Press Release  Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Committee Presents Awards to Two Attorneys and Two Law Students for Outstanding Commitment to Pro Bono Service

BOSTON, MA — At a ceremony at the John Adams Courthouse in Boston, Supreme Judicial Court Justice Elspeth B. Cypher today presented Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards to two attorneys and two law students selected by the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, in recognition of their exceptional dedication to providing volunteer services for persons who cannot afford an attorney for their essential legal needs.

Named in honor of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, the Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards are awarded annually in October. The Committee also recognizes the achievements of attorneys, law students, and legal organizations who have qualified for the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll and High Honor Roll.

Ariel Clemmer, Esq., Chair of the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, delivered opening and closing remarks.

Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd delivered welcoming remarks.

“Legal aid organizations in Massachusetts have to turn away over half of the people who come to them for help because they do not have enough resources to serve everyone,” said Chief Justice Budd. “That means that each year tens of thousands of people who cannot afford counsel remain unrepresented in civil cases that can have a critical impact on their lives, such as eviction proceedings, or divorce cases, or consumer debt suits. By providing volunteer legal services to people in need, you help to close this ‘justice gap.’ Thank you for all that you are doing to provide pro bono legal assistance.”

Justice Cypher then presented Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards to the two attorneys and two law students selected by the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services for their outstanding pro bono work.

“There is great variety in the kinds of pro bono work undertaken by this year's Adams Awards recipients,” Justice Cypher said. “This work ranges from leading voting rights litigation in federal court, to helping people navigate the immigration system, to advocating for international human rights, to assisting artists with their legal issues. But all of our honorees share one thing: an extraordinary dedication to helping people in need, who otherwise might lack the necessary legal tools to address the challenges they are facing.” 

This year’s awardees are:

• Rebecca MacDowell Lecaroz, a partner at Brown Rudnick, for her leadership in federal voting rights litigation on behalf of community organizations representing Black and Latino/a populations in Worcester, and in preparing humanitarian parole applications for submission to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of Afghan families following the fall of Kabul, among other pro bono efforts.
• Eleanor Newhoff, Newhoff Law Office, for her extraordinary dedication to pro bono work throughout her career, especially on behalf of immigrants and victims of crime and domestic violence, and to mentoring other pro bono attorneys.
• Chris Creech, Boston University School of Law, Class of 2022, for his extensive pro bono service during law school in the field of international human rights. 
• Raven Francomano, University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth) School of Law, Class of 2022, for providing hundreds of hours of pro bono service during law school to indigent artists and small arts nonprofit organizations through Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Victoria Gautney, Esq., a member of the Committee, recognized the legal organizations, individual attorneys, and law students on the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll. The Honor Roll each year recognizes law firms, individual attorneys, and other legal organizations that perform a minimum number of hours of approved pro bono legal services during the previous calendar year, and law students who have done so during their law school careers. Attorneys who performed at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services in the previous calendar year qualify for honors, and those who performed at least 100 hours of pro bono service qualify for high honors.

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 23-29, 2022.

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