About the Awards
On October 28, 2020, Supreme Judicial Court Justice Kimberly S. Budd presented awards to four attorneys selected by the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services for their exceptional dedication to providing volunteer legal services for persons who cannot afford an attorney for their essential legal needs.
Three attorneys received Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards and a fourth attorney received a special pro bono award named in honor of the late Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants. The Committee also recognized the achievements of attorneys, law students, and legal organizations who qualified for the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll.
When and Where:
Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 4:00 p.m.
The program was presented live online at: https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/
Program
Welcome from the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services
Elizabeth Ennen, Esq., Committee Chair
Welcome from the Supreme Judicial Court
Justice Barbara A. Lenk
Recognition of Legal Organizations, Individual Attorneys, and Law Students on the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll
Kimberly Parr, Esq., Committee Member
Presentation of the 2020 Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards
Justice Kimberly S. Budd to:
- Crispin Birnbaum, Esq.
- James S. Rollins, Esq.
- Christian J. Westra, Esq.
Tribute to Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants
Justice Kimberly S. Budd
Professor Deborah Ramirez, Northeastern University School of Law
Presentation of the Inaugural Ralph D. Gants Award for Extraordinary Leadership in Pro Bono Service
Justice Kimberly S. Budd to:
- Susan M. Finegan, Esq.
Closing Remarks
Elizabeth Ennen
Additional Resources
Awardees
Justice Budd presented the annual Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards, named in honor of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, to the following three attorneys for their outstanding pro bono work:
- Crispin Birnbaum, Esq., an Access to Justice Fellow, for her extensive efforts to expand free legal services to provide sealing and expungement of criminal records for low income clients, including veterans through Veterans Legal Services, and homeless clients and others through Lawyers Clearinghouse, and for performing more than 95 free criminal records trainings for nonprofits, attorneys, government agencies, veteran support groups, clinical law students, and individuals with criminal records across the Commonwealth.
- James S. Rollins, Esq., Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, for devoting 16 years of pro bono service to the cause of freeing a wrongfully convicted Pennsylvania inmate, who was released after 23 years on death row when his conviction was finally overturned this past June.
- Christian J. Westra, Esq., Ropes & Gray, LLP, for his instrumental role in bringing together partners to launch the COVID Relief Coalition, a group of law firms, nonprofits and government agencies working with Lawyers for Civil Rights and Lawyers Clearinghouse to provide information and pro bono support to nonprofits and small businesses, including many small businesses owned by women and people of color, to access emergency relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Justice Budd also presented the inaugural Ralph D. Gants Award for Extraordinary Leadership in Pro Bono Service to:
- Susan M. Finegan, Esq., Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo, P.C., for providing extraordinary leadership in pro bono legal services and improving access to justice over the course of her career.
In addition to handling many significant pro bono litigation matters and chairing Mintz's pro bono committee, Attorney Finegan has served as Chair of the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, and as Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission together with Chief Justice Gants. In both of those positions she worked closely with Chief Justice Gants on a wide range of initiatives to encourage pro bono service and improve access to justice in the Commonwealth, including the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll; the Access to Justice Fellows Program; the Appellate Pro Bono Clinic; the Justice for All Strategic Action Plan; Civil Legal Aid for Victims of Crime; and the Commission's COVID-19 Task Force.
History of the John and John Quincy Adams Pro Bono Publico Award
The inspiration for the John and John Quincy Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards came from John Adams (1735 - 1826) and his son, John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848), the second and sixth presidents of the United States, respectively. Both were lawyers with long and distinguished careers in public service.
John Adams was among the first to propose American independence. He served on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and helped persuade the Second Continental Congress to adopt the declaration. John Adams provided substantial legal assistance to the Boston patriots who resisted British authorities. Despite his devotion to the patriot cause, his unwavering belief in equal justice under the law led him to defend the British soldiers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre of 1770. While other lawyers might decline such an unpopular task, John Adams risked career and political aspiration by winning acquittal of five of the eight soldiers charged.
Like his father, John Quincy Adams was devoted to equal justice under the law. He served his country as a diplomat, senator, secretary of state, president, and, for the last seventeen years of his life, a member of the United States House of Representatives. It was while serving in the House that Adams helped argue the Amistad case before the Supreme Court. Through his efforts, fifty Africans illegally transported to Cuba in violation of the ban on international slave trading regained their freedom.
Joseph Kaigler, Former Member
SJC Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services
About the Committee
The SJC 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 Rule 6.1 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys. The awards ceremony is one of many activities celebrating and building support for pro bono legal work in Massachusetts during the month of October, a month officially proclaimed Pro Bono Month by Governor Charlie Baker. The American Bar Association has also proclaimed a National Celebration of Pro Bono during the week of October 25 - 31, 2020.