Robert J.
Guttentag has been Chairman of the Commission
since March, 2004. Appointed a lay member in 2001,
Mr. Guttentag was Vice Chairman in 2002 and 2003.
Mr. Guttentag worked for many years for the Gillette
Co. of Boston, retiring as Division Manager of
Engineering Services. He is a graduate of Harvard
College and Harvard Business School, as well as
having served in the US Navy. Mr. Guttentag has also
served as a member of the Board of Bar Overseers.
His other civic activities have included major roles
in the Governor's Management Task Force, the Women's
Technical Institute, and the Justice Resource
Institute. Mr. Guttentag has also given his time to
the Pretrial Services Resource Center in Washington,
DC; the Massachusetts Public Health Council; the
Judicial Nominating Committee; the Boston Police
Foundation; and the Key Program.
The
Honorable Stephen E. Neel became a member of the
Commission in November of 2004 and became Vice
Chairman in January, 2007. Judge Neel has been an
Associate Justice of the Superior Court since 1992.
He was previously a partner at Goodwin, Procter &
Hoar and at Herrick & Smith, where he specialized in
complex civil litigation. Judge Neel is a graduate
of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. He is
currently Chair of the Superior Court's Civil
Committee and Civil Steering Committee. He has
served as the Regional Administrative Justice for
Civil Business in Middlesex County, as a member of
the Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Committee on
Dispute Resolution, and as Chair of the Superior
Court's Alternative Dispute Resolution
Sub-Committee. Judge Neel has received the Lifetime
Achievement Award of the Middlesex County Bar
Association, and the Judge of the Year Award of the
Frank J. Murray Inn of Court.
The
Honorable Susan D. Ricci was appointed to the
Commission in 2002. On the bench since 1993, she is
an Associate Justice of the Worcester Division of
the Probate & Family Court. After receiving her B.A.
from the University of Florida, Judge Ricci became
an early childhood teacher and took graduate studies
in that area. Later she graduated from Suffolk
University School of Law and went into private
practice. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar
Association and the Worcester County Bar
Association. She is a member of the Supreme Judicial
Court Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee and of
the Inns of Court, Chair of the Probate & Family
Court Guardianship Committee, and a member of the
Probate & Family Court Judicial Enhancement
Committee.
The
Honorable Paul F. LoConto was appointed a member
of the Commission in 2006. Judge LoConto has been a
Justice of the District Court Department since
December, 1985, and presently serves as the First
Justice of the Worcester District Court. In
addition, Judge LoConto has served as Regional
Administrative Justice since 1999 and a member of
the Western Appellate Division of the District Court
since 1989, presently serving as the Presiding
Justice. A graduate of Boston College, Judge LoConto
earned his Juris Doctor degree at Suffolk University
School of Law and a Masters in Law at Boston
University School of Law. A former Clerk/Magistrate
in the District Court, Judge LoConto has served on
the District Court Committee on Caseflow Management
and as a member of the Supreme Judicial Court
Committee on Judicial Performance Evaluation.
Gael
Mahony, Esquire, has been a member of the
Commission since 2001. Mr. Mahony is a partner at
the Boston firm of Holland & Knight LLP, after many
years as partner and senior counsel at Hill &
Barlow, P.C. Mahony has served as Assistant United
States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts,
as chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, and as
a Special Assistant Attorney General. He has served
as a member of the Standing Committee on Rules of
Practice and Procedure of the U.S. Judicial
Conference, as chairman of the Advisory Committee of
the First Circuit Court of Appeals, as chairman of
the Federal Magistrate Selection Committee, and as
chairman of the Special Commission on Foster Care.
Mr. Mahony is a graduate of Yale University and
Harvard Law School, and a member and past president
of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Renee M.
Landers, Esquire, who was appointed to
the Commission in 2004, is an associate professor at
Suffolk University Law School. She was the President
of the Boston Bar Association for 2003-2004, after
having chaired its Diversity Committee and its
Gender and Justice Committee. She is Chair of the
Board of Directors of the Big Sister Association of
Greater Boston for 2003-2005, as well as a Trustee
of PBS affiliate WGBH. A graduate of Radcliffe
College and Boston College Law School, Ms. Landers
has been an associate and counsel at Ropes & Gray
and was an assistant professor at Boston College Law
School. She served the federal government as a
Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of
Policy Development and as Deputy General Counsel of
the Department of Health and Human Services. For the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she has served as
Deputy Secretary of State and Acting Supervisor of
Public Records. She is a member of the American Bar
Association and a past president of the Board of
Overseers of Harvard University.
David J.
Martel, Esquire was appointed to the Commission
in 2006. He is a member of the firm of Doherty,
Wallace, Pillsbury and Murphy, P.C. in Springfield.
Mr. Martel is a graduate of College of the Holy
Cross and Catholic University Law School. He began
his practice in New York City with the firm of
Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine. He has served as
Town Counsel to the Town of Longmeadow since 1979
and also serves as Town Counsel to the Towns of
Ludlow and Hampden. Mr. Martel is a current Director
and former President of the Hampden County Bar
Association. He also currently serves as Clerk and
Member of the Executive Committee of the Affiliated
Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, as a
Trustee of Springfield Cemetery and as a Director
and former President of the Springfield Public
Forum.
Mary Z.
Connaughton was appointed a lay member of the
Commission in 2003. Currently, Ms. Connaughton is a
part-time instructor at Framingham State College in
the Economics and Business Department. She is a CPA
who began her career at Ernst & Young in Boston,
working several years in the Entrepreneurial
Services division of the audit staff. Ms.
Connaughton served in the Massachusetts State
Treasurer's Office and as chief financial officer of
the Massachusetts State Lottery. She was also chief
financial officer of a privately-held corporation
and has worked as a CPA both independently and for a
local firm. Ms. Connaughton has a BA and a BBA from
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She
serves on the board of the Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority and on the Finance Committee for the Town
of Framingham. She is a member of the Massachusetts
Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Jacklyn
Garcia Duran was appointed a lay member of the
Commission in 2006 and was sworn in on January 11,
2007. Currently, Ms. Duran is attending
Suffolk University Law School in Boston. Prior
to attending law school, Ms. Duran served as the
Executive Director of the Judicial Nominating
Commission for the Office of Governor Deval L.
Patrick as well as former Governor Mitt Romney.
In addition, Ms. Duran was a paralegal in the
Litigation Department of Goodwin Procter LLP in
Boston. Ms. Duran received a BA in International
Relations as well as Hispanic Language and
Literature from Boston University.
