SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT STANDING
COMMITTEE ON PRO BONO
LEGAL
SERVICES TO PRESENT ADAMS
PRO BONO PUBLICO AWARDS
In
recognition of outstanding commitment in providing volunteer
legal services for the poor and disadvantaged in Massachusetts,
Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina, on behalf
of the SJC Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services,
will present the fifth annual Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards
to four recipients at a ceremony in the John Adams Courthouse
on Tuesday, June 6 at 5:00 p.m.
The
recipients are the Springfield law firm of Heisler, Feldman,
McCormick & Garrow, P.C.; Attorney Samuel B. Moskowitz
of Newton, who practices in the law firm of Davis, Malm & D’Agostine,
P.C. in Boston; and Attorney Marion E. Broidrick of South
Yarmouth, presently Second Assistant Clerk-Magistrate of
the Barnstable District Court, and Attorney Lawrence A.
Zalis of West Barnstable, a sole practitioner, for their
work on behalf of the Barnstable Action for New Directions
(BAND) Program of the Barnstable District Court Drug Court.
Justice
Spina said, “The recipients have all made wonderful
contributions to the practice of law as envisioned by SJC
Rule 6.1.”
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.
The
law firm of Heisler, Feldman, McCormick & Garrow, P.C.
is honored for its dedication to assisting low-income litigants.
Among the firm’s varied pro bono activities is the
Hampden County Pro Bono Housing Project, launched by partner
Suzanne Garrow in conjunction with the Western Massachusetts
Committee of the Women’s Bar Association. Firm attorneys
have spearheaded the effort to ensure that, on a weekly
basis, volunteer attorneys are available to assist self-represented
litigants. In addition to litigating and mediating cases,
the firm has hosted training for lawyers volunteering for
the Project. Since its inception, the Project has represented
more than eighty clients before the Western Division of
the Housing Court. Firm members also take pro bono assignments
on a regular basis from local legal services agencies,
the Massachusetts Justice Project, the HIV/Aids Law Consortium,
the Salvation Army’s Housing Project in Hampshire
County, and the Housing Discrimination Project in Holyoke.
Attorney
Moskowitz is recognized for his dedication to the development
and delivery of legal services to the poor through his
work with the Boston Bar Association’s Lawyer for
the Day Program in the Boston Housing Court. As long-time
co-chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Real Estate Section
of the Boston Bar Association, he has worked in partnership
with the Housing Court, the Volunteer Lawyers Project,
Greater Boston Legal Services and the Legal Services Center,
to create, train and staff a program to assist pro se litigants
at the Boston Housing Court. The volunteers serve more
than thirty pro se litigants each week, providing advice
and mediation assistance. In 2002, he received the Denis
Maguire Pro Bono Award for his work on this program. Attorney
Moskowitz is an adjunct to the Supreme Judicial Court Steering
Committee on Self-Represented Litigants and past chair
of the Boston Bar Association’s Real Estate Section.
He currently serves on the BBA Council and its Public Service
Committee. He holds a J.D. degree from Boston University
School of Law and a B.A., magna cum laude, from the State
University of New York at Albany, where he graduated Phi
Beta Kappa.
Attorneys
Broidrick and Zalis are recognized for their pro bono work
in the Barnstable District Court Drug Court Program, Barnstable
Action for New Directions (BAND), which began in 2002,
and is directed by Presiding Justice Joseph J. Reardon.
The two lawyers volunteered their time by counseling, encouraging,
and assisting probationers with recovery and intervening
on behalf of indigent defendants with employers and state
agencies when the need arose. Attorney Broidrick currently
serves as Second Assistant Clerk-Magistrate of the Barnstable
District Court, and is being recognized for the pro bono
work she accomplished while in private practice. A member
of the Barnstable County Bar Association, she earned her
J.D. degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. She
holds a B.S. degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University
and an A.S. degree from County College of Morris. Attorney
Zalis is a member of the Barnstable County Bar Associates
and the Committee for Public Counsel Services. He received
a J.D. degree from the Southern New England School of Law
and his B.S. degree from Boston University.
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