Contact:
Bridget Ryan Snell | Communications Manager | P: 617.973.6666 | communications@womensbar.org
January 2007
Lawyers Stand Up for the WBF Comedy Night set for May 1st
Host David Yas is joined by Former Chief Justice of the SJC and Mintz Attorney
(Boston)- The Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts (WBF), the charitable sister organization of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, will hold its fourth annual Lawyers Stand Up for the WBF Comedy Night on May 1, 2008 at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston, in the rooftop ballroom.
Host and comedian David Yas, publisher and editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, leads the evening for the fourth year, joined by former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court Suzanne DelVecchio and Mintz Levin Attorney Paul Poth.
WBF President Christine Wichers of Choate, Hall & Stewart, anticipates that this will be the most successful fundraiser in the WBF’s 15-year history and encourages everyone to attend what is recognized as the funniest and most fun legal event of the year.
“What could be better than combining laughter with a truly worthy cause? If you go to only one fundraiser this year, make it Comedy Night!,” she said.
Comedy Night uses laughter to raise funds and bring attention to the WBF’s five pro bono projects: the Family Law Project for Battered Women, Framingham Project for Incarcerated Women, Women’s Lunch Place Project, the Hampden County Housing Court Project, and the Elder Law Project.
Since its inception in 2005, Comedy Night has brought together more than 50 law firms and businesses throughout Massachusetts, and has included the comedy of attorneys from all areas of the legal community, including: David Yamin, Bingham McCutchen; Michelle Peirce, Donoghue, Barrett & Singal; Georgia Katsoulomitis, Boston Bar Foundation; Bruce Singal, Donoghue, Barrett & Singal; Sumedha Ahuja-Bahri, Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds; and B.J. Krintzman, Law Office of B.J. Krintzman.
About the comedians:
David Yas started at Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as the news editor in 1995 and was the editor from October 1996 to July 2000. Before joining Lawyers Weekly, he worked as a litigation associate at Shapiro, Israel & Weiner in Boston. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University School of Law, Yas oversees the entire production of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and administers the editorial board.
Suzanne V. Del Vecchio, a retired justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts currently engages in private dispute resolution for Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation, Inc. Her distinguished career includes serving as Chief Justice of the Superior Court, as well as in positions with the Legal Aid Society, City of Boston, and private practice. A popular and skilled instructor, Judge Del Vecchio teaches courses in trial advocacy and in advanced trial advocacy.
Paul Poth is Of Counsel at the Boston office of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo in the Litigation Section. Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Poth worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph C. Martin, II.
Sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting Lissy Medvedow, WBF Executive Director, at 617-973-6666.
January 1, 2008
Christine Wichers leads Women’s Bar Foundation as 2008-2009 President
(Boston)- Christine Wichers, a partner at Choate Hall & Stewart LLP in Boston, has begun a one-year term as President of the Board of Trustees of the Women’s Bar Foundation (WBF) of Massachusetts.
Ms. Wichers has served on the Board of Trustees of the WBF since 2005, and was Vice President in 2006. Ms. Wichers is an active volunteer for the WBF, including serving on the planning committee for the Foundation’s fundraiser “Lawyers Stand Up for the WBF”, and taking on six pro bono cases for the Family Law Project for Battered Women. She is a 2004 recipient of the WBF Pro Bono Award, was named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” in 2006 and 2007, and was among the “Massachusetts Rising Stars” in 2005.
Ms. Wichers’s practice focuses on employment litigation and counseling. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Ms. Wichers graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1992 and from Dartmouth College in 1987.
Ms. Wichers hopes to expand participation among volunteer lawyers in the WBF’s pro bono programs, enabling the WBF to serve more low-income women who desperately need legal representation.
She noted, “Petitioning for a restraining order or filing for divorce or child custody without a lawyer to steer you through the court system is hard enough. Doing so when your daily focus is keeping yourself and your children free from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from your spouse or partner, is nearly impossible. Legal services agencies do an exemplary job but lack the resources to help every indigent and low-income person who needs a lawyer. For battered women who are unable to obtain these services, the WBF is often the only place to turn.”
June 7, 2006
Western MA law firm awarded SJC Adams Pro Bono Publico Award for work with Hampden County Housing Court Project of the WBF
Boston- The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts presented the Springfield firm of Heisler, Feldman, McCormick and Garrow PC with one of four Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards for its work on the Hampden County Housing Court Project of the Women's Bar Foundation. Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina presented the awards to the firm in recognition of its outstanding commitment in providing volunteer legal services for poor and disadvantaged citizens in Massachusetts. The award was presented on June 6th in a ceremony at the John Adams Courthouse.
