Susan M.
Finegan, a Member of the Litigation Practice and
Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and
Popeo, P.C., was awarded the Curtin Center for Public Interest Pro Bono Service
Award from Boston College Law School. Sue was honored at the school’s
annual Curtin Center for the Public Interest reception on Monday, September 19,
2011. Sue is a member of the Boston Bar Association's Council and is
a former Co-Chair of the BBA's Delivery of Legal Services Section.
The Curtin Center for Public Interest Pro Bono Service Award is given each
year in honor of John J. and Mary Daly Curtin, founders of the Curtin Center for
Public Interest at Boston College Law School. The Award is given to an
attorney who, like the Curtin family, has a proven commitment to pro bono work
and whose work embodies the school's mission that includes, training a diverse
student body not merely to be good lawyers, but to be lawyers who lead good
lives, and who will be prepared to seek and find meaningful work in service to
others.
“This award is a fitting tribute to Sue. She personifies the best the legal
profession has to offer as an attorney, mentor and tireless advocate for the
neediest citizens,” said Joe Hameline, Chair of Mintz Levin’s Litigation Section
and a member of its Policy Committee. “Our congratulations to Sue on this
well-deserved honor.”
The Curtin Pro Bono service award is in recognition of Sue's extensive work
with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. In addition to
representing hundreds of individual victims, Sue also led a team of Mintz Levin
pro bono attorneys who worked for several years to pass Massachusetts
legislation that allows sexual assault, stalking and harassment victims to
obtain criminally enforceable protective orders. She also filed appellate
and amicus briefs on issues relating to sexual assault and domestic violence in
the U.S. Supreme Court and Massachusetts appellate courts.
From 2004-2007, Sue served as Legal Director of the Victim Rights Law Center,
overseeing civil legal services to sexual assault survivors in Massachusetts and
providing training to federally funded legal services programs nationwide. She
also served as the Center’s Interim Executive Director in 2005.
Upon returning to Mintz Levin in 2007 where she began as an associate and
rose to Member, Sue assumed the role of Pro Bono Partner, overseeing over 300
pro bono matters firm wide. Under her leadership, the firm has received a
number of awards for its pro bono work including the 2010 ABA Pro Bono Publico
Award and the 2009 Thurgood Marshall Award from the Boston Bar
Association. Her related outside service includes membership on the
Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and the SJC Standing Committee on Pro
Bono Legal Services.
For more information about
Mintz Levin, please go to www.mintz.com