Law.
Robert Foster is an Associate at Meehan, Boyle, Black &
Bogdanow, P.C., where he represents plaintiffs in personal injury matters,
primarily those arising out of catastrophic injury or wrongful death. Rob
focuses much of his practice on trial litigation, but is also heavily involved
in complex brief writing and appellate matters at the firm. He began his time
at Meehan Boyle as a “co-op” student while in law school at Northeastern
University School of Law, where he received the Social Justice Scholarship
Award in recognition of his outstanding academic achievement and his commitment
to public interest work. He has significant experience in litigation, having
worked for the United States Attorney’s Office in Portland, Maine, and with the
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston. He also served as a
Judicial Intern with the Honorable Raymond Brassard in Norfolk County Superior
Court. Rob is a 2008 graduate of Colby College, where he received his B.A. in
English, and a 2016 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law.
Jessica Galimberti is Associate General Counsel at Accion, a
global non-profit committed to creating a financially inclusive world with a
pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. She has more
than twelve years of experience providing legal advice and support to non-profit,
for-profit, and government actors, with a focus on international development
and cross-border legal issues. Jessica’s responsibilities at Accion include
advising management and staff on corporate, transactional and compliance
matters and leading the organization’s enterprise risk management program. She
also manages the production, dissemination and forthcoming release of a second
edition of the “Client Protection Principles: Model Law and Commentary for
Financial Consumer Protection” to promote strong financial consumer protection
legal frameworks for underserved populations.
Prior to joining Accion, Jessica served as in-house counsel for a
passport and ID solutions provider, where she advised on international
contracting, compliance, and corporate restructuring matters. She previously
volunteered with non-profits advancing the social and economic rights of the Greater
Boston Brazilian community and advocating for equal educational opportunity for
low-income, immigrant, and language minority children. She also assisted in the
prosecution of consumer and securities fraud class action cases before law
school.
Jessica earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School and her B.A., cum
laude, in Political Science and Business Studies from New York University.
She is admitted to practice law in New York and Massachusetts. Jessica
currently serves on the board of The Welcome Project, a community organization based
in Somerville, MA, that builds the collective power of immigrants to
participate in and shape community decisions. She has been an active member of
the Boston Bar Association since 2015.
Richard Goulding is a Corporate Associate at Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP. His practice focuses on general corporate and business law, with an emphasis in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, securities, and corporate finance. Rick provides practical legal advice to his clients on a wide array of legal matters ranging from day-to-day operational questions to sophisticated financings and strategic expansion. He is also a member of Hinckley Allen’s Business Aviation Group and specializes in the areas of aviation, commercial, and real estate finance, serving as legal adviser to institutional lenders and borrowers in senior and subordinated debt financing and equipment leasing transactions. Rick also represents large financial institutions that provide trustee and agency services in secured and unsecured financing transactions, with a concentration on domestic and international project finance, corporate and municipal debt, mergers and acquisitions, and asset-backed securitizations.
Rick graduated from Boston College High School in 2004, Boston College
in 2008, and Suffolk University Law School in 2014. Before joining Hinckley
Allen, Rick worked as a Corporate Associate at Sullivan & Worcester LLP and
Legal Counsel at the Publicis Groupe.
Prior to law school, Rick worked as a White House intern on the National
Economic Council in the Executive Office of the President of the United States,
and currently serves on the Norwell Economic Development Committee.
Naitasia Hensey is an Assistant Vice President, Associate
Counsel at State Street Corporation where she primarily works in drafting and
negotiating contracts and other contract specific issues. She also handles
legal matters relating to institutional client-based services for multiple
areas of the company. Her work ranges from drafting third-party custody
contracts to negotiating event and sponsorship agreements, with the occasional
(fun) deep dive contracts remediation project. Prior to joining State Street,
Naitasia’s career focused largely on contract drafting, negotiation, and
management in the fields of healthcare, financial services, real estate,
regulatory & compliance, and intellectual property.
Naitasia’s involvement with the Boston Bar Association began as a
student. Since then she has found a home at the BBA and has enjoyed returning
for optional continued legal education and fellowship. Recently, opportunities
arose to serve on the 2019 Casino Night Steering Committee and as a
Member-At-Large on the Diversity & Inclusion Section Steering Committee and
she happily joined those teams.
