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SUPREME
JUDICIAL COURT STANDING COMMITTEE
ON PRO BONO LEGAL SERVICES
TO PRESENT
ADAMS
PRO BONO PUBLICO AWARDS
Boston, MA—In recognition of outstanding commitment to volunteer
legal services for the poor and disadvantaged, the Standing
Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services of the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court will present the second annual Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards to three
recipients. The ceremony
will take place in the Supreme Judicial Court Courtroom on
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 at 4:30 p.m.
Supreme Judicial Court Justice
Francis X. Spina will present the awards to Attorney Michael
G. Paris of Newton, the New Bedford law firm of Stanford & Schall,
and the Women’s Bar Foundation.
“All
of the nominees deserve recognition, but the recipients
of the Adams Awards serve as models of inspiration for
the entire bar to further increase access to justice for
the poor and low income residents of the Commonwealth,” said
Richard McMahon, Chair of the Awards Subcommittee.
Michael
G. Paris, a partner in the Boston law firm of Brown Rudnick
Berlack Israels LLP, practices civil and criminal litigation. Commended
for his commitment to the public interest and his leadership
in advancing the delivery of legal services to the poor
and disenfranchised, he has represented hundreds of indigent
individuals on a pro bono basis, devoting more than 1900 hours to pro bono legal work over the past twelve
years. Mr. Paris
serves as Chair of the Pro
Bono Committee of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP,
and is credited with being largely responsible for the
establishment of the Brown Rudnick Center for the Public
Interest. He is a member of the Board of Directors of
the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association
and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and has acted
as pro bono counsel
to the Independent Patient Advisory Council and the Brady
Center To Prevent Gun Violence.
A
two-person law firm, Stanford & Schall is a general
practice firm with bankruptcy, domestic relations, estate
planning, taxes and real estate as principal areas of practice. Partners
Roger Stanford and Irene Schall, a husband and wife team,
are credited with making an exceptional commitment to pro
bono activities.
Attorney
Schall served on the Supreme Judicial Court Pro
Bono Committee, assisting in the development of SJC
Rule 6.1, Voluntary Pro Bono Publico Service. She has also been a member of the Board of
Directors of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation,
and served as Chairperson for three years. Attorney
Schall’s pro bono activities
include participating in the Bristol County “Lawyer for
the Day” program and the New Bedford Bar Association Law
Day clinic program, and counseling low income taxpayers
and securing tax exempt status for a number of charitable
institutions on a pro
bono basis.
Attorney
Stanford became a member of the Private Bar Involvement
Panel of the Southeastern Massachusetts Legal Assistance
Corporation (SMLAC) in 1983. When SMLAC established a bankruptcy clinic,
he was the first attorney in private practice to volunteer
to meet with clients in a clinic setting, providing free
legal assistance in bankruptcy cases. He has continued his pro bono activities at the New Center for Legal Advocacy, as the
Center assumed responsibility for the pro
bono program in Southeastern Massachusetts in 1997.
The
Women’s Bar Foundation, the charitable and educational
affiliate of the Women’s Bar Association, recruits, trains,
and mentors volunteer attorneys. Established in 1993, the Foundation administers
four pro bono projects: the
Family Law Project for Battered Women, which, since 1995,
has provided pro bono legal assistance to more than 300 indigent and low income
victims of domestic violence; the Elder Law Project, which
has provided free legal assistance to more than 200 low-income
seniors since its inception in 2000; the Women’s Lunch
Place Project, which provides free legal assistance to
homeless women; and the Framingham Project for Incarcerated
Women, which offers pro
bono legal representation to inmates at MCI-Framingham.
Established in
1999, the Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro
Bono Legal Services works to promote volunteer legal
work in Massachusetts to help people of limited means in
need of legal representation, in accordance with SJC Rule
6.1. The awards
are named in honor of Attorneys John Adams and John Quincy
Adams.
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