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SUPREME JUDICIAL
COURT APPOINTS FOUR NEW MEMBERS
TO MASSACHUSETTS LEGAL ASSISTANCE
CORPORATION
Boston, MA ---The Justices
of the Supreme Judicial Court recently appointed four
new members to the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
(MLAC) for five-year terms, in accordance with G.L. 221, § 3.
The terms expire on March 23, 2010.
Attorney
Miriam H. Babin of Fall River was appointed to a seat
designated for the county bar organizations. Attorney
Martha J. Koster of Newton was appointed to a seat designated
for an unpaid director of qualified legal services programs.
Maria Matos of Boston was appointed to a seat designated
for an eligible client, and Attorney Martha Rush O’Mara
of Melrose was appointed to a seat designated for the
Massachusetts Bar Association.
Established
in 1983, the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
provides financial support to legal assistance programs
for persons involved in civil legal matters who cannot
afford legal representation.
Miriam
H. Babin has served as Assistant Register of the Bristol
County Probate and Family Court since 2001. Previously,
she was a Family Law Facilitator at the Court for a
year, and a sole practitioner in New Bedford from 1987
to 2000. She also served as an Assistant District Attorney
for Bristol County for six years. Ms. Babin is Director
of the Southeastern Massachusetts Legal Assistance
Corporation and Vice President of the Bristol County
Bar Association. She received her J.D. degree from
Boston University School of Law, and graduated with
an A.B. degree from Barnard College
Martha
J. Koster is a member of the Boston law firm of Mintz
Levin Cohen Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Before joining
the firm in 1991, she was a partner in the law firm
of Gaston & Snow in Boston for six years and an
associate attorney at Gaston Snow & Ely Bartlett
from 1976 to 1985. Prior to entering private practice,
she served as a deputy general counsel to the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health. She is a board member
and former president of Greater Boston Legal Services,
and a member of the Boston Bar Association and the
American Bar Association. Ms. Koster received a J.D.
degree, cum laude, from Boston University School of
Law, a Master of Fine Arts degree from Emerson College,
and an A.B. degree, With Distinction, from Smith College.
Maria
Matos, who came to Boston from Cape Verde in 1990,
has worked as a volunteer translator for the Volunteer
Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association and the
Boston Medical Center. She served as a court clerk
in the Ministry of Justice in Santiago, Cape Verde
for eight years, and has also worked for several years
in the private sector in Massachusetts. She attended
Roxbury Community College.
Martha
Rush O'Mara has been a sole practitioner in Melrose
since 1993. She has served as an administrative assistant
and as a paralegal in the Child Support Enforcement
Division of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue,
and as an administrative aide in the Massachusetts
State Senate. Ms. O'Mara is a member of the Massachusetts
Bar Association, the Juvenile Bar Association, and
the National Association of Counsel for Children. She
is also a member and past president of the Massachusetts
Association of Women Lawyers. She does volunteer work
for Discovering Justice and Senior Partners of the
Volunteer Lawyers Project, among others. Ms. O'Mara
holds a J.D. degree from New England School of Law,
an M.A. degree, cum laude, from Salem State College,
and a B.S. degree, cum laude, from Salem State College
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