Naitasia is committed to pro bono and community service work. She
volunteers with Project Citizenship to help immigration applicants, engages in
various community outreach efforts through her role as Justice of the Phi Alpha
Delta Boston Alumni Chapter, and interned at Halfar refugee and asylum camp in
Malta while in law school.
Naitasia is a graduate of Stetson University where she studied
psychology and communications, and then went on to receive an MBA from the
University of Phoenix while working full time. After relocating to
Massachusetts for the love of seasons, Naitasia pursued a J.D. with a
concentration in Intellectual Property law from New England Law | Boston as a
Charles Hamilton Houston Scholarship recipient and graduated receiving the
President Anna E. Hirsch Award for “dedicated service to fellow students, the
law school, and the legal profession.” She is now licensed to practice in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Meryum Khan is an Assistant Attorney General in the Fair Labor
Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. The Fair Labor
Division enforces certain laws that enhance the economic security of vulnerable
workers, including the minimum wage, timely payment of wages, overtime, and
child labor laws. Previously, Meryum worked as a labor and employment associate
at KP Law. Meryum began her legal career as a staff attorney for the Boston
Police Department, where she provided legal counsel to the command staff and
represented the Department in employment-related proceedings.
Meryum is an active member of the South Asian Bar Association of
Greater Boston (“SABA”), and volunteers with the SABA “Know Your Rights”
program to provide legal trainings for South Asian community leaders. She is
also an active member of the New England Muslim Bar Association. Having spent
most of her career in public service, Meryum is dedicated to community
engagement and advocacy.
Meryum is a 2011 graduate of Suffolk University Law School, a 2008
graduate of Syracuse University, and a 2004 graduate of Acton-Boxborough
Regional High School.
Tallulah Knopp is a Staff Attorney at the Volunteer Lawyers
Project (VLP), where she practices in the areas of consumer and employment law.
Tallulah represents consumers in defending debt collection cases and represents
workers in bringing affirmative cases for unpaid wages. In addition, she
mentors volunteers and new attorneys who provide pro bono representation to VLP
clients in consumer and employment cases. During law school, Tallulah worked
for the plaintiff-side employment firm, Fair Work, P.C. Tallulah attended
Northeastern University School of Law and always knew that she would go into
public interest work. Prior to law school, Tallulah worked in the restaurant
industry and was a worker-member of the Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC), a
group that advocates for restaurant workers through organizing and policy work.
Tallulah was raised in Cambridge, MA, where she still lives today with her
husband and daughter.
Cory Lamz serves as in-house counsel and Data Privacy Officer to
Buoy Health, Inc., a company that uses A.I. to help users start their health care
journey on the right foot. Cory manages the Legal team at Buoy, including
digital health, data privacy, intellectual property, product development,
regulatory compliance, employment, and transactional matters, as well as
government affairs and public policy efforts. Cory earned his J.D. from
Northeastern University School of Law, with concentrations in Intellectual
Property and Innovation, Business and Commercial Law, and Law and Economic
Development. During law school, Cory was a member of the law review and various
student organizations. Cory earned his MS, focused on data, creative economies,
and new product development within the music industry, also from Northeastern.
Previously Cory worked on the legal team at a weather data startup and as a
legal intern at Duane Morris LLP, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Autodesk,
Inc., Vibe Lab (formerly the Creative Footprint Project), and GLAAD. Before law
school, Cory worked as a journalist in Denver, Colorado. He earned his BA in
journalism and digital media from the University of Denver.
Cory is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and New York. He is a
volunteer mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay and a
member of the New York State Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar
Association, and the Boston Bar Association, where he is a member of the New
Lawyers Forum and the Diversity & Inclusion Section Steering Committee. He
is also the co-founder of Boston’s only recreational inner tube water polo
league, Boston ITWP.
