MLAC is governed by an eleven member Board of Directors, ten of whom are appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court. The eleventh is the Chief Justice for Administration and Management of the Trial Court or that Justice's designee.
Martha Rush O'Mara was nominated to the MLAC board by the Massachusetts Bar Association. O'Mara is a solo practitioner who primarily represents children and parents in the Juvenile Court and the Probate and Family Court. She is co-chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Juvenile & Child Welfare Law Section and is a fellow with the Massachusetts Bar Foundation. |
Maria Matos was appointed to the board by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2005 as a client representative. She came to Boston in 1990 from Cape Verde. She is a spokesperson on spinal cord injury and works as a translator and interpreter for the Volunteer Lawyers Project. |
Timothy M. Linnehan of the Administrative Office of the Trial Court was appointed to the MLAC Board in October 2005 by the Chief Justice for Administration and Management. Tim serves as the Acting Director of Support Services for the Administrative Office of the Trial Court. |
Formerly a legal aid client, Jacqueline E. Farrow presently works at the Stavros Center for Independent Living, a non-profit organization that assists and advocates for people with disabilities. She serves on the Center’s Advocacy Committee and also works with the Massachusetts Coalition for Homelessness to support homeless shelters on disability accessibility awareness issues. |
Robert B. Foster, counsel at Boston law firm Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster, was appointed to the MLAC Board in May 2001 on the nomination of the Boston Bar Association. He represents MLAC as a member of the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Coalition. |
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Rahsaan Newman was appointed to board in 2009 by the Massachusetts Bar Association. He is currently an attorney for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. Rahsaan has also served as an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. |
Martha J. Koster was appointed to the board in 2005. She is a member of the Litigation Section at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. She has concentrated her practice on environmental and insurance issues and on cases raising legal and regulatory concerns under state and federal laws. |
Judith Martinez is a counselor at The Women's Center in New Bedford and an advocate for immigrant communities in the South Coast. She was appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court as someone who recently served on the board of a legal aid program. Judith was the first president of the Cape Cod Immigrant Center and previously served as a client representative on the board of Legal Services for Cape, Plymouth and Islands (now South Coastal Counties Legal Services). |
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William (Bill) Newman, a partner at Lesser, Newman & Nasser in Northampton, was appointed to the MLAC board in 2009 by the county bar association presidents. He also serves as the director of the Western Regional Office for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Bill is a former board member for both Western Massachusetts Legal Services and the Center for Public Representation. |
Martin V. Tomassian, a partner at Tomassian & Tomassian of Edgartown and Watertown, was appointed to the MLAC board in 2010 by the county bar association presidents. He currently is president of the Dukes County Bar Association and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Board of Delegates. |
Richard C. Van Nostrand, a partner at Mirick, O'Connell, DeMallie & Lougee in Worcester and former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, was appointed to the MLAC Board by the Supreme Judicial Court in May 2001. He is also a former member of the board of the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts. |
