On the afternoon of September 21, at its Annual Meeting
Luncheon, the Boston Bar Association will recognize exemplary commitment to the
community, notable efforts to provide access to justice, and continued work to
advance diversity & inclusion in our legal community. We invite you to
join us as we honor the following firms and individuals for their extraordinary
contributions. For more information on the event, please click
here.
The Thurgood Marshall Award will be presented to Ropes & Gray LLP. The Marshall
Award was established to recognize private attorneys or firms in greater Boston
for outstanding work in enhancing the human dignity of others through improving,
developing, or delivering civil or criminal legal services to low-income clients
in Massachusetts. In 2011, Ropes & Gray had over 1,000 lawyers and
legal professionals devoting nearly 100,000 hours to providing free legal
services to individuals, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses across
the nation.
The John G. Brooks Award will be presented to Lynn Girton of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar
Association. The Brooks Award was established to recognize
professional legal services attorneys for their outstanding work on behalf of
indigent clients in greater Boston. Lynn has served as Chief Counsel
of the Volunteer Lawyers Project since 1986, and has devoted virtually her
entire legal career to providing representation to those unable to afford
private counsel in civil cases. Lynn has served as Section Co-Chair of the
BBA Delivery of Legal Services Section, and Chair of the Military & Veterans
Pro Bono Committee, where she championed the volunteering at Yellow Ribbon
Events, the Military Helpline, and number of other projects of the BBA Veterans
Initiative.
The BBA will also recognize the law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP with a
Presidential Citation for their unwavering commitment to drafting high quality
amicus briefs on a pro bono basis, particularly in the recent Boston
Bar Association amicus brief that was filed in the case Fisher v. University
of Texas. The amicus brief drafted by Bingham enabled the BBA to make a powerful
statement about the importance of race-conscious admissions policies in
advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. The
Presidential Citation will be accepted by Jonathan Albano, Deputy Managing
Partner of the firms’ Boston Office and principal drafter of the Fisher
brief.
The Annual Meeting Luncheon will take place on Friday, September 21 at the
Sheraton Boston Hotel. The event begins with a reception at 11:30,
followed by the luncheon at 12:30, and will feature Senator Patrick Leahy as
they keynote speaker. For more information, click here or
contact Erica Southerland at esoutherland@bostonbar.org or
617-778-1930.