ThyThy Le is an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of
Boston Law Department, where she is committed to providing the City with
unparalleled legal counsel with a focus on procurement and complex real estate
transactions. ThyThy provides counsel
for city-wide goods and service contracts as well as construction contracts for
capital improvements and maintenance of City property. Through her work and
belief that education is the cornerstone to ensuring that the City yields the
highest public benefit at all stages of procurement, she provides procurement
training to citywide departments. She continues to lead the effort on
procurement through oversight of the City’s standard contract documents and
practices, in coordination with other integral City departments to guarantee the
utmost level of protection to the City in any given transaction. In addition,
ThyThy represents the City in real estate transactions including acquisitions,
dispositions, and leasing. She most notably handled a complex transaction to
establish and construct a memorial park in a collaborative effort involving
state agencies and non-profit organizations from beginning to close.
Prior to representing the City of Boston, ThyThy worked as counsel for
a Fidelity National Financial real estate title insurance company where she
advised on title issues and insurability, and handled closings for numerous
multi-million-dollar commercial transactions. To meet the fast-paced nature and
demands of real estate, she was committed to provide clients with innovative
solutions in addressing title and insurability issues to attain skillful
execution and expeditious transactions.
As a longtime East Boston resident, ThyThy received her J.D., cum
laude, from Suffolk University Law School, graduated summa cum laude
from Northeastern University, and is a graduate of Boston Latin Academy, one of
Boston’s prestigious exam preparatory schools.
David Lyons is an Associate at Anderson & Kreiger LLP, where
his practice focuses on environmental and land use law, as well as litigation
on behalf of state agencies and municipalities. He has helped to secure
complex environmental permits, litigated under a diverse array of state and
federal environmental and employment statutes, and advised towns on adopting
new local legislation. David’s diverse pro bono practice has included
advising non-profits on environmental clean-ups, assisting individuals with
their immigration matters and claims for welfare benefits, and litigating
claims for access to public records.
David earned a B.A. from Yale University in 2008 and a J.D. from
Columbia University in 2014. Before law school, he worked on several
political campaigns and as a legislative aide for a member of Congress.
At Columbia, David served as the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journal of
Environmental Law and assisted several environmental non-profits through
the school’s Environmental Law Clinic. He also interned for a judge on
the Southern District of New York. After law school, David worked in the
San Francisco office of a large international law firm.
David joined the Cambridge Conservation Commission in 2018, and he is Junior
Fellow of the Boston Bar Foundation’s Society of Fellows.
Mathilda McGee-Tubb is
an associate in the litigation section at Mintz. Her practice focuses on complex commercial
litigation and arbitration across a variety of areas and industries, including
particular emphasis on defending class actions and serving clients in the
education sector. Mathilda also has an
active pro bono practice and was awarded the 2019 Richard Mintz Pro Bono
Award. She has worked on a variety of
immigration matters in a pro bono capacity, including developing impact
lawsuits in federal court, helping an immigrant secure release from ICE custody
after nearly a year of detention, and representing non-citizens seeking Special
Immigration Juvenile status. In
addition, she has assisted Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) in filing briefs of
amici curiae before the U.S. Supreme Court, for which she was awarded LCR’s Pro
Bono Award twice.
Prior to joining Mintz, Mathilda served as a
judicial law clerk, first to the Honorable Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court, and then to the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She also spent several years working in the
central administration of Columbia University on university policy,
communications, and events, as well as on providing services and programs for
U.S. military veterans.
Mathilda serves as a gubernatorial appointee
on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the regional planning agency serving
metro Boston, and as an at-large member of the Oberlin Alumni Leadership
Council. She is a graduate of Boston
College Law School, where she served as the editor-in-chief of the Boston
College Law Review. She also holds an
M.A. from Teachers College at Columbia University in sociology and education,
with a focus on educational policy, and a B.A. from Oberlin College.
Jeremy
Meisinger is an administrative law attorney in the
Boston office of Foley Hoag LLP. He
counsels clients on a variety of regulatory questions, in such contexts as
healthcare, data privacy, and energy.
Jeremy has substantial experience in advising
healthcare providers, insurers, and related entities on both Massachusetts
healthcare regulations and federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations. Jeremy’s data privacy and security work
focuses on helping emerging and established companies in developing privacy
policies, information security policies, and similar documents, both
proactively and in response to government and other investigations. Jeremy also
has significant experience in assisting clients under investigation by federal
and state regulatory agencies.