The Hampden County Housing Court Project's creator, Springfield Attorney and WBA Board Member Dorothy Varon, was called upon in 2004 by the Hampden County Housing Court to find a solution to the overwhelming number of unrepresented people in Housing Court on eviction day. The answer to the call was the creation of the Project, one of five pro bono projects offered by the Women’s Bar Foundation.
“The Women's Bar Foundation is delighted that the SJC has chosen the law firm of Heisler, Feldman, McCormick & Garrow to receive the Adams Pro Bono Publico Award this year for its work on the Hampden County Pro Bono Housing Project, a pro bono project of the Women's Bar Foundation,” said Karen Erickson, WBF President.
“The awards are a formal recognition of the importance of pro bono service to the profession, both in the direct benefit derived by the client or in some cases by the public at large, and from the good will and respect their efforts bring to the profession as a whole, “ said Justice Spina. “Lawyers who regularly perform pro bono services do so out of a sense of humility and respect for their fellow human beings and their profession. They are truly virtuous people who deserve our recognition.”
“Thanks to the participation of Heisler, Feldman and the volunteer attorneys of the Western Massachusetts Committee of the Women's Bar Association, we are proud to say that over 80 clients have had pro bono representation in eviction matters,” Erickson reported.
About the Women’s Bar Foundation
Established as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1993 by the Women’s Bar Association, the WBF’s founding mission is to establish an equitable legal system, to promote social and economic equity for women, and to meet the legal needs of women and their children through an array of pro bono services. To date, the WBF has served more than a thousand indigent and low-income battered women, homeless women, incarcerated women, and elderly women and men. For more information, visit www.womensbar.org.
About the Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards
Established in 1999, the Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services promotes volunteer legal work in Massachusetts to help people of limited means in need of legal representation, in accordance with SJC Rule 6.1. The Committee has presented the awards annually to lawyers and legal organizations since 2002.
May 2006
WBF 2005 Annual Report Published
Karen Erickson, President of the Women’s Bar Foundation, announced that the Women’s Bar Foundation’s 2005 Annual Report has been published and released. Those who have generously contributed to the WBF in 2005 will receive their copies by the end of June.
The WBF would especially like to thank Elaine Epstein, the highest contributor to the WBF in its history, who has so generously pledged $25,000 over five years.
Copies may also be requested by e-mailing probono@womensbar.org with your name and address. To support the pro bono projects of the WBF, visit http://www.womensbar.org/ and click “to contribute” or send a check to 18 Tremont Street, Suite 730, Boston, MA 02108.
About the Women’s Bar Foundation
Established as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1993 by the Women’s Bar Association, the WBF’s founding mission is to establish an equitable legal system, to promote social and economic equity for women, and to meet the legal needs of women and their children through an array of pro bono services. To date, the WBF has served more than a thousand indigent and low-income battered women, homeless women, incarcerated women, and elderly women and men. For more information, visit www.womensbar.org.
November 7, 2005
WBF Chosen as Charity in Catalogue for Philanthropy
The Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts has been selected as a Massachusetts 2005 Catalogue for Philanthropy charity. This year’s edition of the Catalogue profiles 72 of Massachusetts’ outstanding environmental, cultural, and human service agencies as “examples of excellence” in Massachusetts philanthropy.
The Catalogue, which was the first of its kind anywhere, was created by a group of leading foundations here in 1997 to help close the gap between Massachusetts’ ranks in income and in charitable giving — then the largest such disparity in the nation. To do this, in addition to the annual Catalogue itself, the project developed the nationally-known “Generosity Index”™, a website (www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org), “Giving Massachusetts Day” proclaimed since 2001 as the day after Thanksgiving by Governors Swift and Romney, and many other “donor-friendly” tools. Since 1997, charitable giving here has doubled, from $2 billion to $4 billion, and though the Catalogue makes no claim for this growth, the Catalogue Project is widely recognized as a national leader in donor education. There are now similar Catalogues in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, MO, and others are being planned in several other philanthropic markets.
According to George McCully, President of the Catalogue, “The Catalogue is designed as a showcase for Massachusetts philanthropy, and a one-stop shop for a family’s charitable giving. A single check, electronic transaction over the web or stock transfer can be allocated to as many charities as the donor pleases, and because the Catalogue is sponsored and paid-for by its philanthropic sponsors, 100% of every donation goes to the designated charities.”
The WBF was chosen in rigorous competition by professional grantmakers, private donors, fundraisers and executive directors of charities.