The Massachusetts IOLTA Committee has announced that attorney Jenna Miara will be its new executive director starting Nov. 1, 2021.
Miara was previously the directing attorney of Impact Litigation and Policy at Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles. She developed and supervised the firm’s impact litigation and policy work, managing both in-house and outside counsel; engaging with the state legislature and outside organizations; supervising staff attorneys, fellows, law students and volunteers; fundraising; and contributing to the overall management of Bet Tzedek’s operations. She has extensive litigation and policy experience in key legal services matters, including consumer protection, civil rights and employment matters.
Prior to her work at Bet Tzedek, she was a senior litigation attorney at Strumwasser & Woocher LLP in Los Angeles and a complex litigation partner at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym Ltd. in Chicago.
Miara started her career as a legal services attorney at Legal Aid Chicago, where she worked for five years. She was also an instructor at UCLA School of Law. She graduated from Stanford Law School with distinction in 2004, and was a law clerk to Judge Robert W. Gettlement in the Northern District of Illinois. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University with a degree in history.
“We are very excited to welcome Jenna to the Massachusetts Access to Justice community,” said Hannah L. Kilson, chair of the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee. “We were so impressed with her experience in litigation and civil legal aid, combined with her keen intellect and experience in community building.”
Miara steps into a role held since 1989 by Jayne Tyrrell, whose groundbreaking work and dedication to access to justice have been hailed across the legal community.
“I am so honored and excited to join the robust public interest community in Massachusetts,” Miara said. “IOLTA revenue is critical to addressing long-standing inequities that have been compounded by the devastating effects of the pandemic. I’m eager to work to maximize the resources of legal and financial institutions in the interest of justice.”
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City of Lynn requests proposals for legal services
The Lynn School Committee is requesting proposals from qualified law firms or individual attorneys for general, collective bargaining and/or special education counsel and other related legal services.
Counsel to the Lynn School Committee is to provide legal advice and counsel on a variety of matters pertaining to all aspects of municipal/school government. The selected firm(s) or individual(s) will provide legal advice and support to the Lynn School Committee and school department administration in the areas relating to, but not limited to, procurement, contracts, collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance processing, litigation, civil rights, ethics, schools, special education, and interpretation of state and federal statutes and regulations.
Specifications are available at the Purchasing Department room 205, Lynn City Hall, 3 City Hall Square, Lynn, MA 01901. Specifications will be mailed/emailed upon request to the purchasing department at purchasing@lynnma.gov or by calling 781-586-6893.
Ten copies of the proposal must be sealed and marked “Proposal #03-408 Lynn Public Schools Legal Services” and submitted in form to the address above. Proposals will be received until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. Emailed proposals will be accepted at purchasing@lynnma.gov.
Qualified proposers should note that, in accordance with MGL Chapter 30B, Section 1 (b) (15), the procurement of legal services are exempt from the Chapter 30B procurement process and the Lynn School Committee reserves the right to waive any defect in a proposal and to select the firm(s) or individual(s) that the Lynn School Committee in its sole discretion determines best meets the needs of the Lynn Public School District.
The Lynn School Committee will prepare the notice of award and awarding of this contract.
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Job Opening
U.S. magistrate judge position for District of Connecticut
The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of
a full-time U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Connecticut at New Haven,
Connecticut. The current annual salary for this position is $201,112, and the term of
office is eight years.
The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging and will include: (1)
conducting most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, including but not limited to
search warrants, criminal complaints, bond matters and pretrial motion hearings; (2)
conducting settlement conferences in civil cases; (3) trial and disposition of
misdemeanor cases; (4) conducting various pretrial matters and evidentiary
proceedings on referral from a district judge; and (5) trial and disposition of civil cases
upon consent of the litigants. The basic authority of a U.S. magistrate judge is
specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.
A merit selection panel composed of attorneys and other members of the
community will review all applicants and recommend to the district judges in confidence
the five persons it considers best qualified. The court will make the appointment
following an FBI full-field investigation and an IRS tax check of the applicant selected by
the court for appointment. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to
all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, age (40 and over), gender, religion,
national origin or disability.
Click here for more information on the position and
here for the application.