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MBA to honor Holtz, Cramer for ‘excellence’ on May 14

Thursday, Apr. 9, 2015
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The Massachusetts Bar Association will honor the Hon. Nancy Holtz (ret.) and Boston Globe crime and legal reporter Maria Cramer at the May 14 Excellence in the Law event, co-presented by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Holtz has been selected to receive the Daniel F. Toomey Excellence in the Judiciary Award and Cramer will be presented with the MBA's Excellence in Legal Journalism Award.

The annual Excellence in the Law event, which will be held at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, will also feature award presentations in the following areas: Up & Coming Lawyers, Excellence in Pro Bono, Paralegal, Marketing and Firm Administration.

About Hon. Nancy Holtz (Honoree, Daniel F. Toomey Excellence in the Judiciary Award)

Holtz, a former Superior Court judge with more than 30 years of legal experience, is now a "go to" mediator and arbitrator for high-stakes and complex matters for JAMS. Holtz began her career as a trial attorney, as assistant corporation counsel for the City of Boston's Law Department, and then became partner at Merrick and Louison, where she tried complex civil and criminal jury trials in U.S. District Court and Massachusetts Superior Court. Holtz went on to serve as commissioner of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, before becoming secretary and general counsel of the Executive Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Holtz was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1996 where, for 15 years, she presided over civil and criminal cases, including significant multimillion dollar business litigation and construction litigation and first degree murder, kidnapping and home invasion.

About Maria Cramer (Honoree, Excellence in Legal Journalism Award)

Cramer, the recipient of the Excellence in Journalism Award, has lead the news pack on cases like Philip Markoff, otherwise known as the Craigslist Killer, Clark Rockefeller, and the Woolson Street murders, the killings of three adults and a two-year-old boy on a Mattapan street. The Globe has sent her to Guatemala, Costa Rica, London and Germany to follow not only crime stories but political news. In 2013, she was part of the team that won the Pulitzer for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings. In 2014, she was assigned to cover the state's court system full time and has broken stories on the Aaron Hernandez case and the Parole Board.