Jeremy’s pro bono experience has centered
around assisting the victims of violent crimes in obtaining protective orders
under G.L. c. 209A and G.L. c. 258E, as well as in opposing motions seeking
discovery of medical, counseling, and other private records in criminal
proceedings. Jeremy has also assisted
victims of violence from outside the United States in the process of procuring
release from immigration detention and obtaining asylum relief in federal
immigration court. Along with several
attorneys from other Boston law firms, Jeremy assists in the administration of
the Massachusetts Appeals Court’s Civil Appeals Clinic, which provides weekly
office hours to low-income, pro se
litigants attempting to navigate the appeals process at all stages.
Jeremy is a member of the Boston Bar
Association, and is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and Harvard
Law School.
Yavor Nechev is a senior
associate in the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group at WilmerHale,
where he focuses his practice on complex litigation matters in state and
federal courts and regulatory enforcement matters before the SEC and various
other state and federal regulatory agencies.
Yavor has represented algorithmic trading firms in SEC enforcement
matters and insurance companies in nationwide class action litigation. He is a frequent volunteer at the Volunteer
Lawyers Project’s Lawyer for a Day Program at the Boston Housing Court and
represents veterans in matters before discharge review boards. He also helps manage WilmerHale’s legal
clinics for the homeless, in conjunction with Lawyers Clearinghouse, and serves
as a mentor for law students through the Boston Lawyers Group.
Prior to WilmerHale, Yavor interned for the Hon. William G. Young of
the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from New York University, and his J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law
School, where he was a member of the Boston College Law Review and served as a
student attorney at the Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau.
Yavor was born in Bulgaria and grew up in Nashville, TN, and Boulder,
CO. He and his wife, Elizabeth, now live
in the South End in Boston and are expecting a baby boy in October.
Jessica Alfano Powell is an Associate in the Real Estate
Department at Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP. She advises nonprofit
organizations, operating companies, and developers in commercial real estate
and financing transactions, as well as in zoning, permitting, and other land
use matters. Jessica has dedicated a significant amount of time to pro bono
projects, including representation of a U.S. Army Veteran before the U.S. Court
of Appeals for Veterans Claims, for which she was recognized with a Civil
Rights Pro Bono Recognition Award from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
and Economic Justice. In addition, she
regularly advises pro bono clients in transactional real estate and land use
matters.
Jessica serves on the Real Estate Bar Association’s planning committee
for its annual fundraiser for Women’s Lunch Place and served as a co-captain of
Nutter’s Associates Fund Drive for Greater Boston Legal Services for several
years. After the birth of her son, Jessica donated several thousand ounces of
milk to Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, a nonprofit community milk bank that
provides donated human milk to babies in fragile health throughout the
Northeast.
Jessica received her J.D., magna cum laude, from New England
School of Law and her B.A. in Economics from Tufts University. During law school,
she clerked with the Honorable Robert B. Collings at the U.S. District Court of
Massachusetts and Commissioner Frank J. Scharaffa at the Massachusetts
Appellate Tax Board. Jessica grew up on the North Shore and presently resides
in Saugus with her husband, Mike, and their young son, Jamison.
David Rangaviz is a staff attorney in the Appeals Unit of the
Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS). His practice consists of indigent
defense in post-conviction proceedings, primarily before the Massachusetts
Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. He currently serves as a member
of the BBA’s Criminal Law Section and as co-chair of the amicus committee for
the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He clerked for
Justice Barbara Lenk of the Supreme Judicial Court, Magistrate Judge John
Conroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, and Judge Kent
Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before joining
CPCS, Dave worked as a trial attorney at the Maryland Office of the Public
Defender and in private practice at Zalkind, Duncan, & Bernstein LLP.
He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Brown University.
Blair M. Rinne is an associate in Brown Rudnick’s White Collar
Defense & Government Investigations Group.
As a member of the White Collar Group, Blair advises clients on complex
internal investigations and represents corporations and individuals in criminal
and civil investigations and related litigation. Prior to joining the White Collar Group,
Blair was an associate in Brown Rudnick’s Commercial Litigation Group for four
years. She handled complex contract
disputes and intellectual property matters.
She also represented clients in several zoning appeals and real estate
matters in Massachusetts state court.
Blair has also maintained an active pro bono practice. She represents clients before the United
States Immigration Court and the United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services in matters referred from Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Blair has also participated in KIND’s Expert
Panel alongside other attorneys in the Boston area.
