Every day, Massachusetts Bar Foundation grantee organizations advocate for Massachusetts' most vulnerable citizens and families. Lawyers Journal will regularly feature MBF grantees and fellows whose combined effort and generosity make that critical advocacy possible.
H. Theodore Cohen
Of Counsel, Keegan Werlin LLP, Boston
MBF Fellow since 1998
Cohen is of counsel to Keegan Werlin LLP in Boston where he
specializes in municipal law, real estate law and land use
regulation. Cohen served as town counsel to the town of Reading,
Massachusetts from 1972 to 2001, and he has provided town counsel
or city solicitor services to numerous other Massachusetts cities
and towns. He represents public and private clients in a variety of
real estate transactions, including financing, investment,
construction, leasing and sales of residential and commercial
properties.
Q: Why did you decide to become a fellow of the
MBF?
A: During the many years that I practiced as a municipal
attorney, I felt that I was working in the public interest and for
the public good; however, I never represented individuals or
families who were at risk of losing their homes, jobs, or even
their individual rights and freedom because of their lack of
resources and ability to access and participate in the legal
justice system. I felt I had to somehow help such people, even if
only indirectly by financially supporting an organization that
could provide the necessary access and resources. Through
colleagues and friends active in the MBA and MBF, I realized that
the MBF was such an organization, and so I was delighted to become
a fellow.
Q: What do you see as most important about the work of the
MBF?
A: I believe that the MBF's financial and organizational support
to the public interest lawyers and agencies that are providing
direct legal services and advice to the ever-expanding numbers of
vulnerable clients who could not otherwise afford a lawyer or have
any real access to justice and the legal system is the most
important aspect of the MBF's work.
Q: You recently served on a grant advisory committee. What
was your impression of that experience?
A: I have served on approximately ten grant advisory committees,
and each time I come away from the grant process feeling that my
small role in reviewing applicants was the best and most satisfying
thing I have done all year in the law. Serving on [grant] advisory
committees has given me the opportunity to meet and learn about the
professional lives of the real heroes and heroines of the legal
system -- the lawyers and staff who fight on a daily basis for the
people in our society who otherwise would have no champions. I come
away from the interviews and meetings with great admiration for the
lawyers and non-lawyers who work tirelessly for low pay out of a
sense of commitment and fair play and who desire to see the legal
system just do the right thing for their clients.
Q: Is there anything else you wish to say about the
MBF?
A: My admiration also extends to the staff of the MBF for their
commitment and efforts on behalf of the Massachusetts legal
community, and to all the lawyers who contribute money, time, and
effort to increase the access to justice for all and to improve the
administration of justice in Massachusetts. In my experience,
contributing in one way or another not only does good, it also
feels good.