Nearly nine years after Massachusetts' highest court
legalized same sex marriage in the Bay State -- an outcome the Boston Bar
Association (BBA) urged in its amicus brief -- the BBA today announced it
will present its Beacon
Award for Diversity + Inclusion
to the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders and the
Massachusetts Attorney General's Office
for their efforts to
challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a statute that
discriminates against legally married same-sex couples. That award will be
presented on the evening of November 13, 2012 at the Liberty Hotel at a
reception free and open to the entire legal community.
"GLAD in its
own right exemplifies the values of the Beacon Award in constantly advancing the
frontier in diversity and inclusion in our profession and society at large,"
said Colin Owyang, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, National Grid USA,
and chair of the selection committee that vetted the numerous nominees for this
award. "Even more impressive than its daily heroic work was its success in
enlisting the support of the Office of Attorney General of Massachusetts and
others, both directly and indirectly affected by DOMA, as it continued our
profession's proud tradition of public service. Importantly, this
coalition-building effort serves as a model for effective private-public
partnerships that are necessary for all manner of important policy innovation,
especially in the never ending advancement of diversity and
inclusion."
The effort being recognized by the BBA involved two parallel
cases challenging the constitutionality of DOMA, one filed by GLAD and the other
filed by the AG's Office. In May of this year, the First Circuit Court of
Appeals issued a decision covering both cases - ruling that DOMA violates
the Constitution of the United States. Following an appeal by the Bipartisan
Legal Advisory Group, the case is expected to come before the Supreme Court of
the United States later this year.
Both cases coming before the First Circuit involved the filing of
numerous amicus briefs produced by lawyers at a number of distinguished law
firms donating their time to fight discrimination. Among the many bar
associations listed on a brief in support of the case brought by the AG was the
Boston Bar Association.
The BBA established the Beacon Award for Diversity + Inclusion in 2010 to
recognize exceptional leadership on diversity strategies that will have a lasting
impact on the Greater Boston Legal profession. Previous winners include
Massachusetts Mutual (2011) and Northeastern University School of Law
(2012).
The following lawyers served on the Selection Committee for the BBA
Beacon Award for Diversity + Inclusion:
Navjeet K. Bal
Navjeet is a member of Nixon Peabody's
Public Finance group and has extensive experience serving as bond counsel,
underwriter's counsel, and borrower's counsel in publicly and privately placed
debt financings for governmental, quasi-public, and nonprofit borrowers. She was
formerly the Commissioner of Revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a
post she was appointed to in February 2008 by Governor Patrick. She is also a
Board member of the Federation of Tax Administrators. Prior to her appointment,
Navjeet practiced at Mintz Levin for 17 years in its public finance department,
where she co-founded Mintz's Domestic Violence Project. Navjeet is currently a
Board member of the Legal Advocacy and Resource Center, the Lawyer’s Committee
for Civil Rights, and was appointed in February 2010 by Chief Justice Marshall
to the Access to Justice Commission. Navjeet is a member of the South Asian Bar
Association of Greater Boston Advisory Board, and was a 2008 recipient of the
National South Asian Bar Association's Cornerstone Award. She is also a member
of the BBA's Public Policy Development Working Group.
Navjeet graduated from
Williams College and Northeastern University School of Law.
Christina Ely Miller
Christina is Chief of District
Courts and Community Prosecutions for the Suffolk County District Attorney's
Office, where she oversees the office's operations in the Boston Municipal and
District Courts, manages the hiring and training of Assistant District
Attorneys, and supervises hate crime prosecutions. She has prosecuted criminal
cases in the Appellate, Superior, and District Courts of the Commonwealth
through her work in the Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex District Attorneys' Offices.
Christina is a member and former Co-Chair of the BBA's Criminal Law Section,
during which time she organized a number of BBA programs, represented the BBA on
the Governor's Anti-Crime Council, and contributed to the Boston Bar Journal.
Christina is an Ex Officio Chair for the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar
Association and served on its board for six years. In addition, she is currently
serving as Co-Chair of the BBA Diversity & Inclusion Section's Affinity Bar
Relations Subcommittee.
Christina graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University
and Northeastern University School of Law.
Colin Owyang (Chair)
Colin Owyang is Senior Vice
President and US General Counsel at National Grid. Prior to joining National
Grid, Colin was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boston, a Special Assistant U.S.
Attorney in Washington, DC, a Trial Attorney in the Environmental Crimes Section
of the U.S. Department of Justice, an associate at Foley Hoag and a judicial
clerk for three federal judges in Boston and Detroit, MI. Colin is a graduate of
Yale College, Yale University and the University of Michigan Law School.