Blair has a dual J.D./M.B.A. from Boston College. While at Boston College Law School, Blair was
a Note Editor for the Journal of Law & Social Justice (formerly the Third
World Law Journal). Prior to law school,
Blair worked as a litigation clerk at Finnegan in Washington, D.C., where she
assisted with a complex patent infringement trial and prepared for numerous
depositions.
Sajid Shahriar is an Equal Opportunity Specialist at the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Office of Fair Housing
and Equal Opportunity, where he enforces the Fair Housing Act and related
federal civil rights laws in the New England region.
Sajid graduated from Boston College Law School in 2016 and became a
Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at HUD before converting to a permanent
position in 2018. During his time as a PMF, Sajid conducted a six-month
rotation at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Civil
Rights Unit, where he gained valuable experience investigating systemic civil
rights cases involving sexual harassment, housing, education, employment,
healthcare, and voting accessibility. At HUD, Sajid monitors grant programs,
investigates complaints of housing discrimination against protected classes,
and negotiates conciliation agreements between parties.
Sajid is also the Executive Vice President of his regional union, AFGE
Local 3258, and represents AFGE as a Vice President to the Massachusetts
AFL-CIO Executive Council. In 2019, Sajid was honored to be chosen as Senator
Elizabeth Warren’s guest to the State of the Union Address, representing
federal workers affected by the government shutdown.
In his spare time, Sajid volunteers as a community organizer with the
nonpartisan Greater Boston Interfaith Organization around issues like criminal
justice reform, healthcare, and immigration. Sajid also sits on the board of
the New England Muslim Bar Association, which has collaborated with the BBA to
conduct networking and educational events for Muslim lawyers and allies.
Prior to law school, Sajid worked in the nonprofit health industry as a
development coordinator in the Greater Washington, D.C., area. Sajid attended
Northwestern University and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science.
Dave Soutter is an associate in the Litigation and Enforcement
Practice Group at Ropes & Gray. Dave focuses primarily on securities class
actions, government investigations, internal investigations and the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act. Dave represents clients in a variety of industries,
including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, medical devices, private equity and
technology.
Dave also spends significant time on pro bono matters, including
representation of clients through Ropes & Gray’s partnerships with Veterans
Legal Services, Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project, Lambda
Legal, and Project Citizenship. Dave, working with Lambda Legal, successfully
challenged Puerto Rico’s ban on correcting the gender marker on the birth
certificates of transgender individuals. In addition to ongoing pro bono work,
Dave is currently assisting a homeless client with sealing his CORI so he can
obtain better employment and stable housing.
Dave is a graduate of the George Washington University and Suffolk
University Law School. He is also a
Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserves.
Sharona Sternberg is a litigation associate at Sunstein Kann
Murphy & Timbers, an IP boutique located in downtown Boston. She
concentrates in intellectual property litigation and trademark clearance,
registration and enforcement. She has been involved in numerous patent,
trademark, and trade secret litigations in federal court and has represented
multiple clients in opposition and cancellation proceedings before the
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Prior to joining Sunstein, Sharona worked at
Willkie Farr in New York City as a litigation associate with a broad-based
general commercial practice. Her clients have included well-known
pharmaceutical, software, medical device, and international e-commerce
companies. Sharona has worked on a variety of pro bono matters, including
intellectual property, domestic violence and divorce, and asylum cases, and is
extremely active in her Jewish community. She is also the mother of three
little boys, which keeps her on her toes. Sharona has a law degree from Harvard
Law School and a B.A. in English literature from Barnard College.
Katherine Stock is an associate at Miyares and Harrington, where
she works with towns and private clients on a wide range of environmental, land
use, and municipal issues. In this role,
she has represented municipalities in administrative proceedings before the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Public
Utilities, as well as Massachusetts trial courts. Katie also advises municipalities on
democracy and open government issues.
Prior to joining M&H, Katie was both an intern and a volunteer
attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation.
Katie’s past work also includes internships for the Honorable Nathaniel
Gorton of the Federal District Court of Massachusetts, the U.S. Department of
Justice in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division, and the Klavens
Law Group, a clean energy practice.
