Rules Advisory Committee selected for U.S. Court of
Appeals for the First Circuit
Chief Judge Sandra Lynch of the United States Court of Appeals
for the First Circuit recently announced that three new members
were appointed to the court's Rules Advisory Committee: Renee
Bunker of Maine, Jack Pirozzolo of Massachusetts, and Salvador J.
Antonetti-Stutts of Puerto Rico. Attorneys Bunker, Pirozzolo and
Antonetti will be replacing retiring members Karen Frink Wolf of
Maine, T. Christopher Donnelly of Massachusetts and Margarita
Mercado of Puerto Rico. Ricardo Casellas of Puerto Rico was
appointed as the new chairperson of the committee replacing
outgoing Chairperson Karen Frink Wolf.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2077, the new members were selected to
the committee to make recommendations regarding the rules of
practice and internal operating procedures for the First Circuit
Court of Appeals and the First Circuit Judicial Council. Lynch
thanked the retiring members for their commendable service and
welcomed the new members.
Panos selected for U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Worcester
Chief Judge Sandra L. Lynch of the United States Court of
Appeals for the First Circuit has announced that Christopher J.
Panos has been selected to fill the upcoming vacancy in the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts created
by Judge William C. Hillman's retirement and Chief Judge Melvin S.
Hoffman's relocation to Boston. Panos will be appointed to the
bankruptcy bench in the summer of 2015, upon FBI clearance. He will
sit in Worcester.
Panos received his juris doctor from Boston University School of
Law in 1989, where he graduated cum laude, after earning a
bachelor of arts from Georgetown University. He is currently the
partner-in-charge at Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP's Boston office,
where he has a diverse practice that focuses on commercial
litigation, bankruptcy, restructuring, general business law and
mergers and acquisitions. His client base is wide-ranging and
includes individuals, lenders, borrowers, banks, private equity
funds and other business entities. Panos was the managing
shareholder of Craig and Macauley PC in Boston, before the
attorneys at that firm joined Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP in 2014
to become its Boston office. In 2008, he was elected as a fellow of
the American College of Bankruptcy, which is the nation's largest
financial supporter of pro bono legal service programs related to
bankruptcy and insolvency matters, and has been a member of the
College's First Circuit Council since 2011. Panos is also an active
member of the Boston Bar Association, Boston Bar Foundation and the
American Bankruptcy Institute.
Supreme Judicial Court announces newly reconstituted
Access to Justice Commission
The Supreme Judicial Court has appointed 24 members to the third
Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission, co-chaired by Supreme
Judicial Court Justice Geraldine S. Hines and Susan M. Finegan of
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC. The first meeting
of the new five-year commission was on May 21.
The goal of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission is to
achieve equal justice for all persons in the commonwealth by
providing leadership to, and coordination with, the many
organizations involved in and improving access to justice for those
unable to afford an attorney. The members of the second Access to
Justice Commission just completed its five-year tenure, and in
April released a final report outlining the goals and achievements
of that commission from 2010 to 2015. That report is available on
the court's website at http://www.mass.gov/courts.
The newly reconstituted commission has outlined a series of
priorities to meet these goals, including strengthening the civil
legal aid community currently providing legal services for those
unable to afford counsel; enlarging the number of attorneys
providing pro bono civil legal services and limited assistance
representation; and improving access to justice in administrative
proceedings.
Reporting annually to the Supreme Judicial Court, the commission
aims to work closely with the Chief Justices of the Supreme
Judicial Court and the Trial Court, the Trial Court Administrator,
and the Special Advisor to the Trial Court on Access to Justice
Initiatives to broaden access to justice within the court system.
It will also work outside the court system to achieve its
goals.
The Access to Justice Commission members are:
- Honorable Geraldine S. Hines, co-chair, Supreme Judicial
Court
- Susan M. Finegan, co-chair, Pro Bono Partner, Mintz Levin Cohn
Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC
- Shannon M. Barnes, partner, Barnes and Leighton
- Mary Lu Bilek, Esq., dean, University of Massachusetts School
of Law
- Amy Blumenthal, Blumenthal & Associates
- Martha Born, Esq., chief litigation counsel, Biogen Inc.
- Jacquelynne J. Bowman, executive director, Greater Boston Legal
Services
- Marijane Benner Browne, director of lateral partner recruiting,
Ropes & Gray LLP
- Anthony M. Doniger, partner, Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak &
Cohen PC
- Russell Engler, professor of law and director of clinical
programs, New England Law | Boston
- Joel H. Feldman, partner, Heisler, Feldman, McCormick &
Garrow PC
- Reginald Fuller
- Honorable Lisa Ann Grant, Boston Municipal Court - Dorchester
Division
- Honorable Kathryn E. Hand, Barnstable District Court
- Daniel J. Hogan, clerk magistrate, Boston Municipal Court
- Sheila Hubbard, executive director, Volunteer Lawyers
Project
- Georgia Katsoulomitis, executive director, Massachusetts Law
Reform Institute
- Ann Bailey Leavenworth
- Jonathan L. Mannina, executive director, Community Legal
Aid
- Sue Marsh, executive director, Rosie's Place
- Honorable Maureen H. Monks, Middlesex Probate and Family
Court
- Honorable MaryLou Muirhead, Boston Housing Court
- Arthur L. Pressman, partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
- James T. Van Buren, James T. Van Buren Law Office
- Wendy S. Wayne, director, Immigration Impact Unit, Committee
for Public Counsel Services
- David W. White Jr., partner, Breakstone, White and Gluck
PC
Ex Officio members:
- Honorable Ralph D. Gants, chief justice, Supreme Judicial
Court
- Honorable Dina E. Fein, special advisor for Access to Justice
Initiatives, first justice, Housing Court - Western Division
- Kathleen E. McGrath, chair, Supreme Judicial Court's Standing
Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, senior corporate counsel,
Liberty Mutual Group Inc.
- David Rosenberg, of counsel, Englander, Leggett, &
Chicoine
Commissioners Emeritus:
- Honorable Steven D. Pierce, chief justice, Housing Court
Department
- Navjeet K. Bal, counsel, Nixon Peabody LLP
- Lee H. Glickenhaus, T Lex
- Allan G. Rodgers
- Jay T. Thiel, Jay T. Thiel Law Office