Manisha Bhatt, a Senior Attorney working at the Family Unit of Greater Boston
Legal Services -- where she represents survivors of domestic violence in
divorce, paternity, and abuse prevention proceedings -- has been named winner of
the Boston Bar Association's 2011 John G. Brooks Legal Services Award. That
award will be presented by BBA President Lisa
C. Goodheart on October 13 at the BBA Annual
Meeting Luncheon, an event drawing more than 1,000 lawyers.
"Manisha is acutely sensitive to cultural differences among diverse
populations, and firmly believes that giving people positive knowledge
about their rights and remedies will help them survive and thrive. She has the
skills and experience to assure her clients that even though they are at a low
point in their lives, their best days are ahead. Manisha embodies the heart and
soul of what it means to be a legal services lawyer."
An alum of the Boston Bar Association's Public Interest Leadership Program
(2005 to 2006), Manisha has been a leader in creating bridges to diverse legal
communities. She was the principal architect of "Know Your Rights," an
award-winning program developed by the South Asian Bar Association of Greater
Boston (SABA). In 2007 SABA GB named her Board Member of the year, and
in 2009 she won the North American South Asian Bar Association's Cornerstone
Award.
Manisha serves on the Board of Editors of the Boston Bar Journal,
and is co-chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the BBA's Litigation Section. A
graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University Law School, she is fluent in
Spanish and Gujarati, a South Asian Dialect. Born in Weymouth, MA, she grew up
in Brockton, MA.
The John G. Brooks Legal Services Award is named for John Graham Brooks, a
past president of the BBA, former Legal Services Corporation board member,
and advocate for legal services for poor people. Established in 1988, the award
honors career legal services lawyers working on the front lines.