William F. Sinnott
Bill is Corporation Counsel for
the City of Boston, where he oversees all legal matters for the City. Prior to
his appointment as Corporation Counsel, Bill was a partner in a small litigation
firm, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and an Assistant District Attorney. He has
served on the BBA's Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee, as a mentor in
its Group Mentoring Program, and on the BBA Summer Jobs Steering Committee. He
also served as Chair of the BBA’s Committee on Legal Services for Military
Personnel, Veterans and Families. Bill has been a speaker or panelist at a
number of BBA programs, including the Public Interest Leaders Program, the
Building Better Lawyers symposium and the BBA Leadership Retreat. A member of
the Boston Lawyers Group Executive Committee, he also serves as a Trustee at
Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Bill is also a member of the BBA's Audit
Committee.
Bill is a graduate of Holy Cross College and Suffolk University
Law School.
Anthony E. Hubbard
Anthony is a Member in the
Corporate & Securities Section at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and
Popeo, P.C. where he provides general corporate law and business advice to
public and private corporations with regard to financings, mergers and
acquisitions, tender offers, corporate governance, public disclosure, and
federal and state securities law compliance. Before joining the firm, Anthony
served as General Counsel to Designs, Inc., a publicly traded apparel retailer.
As in-house counsel, he advised senior executives and board members concerning
corporate transactions, corporate governance, related party transactions,
executive compensation matters, and public disclosure. In 2011 and 2012, Anthony
has been selected by his peers to be included in The Best Lawyers in America for
his expertise in non-profit/charities law.
Anthony is a graduate of Seattle
University, Haas Graduate School of Business Administration and Boalt Hall
School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley (both in 1985).
Cristina E. Gonzalez
Cristina is Senior Company
Counsel at Staples, Inc. She is responsible for all board and public
company matters, corporate governance and securities compliance. In
addition to her core responsibilities, Cristina serves as co-Chair of HOLA,
Staples' associate resource group for Hispanics and Latinos and serves as a
member of Staples' Global Diversity Council. In 2010, she served as founding
co-Chair of Staples' Legal Department's Diversity Committee. Her efforts
helped Staples' Legal Department be recognized as a 2010 Employer of Choice by
the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Prior to joining Staples, Cristina
served in similar legal roles at two technology companies. She also worked
in the corporate and securities department of the law firm, Bingham McCutchen,
for approximately eight years Cristina currently serves as a mentor in the BBA
Diversity and Inclusion Section's Group Mentoring Program.
Cristina is a
graduate of George Washington University and Georgetown University Law School.
E. Macey Russell
Macey is a Partner at Choate Hall
& Stewart LLP where he represents financial institutions, banks, businesses
and corporations in disputes involving contracts, securities, investments, and
lending arrangements, and in class action matters in state court, federal court
and in arbitrations. In addition, Macey co-chairs the firm's Diversity Committee
and is a member of the firm's Hiring Committee. Macey serves on the Judicial
Nominating Commission and was appointed Chairman of the Commission by the
Governor in 2011. In 2011, the American Bar Foundation named him a Fellow, which
is reserved for one third of one percent of attorneys in his jurisdiction. He
currently serves as Co-Chair of the BBA's Diversity and Inclusion Section. The
Burton Foundation and Library of Congress honored Macey with a 2011 Burton Award
for excellence in legal writing for his co-authored article "Developing Great
Minority Lawyers for the Next Generation." Since 1989, Mr. Russell has been a
frequent advisor and contributor to Harvard University Law School's Trial
Advocacy Workshop. Macey currently serves on the board of several organizations
including The Boston Lawyers Group, The Board of Trustees at Suffolk University,
The Boston Bar Foundation Grants Committee, The Fellows of the American Bar
Foundation, Board of Overseers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and
Board of Fellows at Trinity College.
Macey is a graduate of Trinity College
and Suffolk University Law School.
Renée M. Landers
Renée is a Professor of Health Law,
Constitutional Law and Administrative Law at Suffolk University Law School and
is faculty director of the school's Health and Biomedical Law Concentration.
Before joining the Law School faculty, Renée was with the Boston law firm of
Ropes & Gray. She previously had served as deputy general counsel for the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as deputy assistant attorney
general at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before entering government service,
Renée taught at Boston College Law School. She is a past president of the Boston
Bar Association and immediate past Co-Chair of the BBA's Diversity &
Inclusion Section. Renée has served on the boards of many organizations
including the Board of Directors at WGBH, the Boston Bar Foundation's Board of
Trustees, the Board of Overseers for the Dartmouth Medical School, and the Board
of Trustees at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center. She is a former president of the Harvard Board of
Overseers.
Renée is a graduate of Radcliffe College and Boston College Law
School.