Katie is also an active member of the BBA, having served as the New
Lawyers Liaison to the Environmental and Energy Law Section. She has
participated in several volunteer programs through the organization.
Katie holds a B.A. in Political Science from Northeastern University, magna
cum laude, and a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law
School. She received her J.D from
Northeastern University School of Law.
The BBA’s Summer Jobs Program is up and running, following a lively kickoff event on Monday, July 8.
The Summer Jobs Program, which is in its 26th year, places Boston public high school students in paid, seven-week internship programs in law firms, courts, legal services organizations, and government agencies. In addition to gaining work experience, the students attend weekly enrichment seminars through the BBA to help them gain professional skills and explore legal careers. This year, 36 students are working in 29 legal offices across the city. Six of these are public interest positions funded by the Boston Bar Foundation’s M. Ellen Carpenter Fund, with students working at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the U.S. District Court, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Summer Jobs student Isis Franklin and Clerk of Court Molly Sharon (U.S. Bankruptcy Court) at the Summer Jobs Kickoff.
At the kickoff event, the summer interns and their supervisors had the opportunity to participate in a workshop hosted by Health Resources in Action, focused on building successful professional relationships. Both the interns and supervisors shared their “life maps,” highlighting three key moments in their lives that helped them become who they are today. Then, they created “partnership agreements,” to set expectations and goals for their work together over the summer, and start a dialogue about how they can best communicate with and support each other. The workshop not only formed a great foundation for this summer, but also gave the students tools for building strong professional relationships throughout their careers!
On Wednesday, July 10, the interns participated in their first enrichment seminar, “Law 101.” Attorneys Katie Stock of Miyares and Harrington, LLP, and Nicole Phe of Nelson Mullins, talked to the students about the basics of the legal profession, including the path through law school, the functioning of the court system, and key legal terminology. The students then tested out their new knowledge in an exciting Jeopardy game!
The Summer Jobs Program is a longtime partnership between the BBA, the City of Boston, Boston Public Schools, and the Boston Private Industry Council. Since its inception in 1993, the program has helped more than 800 Boston public high school students find summer employment in law firms and law offices in our community. We thank our partners, and all of the employers that have hired students this year!
Paul Kominers, Samuel Dinning, Ray Doucette, Grant Glovin, and Ezra Dunker-Polier of Anderson & Kreiger; Brandon Schneider, Ryan Rosenblatt, Matt Bailey, Rachel Centz, and Jillian Friedman of Sullivan Law; and Gina Makarem of Boston College Law School volunteered at the CORI Sealing Clinic on July 3rd.
The BBA hosted its sixth CORI Sealing Clinic at the Brooke Courthouse on July 3rd. Since February, the clinic has assisted more than 50 people seeking to seal their criminal records. As CORIs can be a significant barrier to housing, employment, and educational opportunities, volunteering at the CORI Sealing Clinic is an important way that attorneys can offer their services to the public.
The BBA’s CORI Sealing Clinic takes place the first Wednesday of every month at the Brooke Courthouse. If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact Hannah Poor.
Thank you to Greater Boston Legal Services for partnering with us on the CORI Sealing Clinic!
Last week, the BBA’s Law Student Forum hosted a panel discussion
on managing mental health in law school in partnership with the BBA’s Committee
for Attorneys with Disabilities. The event, led and organized by Suffolk Law
Student Ambassadors Brittney McCartney and Jeremy Siegel, tackled head-on the
pervasive mental health issues plaguing law school campuses. Attendees of all
ages heard from experts, Marilyn Wellington (Board of Bar Overseers), Shawn
Healy (Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers), and Professor Lisle Baker (Suffolk
University Law School), as they gave their advice on law student well-being,
mental health, and bar admission. The panel also featured a question and answer
portion, during which a student panel shared their perspectives on the issue.
The idea for the panel came from student representatives on
the BBA’s Law Student Advisory Committee, who voiced concerns about the issue from
their respective student bodies. More specifically, New England Law students Philjay
Solar and Benjamin Cabezas felt the discussion was a necessary step towards
reconciliation after having dealt with suicides within their own student body
in the past few years. The two students issued the following statement
regarding the event:
“Those of us in law school are given the great pleasure of
learning the rule of law that governs our society. This endeavor however is not
without its pitfalls. The rigorous nature of law school and the emotional toll
it takes is well known. We at New England Law | Boston take mental health very
seriously. We’re proud to be working with the Boston Bar Association and our
fellow Boston law schools to help bring awareness and resources to our
collective student populations.”
