Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Jul. 3, 2008
From left to right: Attorney Mary Ryan of Nutter, McClennen & Fish LLP, chair of the Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services; Attorney Francis J. (Jay) Lynch III, managing partner at Lynch & Lynch Attorneys; Attorney Christine J. Wichers and Attorney Lisa M. Gaulin of Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP; Attorney John G. Dugan, principal at Doherty Ciechanowski, Dugan & Cannon PC; Attorney Edward Notis-McConarty, partner at Hemenway & Barnes LLP, and Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina. Photo courtesy of the Supreme Judicial Court's Public Information Office.
Court honors five attorneys with Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards
Recipients recognized for outstanding commitment to volunteer legal services
In recognition of outstanding commitment to providing volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged in Massachusetts, Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina, on behalf of the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, presented the seventh annual Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards to five recipients at a special ceremony in the John Adams Courthouse last month.
Past MBA Vice President John G. Dugan and the MBA's Probate Law Section Council Chair Edward Notis-McConarty were recognized for their extraordinary efforts to address the needs of litigants who represent themselves in court. For more than six years, Dugan and Notis-McConarty have served as co-chairs of a working group established by the Supreme Judicial Court Steering Committee on Self-Represented Litigants, diligently working to expand access to the Massachusetts courts by developing and implementing Limited Assistance Representation pilot projects in Probate and Family Courts in Suffolk, Hampden and Norfolk counties. These projects permit attorneys to assist pro se litigants on a limited basis without undertaking full legal representation.
Francis J. (Jay) Lynch III, managing partner in Lynch & Lynch Attorneys of Boston and South Easton, was recognized for his 17 year involvement on the Board of Directors of the Brockton Coalition for the Homeless, known as MainSpring. Established in 1982, this community-based, charitable organization serves the homeless by providing shelter, food, education, job training, support services, and housing. Lynch has also volunteered countless hours of legal services to homeless and low-income individuals and served as a pro bono legal resource in the recent merger of MainSpring and Father Bill’s. Through his dedication, residences for homeless families were established in Middleboro and Stoughton, and 400 families have received emergency shelter and stabilization services at those facilities.
Attorneys Christine J. Wichers and Lisa M. Gaulin, of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP in Boston, received awards for their lengthy and dedicated pro bono representation of a Pakistani woman who lost custody of her four children after being abandoned by her Pakistani husband while living in the United States. Without documentation, money, and English language skills, the woman was forced to return to Pakistan without her children after her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law abused her. The woman regained custody of her three younger children.
“The field of nominees this year demonstrates the exceptionally wide spectrum of opportunities for lawyers to render pro bono legal services." said Justice Spina. "I was truly moved by the depth of sacrifice, the remarkable achievements, and the ingenuity of the legal profession when called upon to address difficult problems in hard times. I applaud the 2008 award recipients for their inspirational work.”