PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
CONTACT:
Jennifer Donahue/Erika Gully-Santiago
PublicInfo@sjc.state.ma.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2024
Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Committee to Present Awards to Four Attorneys and a Law Student at 25th Anniversary Celebration
WHAT:
On Wednesday, October 30, 2024, Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Elizabeth N. Dewar will present awards to four attorneys and a law student 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. The committee will also recognize the achievements of attorneys, law students, and legal organizations who qualified for the Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll. In addition, the event will celebrate 25 years of pro bono accomplishments since the committee was established by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1999.
Justice Dewar will present the Ralph D. Gants Award for Extraordinary Leadership in Pro Bono Service, named for the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, posthumously to Mary K. Ryan, a partner at Nutter and former longtime chair of the SJC Pro Bono Committee who died in June. The award recognizes Attorney Ryan’s truly exceptional dedication to pro bono service throughout her career, not only through providing volunteer legal assistance to those in need, but also by playing a key role in encouraging and supporting pro bono service by others.
Justice Dewar will also present the annual Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards, named in honor of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, to the following individuals for their outstanding pro bono work:
- Akosua Agyepong, a family law attorney at Turco Legal, for her service with Community Legal Aid’s pro bono programs, including the Worcester Probate and Family Court lawyer for the day program and UMass Memorial Healthcare Medical-Legal Partnership, among other activities.
- Jeff Goldman, a civil litigator at Morgan Lewis, for his pro bono representation of a divorced mother through two trials and two appeals that resulted in a major decision by the Supreme Judicial Court concerning the determination of child support and alimony awards under the Alimony Reform Act of 2011.
- Lisa Pirozzolo, an intellectual property litigator at WilmerHale, for her career-long dedication to pro bono service, including her leadership in a class action seeking accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing people in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Correction.
- Miyuki Masuda, a student at New England Law | Boston, for providing hundreds of hours of pro bono assistance to survivors of domestic violence and severe trauma at the Greater Boston Legal Services Immigration Unit.
The SJC Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services works to promote volunteer legal service to assist 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 Maura Healey. The American Bar Association has also called for a National Celebration of Pro Bono during the week of October 20-26, 2024.
WHEN:
Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
WHERE:
The program will be presented in person in the Supreme Judicial Court's Seven Justice Courtroom at the John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston, MA 02108.
The program will also be available live online at https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/, the same Suffolk University Law School webpage that is used to present oral arguments before the Supreme Judicial Court.