Overall, the panel served as part of a long-overdue conversation within the legal community about an issue that affects many well before they ever begin practicing. The panelists emphasized that it is imperative that the bar continue to raise awareness around the issue. The diverse range of people in attendance at the event speaks to the fact that there is a widespread desire to finally erase the stigma of mental health issues within the legal community. The BBA is proud to have been able to help our students join this important discussion.
Seeking help? There are several resources available for those who may need assistance, including Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, which provides free and confidential mental health resources and addiction recovery support for law students and legal professionals. To learn more about Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, please click here.
Earlier this week, the BBA hosted an information session and alumni reception for its Public Interest Leadership Program. The program, which now includes nearly 200 alumni, is currently seeking applicants for its 16th class. At the information session, Rich Baldwin (PILP 2016-2017, Foley Hoag) described his experience in the program as both inwardly and outwardly fulfilling. Participants in the program meet twice a month and hear from guest speakers across a variety of public interest issue areas. These presentations and conversations enrich the PILP members’ understanding of their community and introduce them to new ways to volunteer and engage with service providers in the Greater Boston area. Additionally, PILP members are each responsible for planning and executing two meetings for the class, as well as working together toward a culminating project for the year. Baldwin spoke about how this project is a significant outward facing element of the program. Each class has the opportunity to dive into a public interest issue area and educate and support their peers and the public through the project. During Baldwin’s PILP year, his class organized and held a symposium at the Boston Bar Association focusing on Constitutional Battlegrounds: Civil Rights in a Changing Landscape. After hearing from Baldwin and BBA Staff, prospective applicants were able to mingle with PILP alumni and hear their perspectives on the program.
The application for the 2019-2020 class is available to download here and is due on March 29th. Applicants must be attorneys within their first 10 years of practice, public interest minded, and able to commit to the 14-month program, beginning in June 2019. Questions about the program or application can be directed to Cassandra Shavney at cshavney@bostonbar.org
Members of the first PILP class in 2003-2004 pose in front of the Boston Bar Association’s historic building, the Chester Harding House.
On September 27th, the BBA hosted a second training for attorneys and law students to learn how to present to immigrant communities about their rights. Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project’s Anita Sharma (Executive Director) and Courtney Snegroff (Community Engagement Manager) led the training, which provided an overview of the immigration executive orders from the past year, information on resources available to assist immigrants, and an update on DACA. PAIR first started holding Know Your Rights trainings around the community after the 2016 election. Since then, they have coordinated over 400 presentations and they continue to train lawyers to carry out these efforts. Thirty attorneys attended the training at the BBA and are now equipped to sign-up for a presentation through PAIR.
If you are an attorney or law student and would like access to a video recording of the training and to be connected with PAIR for this volunteer opportunity, please email Cassandra Shavney at cshavney@bostonbar.org.
Anita Sharma and Courtney Snegroff (PAIR Project) train attorneys to lead Know Your Rights presentations.
Citizenship Day in Boston is the largest citizenship workshop in New England. This year, Project Citizenship*, the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, Goodwin Procter, and Eastern Bank are hosting the 4th annual event.
Since 2014, over 600 people have applied for citizenship on Citizenship Day in Boston. Project Citizenship expects to serve over 350 this year!
Citizenship Day in Boston provides free legal services to hundreds of immigrants but they are in need of volunteers for the event. Citizenship Day 2017 will take place on Saturday, September 23rd at the Reggie Lewis Center (1350 Tremont St. Roxbury, MA 02120). Volunteers will assist with a variety of tasks including assisting applicants with completing the 20-page application. Attendance is mandatory at one of Project Citizenship’s training sessions if you want to assist with completing the forms, even if you have volunteered at the event in the past.
To volunteer for the event and select which training you would like to attend, please fill out this form.
If you have any questions regarding the event, don’t hesitate to reach out to Project Citizenship at info@projectcitizenship.org or by phone at 617-694-5949.