The Massachusetts Bar Association will honor the Hon. Sandra
Lynch, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the
First Circuit, and WBUR-FM's News Department at a May 2 event
co-presented by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. The judicial
and media honors will be two among several bestowed at the annual
Excellence in the Law event taking place at the Renaissance Boston
Waterfront Hotel beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Lynch has been selected to receive the Daniel F. Toomey Excellence
in the Judiciary Award and WBUR-FM has been chosen to receive the
association's Excellence in Legal Journalism Award.
Lynch is the first woman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the First Circuit, and in 2008, became its first female chief
judge. Lynch is the ninth chief judge of the First Circuit Appeals
since Congress created the position in 1948.
As chief judge, Lynch serves as executive officer of both the
First Circuit Court of Appeals and the Judicial Council of the
First Circuit. She represents the First Circuit in biannual
meetings of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the
judiciary's national policy making body.
"Judge Lynch represents and delivers on the highest standards of
judicial leadership. We are delighted to honor her distinguished
appellate service on the federal bench," MBA President Robert L.
Holloway Jr. said.
A graduate of Wellesley College and the Boston University School
of Law, Lynch was a trailblazer throughout her career. Following
law school, she served as a law clerk to Judge Raymond Pettine of
the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
and was the first female law clerk on that court. Prior to her
appointment to the federal bench, Lynch served as an assistant
attorney general for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and as
general counsel of the Massachusetts Department of Education. In
addition, she was a partner in the Boston law firm of Foley, Hoag
& Eliot, where she was the first woman to chair the litigation
department.
In addition to presenting the Toomey Award to Lynch, Holloway will
also present WBUR with the Legal Journalism Award.
According to Holloway, WBUR's journalistic standards made the
station a clear selection as the recipient of this year's
journalism award.
"The station's stellar news reporters and producers put together
thoughtful and timely news pieces on topics highly relevant to and
involving the Massachusetts legal community," said Holloway, who
noted WBUR's coverage of the state drug laboratory scandal,
increased unemployment following law school, judicial
accountability and medical malpractice reform among other timely
topics.
With operations based on the campus of Boston University, WBUR-FM
is the preeminent news and information public radio station in
Massachusetts, reaching close to 500,000 listeners each week. With
its extensive newsroom, WBUR produces hourly local newscasts,
original reporting, investigative and feature series, and in
addition, has a robust - and growing - digital presence at
wbur.org.
The station enjoys its success as a Top 10 public radio station in
America, producing programming such as Car Talk, On
Point, Here & Now and Only A Game. WBUR
produces a daily news magazine program, Radio Boston, and
carries NPR News programs like Morning Edition, All
Things Considered and Wait Wait … Don't Tell
Me.