CHIEF
JUSTICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
APPOINTS
ATTORNEY RENEE LANDERS
TO COMMISSION
ON JUDICIAL CONDUCT
Boston, MA — Chief
Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan
today announced the appointment of Attorney Renee M. Landers
to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, effective immediately. Ms.
Landers fills the position vacated by Attorney Henry T.
A. Moniz, and will serve the balance of the term, which
expires on October 31, 2004.
The Commission on
Judicial Conduct, established in 1978, investigates allegations of misconduct
by state judges. According to G.L. c. 211C, §1, three judges are appointed to
the Commission on Judicial Conduct by the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court;
three lawyers are appointed by the Chief Justice for Administration and Management
of the Trial Court; and three lay persons are appointed by the Governor to six-year
terms.
An Associate Professor
at Suffolk University Law School and current president of the Boston Bar Association,
Ms. Landers is the first woman of color to serve as president of the bar association
and the first law professor to serve in that role. She currently teaches health
law, constitutional law and administrative law.
Before joining the
Suffolk University Law School faculty in 2002, Ms. Landers served as Counsel
in the Health Law Group at the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray for five years. Prior
to that, she served as Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. From 1993 until 1996, she was Deputy Assistant Attorney
General in the Office of Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before
entering government service, Ms. Landers taught at Boston College Law School. In
1985, she was an associate at Ropes & Gray after serving as a law clerk to
former Chief Justice Edward F. Hennessey of the Supreme Judicial Court for a
year.
Ms. Landers received
an A.B. degree from Radcliffe College and a J.D. degree cum laude from
Boston College Law School. Prior to attending law school, she served as Deputy
Secretary of State in charge of the Commercial Bureau and the Public Records
Bureau.
Ms. Landers has served
as a member of the Supreme Judicial Court Committee to Study Racial and Ethnic
Bias in the Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court Gender Bias Study Committee. She
is presently a member of the American Bar Association.
As an active participant
in many community and public service organizations, Ms. Landers is involved with
the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, of which she served as president
for three years, The Commonwealth Institute, and the Massachusetts Health Care
Security Trust Board. She also serves on the Board of Directors at WGBH, the
Board of Trustees for the Dartmouth Medical School, and the Board of Trustees
at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Ms. Landers lives
in Watertown with her husband, Thomas L. Barrette, Jr., and their son Nelson.
