Several MBA members recently were recognized by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild during the chapter's annual dinner last month.
Those commended for their outstanding work and achievements include: Mary Bonauto, (Lawyer Award) Civil Rights Project Director for GLAD, who was lead counsel in the Goodridge v. Department of Public Health Supreme Judicial Court decision declaring the state may not deny marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples; Howard Friedman, (Lawyer Award) who has represented plaintiffs, especially victims of police misconduct, in civil rights cases for the past 25 years; and Hon. Lawrence Shubow, (Lifetime Achievement Award), who was one of the few attorneys who stood up to Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, representing scores of victims in congressional and state witch hunts. Other recipients include Kazi Toure, (Paralegal Award), a former political prisoner who has worked most of his life advocating for human rights for prisoners; and Mary Lu Mendonca (Student Award), a third-year student at Suffolk University Law School who has been the main force in reactivating the school's Guild chapter.
Katharine Pacella Costello has been named partner at Pepe & Hazard, LLP. Costello is a labor and employment attorney whose practice includes the representation of employers in all types of employment litigation, including claims arising under federal and state anti-discrimination laws, breach of contract, wrongful termination, non-competition and executive compensation claims. She also has considerable experience in counseling clients with regard to their employment decisions as well as drafting and negotiating a wide variety of employment-related agreements.
Mirick O'Connell has named Robin S. Lazarow as chair of the firm's Employee Benefits Practice Group. Lazarow has 16 years of employee benefits experience and has been with the firm for approximately four years. She is an expert in the field of employee benefits, retirement funds and executive compensation, and has extensive knowledge of laws pertaining to employee benefits, ERISA and other similar programs.
A writer and lecturer on employee benefit issues, Lazarow's articles have appeared in the Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal and ERISA: A Comprehensive Guide, published by Aspen Publishers, among others. She is also the founder and president of the Massachusetts Metrowest Chapter of Worldwide Employee Benefits, Inc. and a member of the ABA Section of Taxation/Employee Benefits Committee. She is the author of "IRS, DOL and PBGC Audits of Retirement Plans" published in the Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal on Aug. 2, 2002.
Rudolph F. Pierce, has joined Goulston & Storrs' Washington, D.C., office and will serve the firm's clients from both the D.C. and Boston offices. Pierce is a former justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, former federal magistrate of the District Court of Massachusetts and former president of the Boston Bar Association. He is chairman of the board of directors of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, has been elected to the International Academy of Trial Attorneys, is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is listed in Best Lawyers in America and American Leading Business Lawyers 2003-2004. His practice focuses on business, corporate and securities litigation and white-collar crime defense, and he also frequently serves as an arbitrator or mediator.