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Supreme Judicial Court Reappoints Three Members to Steering Committee
on Self-Represented Litigants;
Appeals Court Judge Cynthia J. Cohen Reappointed as Chair
Boston, MA ---The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court recently announced the reappointment of Appeals Court Judge Cynthia J. Cohen as Chair of the SJC Steering Committee on Unrepresented Litigants and the reappointments of Worcester Housing Court First Justice Diana H. Horan, Suffolk Probate and Family Court Assistant Register David Schwartz, and Trial Court Law Librarian Coordinator Marnie Warner as members of the Committee. All reappointments are for a two-year term, ending on February 1, 2007.
The Steering Committee on Self-Represented Litigants was established by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2002 in an effort to coordinate a system-wide response to the challenges posed by the growing numbers of self-represented litigants in all of the courts.
Judge Cynthia J. Cohen was appointed to the Appeals Court in 2001. Before her appointment, she was a partner in the law firm of Meehan, Boyle & Cohen, PC for fifteen years. Judge Cohen holds a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, an M.A.T. degree from the University of Chicago, and an A.B. degree from Brown University.
Appointed to the Housing Court in 1999, Judge Diana H. Horan served for two years as First Assistant Clerk-Magistrate of the Worcester Housing Court before her appointment to the bench. From 1988 to 1997, she was employed by the City of Worcester Law Department, and she worked in the Disability Law Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services from 1985 to 1988. A member of the Worcester County Bar Association, Judge Horan received a J.D. degree from Western New England College School of Law and a B.A. degree from the University of Connecticut.
David Schwartz is Assistant Register of Probate in the Suffolk Probate and Family Court. Prior to that, he served as Pro Se Coordinator in the Probate and Family Court Administrative Office for four years. He was in private practice from 1998 to 2000 and was an associate with the Boston law firm Packenham, Schmidt & Frederico, P.C. from 1995 to 1998. Before joining the firm, he served as Assistant Regional Counsel for the Department of Social Services. He is a member of the Boston Bar Association and the Massachusetts representative to the American Judicature Society’s Advisory Committee on Ethical Guidance for Judges in Pro Se Litigation. Mr. Schwartz holds a J.D. degree from Boston College Law School and a B.S. degree from Boston University.
Marnie Warner has been Law Library Coordinator for the Trial Court since 1980. As Coordinator, she oversees the administration of seventeen public Trial Court Law Libraries, the computer-assisted legal research program, and the central law book program. A past president of the New England Law Library Consortium, she continues to serve on the Board of Directors and is currently secretary of the Massachusetts Library Association. Ms. Warner holds a Master of Library Science from Simmons College and a B.A. degree from Beloit College.
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