About the Awards
On October 26, 2021, Supreme Judicial Court Justice Elspeth Cypher presented awards to three 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.
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:
Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 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
Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd
Recognition of Legal Organizations, Individual Attorneys, and Law Students on the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll
Ariel Clemmer, Esq., Committee Member
Presentation of the 2020 Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards
Justice Elspeth Cypher to:
- Samuel E. J. Bryar, Esq.
- Michael E. Jusczyk, Esq.
- Bethany N. Serota, Esq.
Closing Remarks
Elizabeth Ennen, Esq.
Additional Resources
Awardees
Justice Cypher presented the annual Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards, named in honor of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, to the following attorneys for their outstanding pro bono work:
- Samuel E. J. Bryar, Esq., for providing approximately 3,300 hours of pro bono representation since May 2018 to low-income domestic violence survivors and their children in complex, highly-contested family law matters, in partnership with the De Novo Center for Justice and Healing.
- Michael E. Jusczyk, Esq., for his exemplary pro bono representation of unaccompanied minors who enter the U.S. immigration system alone in a series of challenging cases, in partnership with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND).
- Bethany N. Serota, Esq., for her leadership in providing and supporting pro bono legal services through the Community Service Committee of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and through Project Opportunity, a program sponsored by the City of Boston in partnership with Lawyers Clearinghouse that provides free criminal record sealing and expungement clinics for Boston residents.
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 24 - 30, 2021.