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.