Proceeds will be granted to legal aid organizations across Greater Boston
More than 1,000 people attended the Boston Bar Foundation’s (BBF) John and Abigail Adams Benefit, held January 28th at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The annual event is the largest legal aid fundraiser in Massachusetts.
“Consider this: last year, Boston Bar Foundation grantees collectively served more than 38,000 people in need of legal assistance,” said BBF President Anthony Froio, managing partner of Robins Kaplan. “That’s 105 people a day, every day, for a year. They are immigrants, they are veterans, they are tenants being wrongfully evicted, and they are parents who are trying to advocate for a child with special needs.”
At the event, Froio presented the Public Service Award to Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Justice Marshall’s groundbreaking career includes student anti-apartheid leader, attorney, jurist, and mentor. She also has had a profound impact on legal history through her 2003 opinion announcing the SJC’s decision on marriage equality in Massachusetts.
Upon accepting her award, Justice Marshall reaffirmed the critical importance of equal protection under the law, and the unique role that lawyers play in society.
“Everyone has needed a lawyer since the founding of our democracy. Everyone,” said Justice Marshall. “There are few people outside of lawyers who can say to someone at their most vulnerable: ‘Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.’”
Proceeds from the Adams Benefit, in addition to the BBF’s share of funds from the Mass Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (MAIOLTA), will be granted to legal aid organizations across the Greater Boston community. In June of 2016, the BBF awarded $1,000,000 to 21 local groups.
