Each year, the Boston Bar Association’s Public Interest Leadership Program welcomes a select group of talented and highly-motivated lawyers to participate in a year-long program designed to provide intensive leadership and professional development training. Participants learn from and connect with leaders in Boston’s public and private sectors to gain the critical skills and tools needed to grow as an effective leader and voice in the community.
Madison Bader, Trial Attorney, Todd & Weld LLP
Madison Bader is a Trial Attorney at Todd & Weld LLP. Her practice includes white collar and government investigations work, criminal defense, and civil litigation.
Active in the legal community, Madison currently serves as chair of the Federal Bar Association’s national Criminal Law Section, is a member of the Boston Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section Steering Committee and is the Boston Bar Association’s liaison from the Young Lawyers Division to the Criminal Law Section.
Kate Barry, Senior Attorney, Greater Boston Legal Services
Kate Barry is a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, where she represents survivors of domestic violence in family law cases. She is a member of the BBA’s Family Law Section and of the Women’s Bar Association and is a member of UAW – National Organization of Legal Services Workers.
Karen Bobadilla, Staff Attorney, De Novo
Karen B. Bobadilla is a dual-licensed attorney, in Massachusetts (U.S.) and in Peru. Her practice focuses on domestic violence survivors, victims of crimes, and on Special Immigrant Juvenile cases in the Probate and Family Courts, USCIS, and the Immigration Court. Before becoming an attorney in the U.S., she was one of the few DOJ Full Accredited Representatives in the State.
In addition to her work at De Novo, she volunteers at the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys (MAHA) as a board member, at the American Immigration Lawyers Association – New England Chapter as the Probate and Family Court liaison, and on several committees at the Boston Bar Association.
Grace Brockmeyer, Staff Attorney, Volunteer Lawyers Project
Grace Brockmeyer is a Staff Attorney at the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP), where she practices in the Consumer Law and Bankruptcy Units. As a Staff Attorney within VLP’s Consumer Unit, Grace represents low-income, pro se debtors in their civil debt collection lawsuits and provides supervision and mentoring to pro bono attorneys in their representation of these clients. In the Bankruptcy Unit, she assists clients with their Chapter 7 cases, and supervises pro bono attorneys who represent these clients.
Tiixa Chukwuezi, Licensing Specialist, Cannabis Control Commission
Tiixa Chukwuezi currently serves as a Licensing Specialist at the Cannabis Control Commission. In this role, she works on various regulatory compliance matters, and is an inaugural member of the Commission’s Access and Equity DEI committee.
Gloria Donati, Staff Attorney, Project Citizenship
Gloria Donati is a Staff Attorney at Project Citizenship where she first joined as an AmeriCorps member. In her current role, Gloria represents immigrants across Massachusetts seeking to naturalize while focusing on clients with disabilities.
Gloria is a member of the BBA Delivery of Legal Services Steering Committee, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association. Gloria received her law degrees from Boston University School of Law, University of Bologna (Italy), University of Paris Nanterre (France). Gloria is fluent in Italian and French.
Shae E. Fitzpatrick, Assistant General Counsel, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Shae Fitzpatrick is an Assistant General Counsel at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she maintains a broad corporate healthcare practice with a focus on charitable and tax-exempt matters. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Shae spent five years practicing at Ropes & Gray as a transactional attorney within the life sciences group. In addition, Shae maintained an active pro bono practice in which she served on the leadership team of Ropes & Gray’s medical-legal partnership program in a role focused on assisting patients with their legal needs. After graduating from Boston College Law School, Shae served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Motivated by her formative experiences as a student-athlete at Brown University, Shae continues to support student-athletes through her service on the Brown University Sports Foundation Board of Directors.
Katharine Foote, Associate, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. (Mintz)
Katharine Foote is an associate in Mintz’s litigation practice who focuses her practice on complex commercial, appellate, and securities litigation, as well as criminal defense. She represents consumer brands and retail and manufacturing clients in business disputes and commercial litigation with particular expertise in breach-of-contract cases and complex Lanham Act claims.
Katharine maintains an active pro bono practice. She runs Mintz’s flagship pro bono program, the Domestic Violence Project. She is the current Co-Chair of the BBA’s Senior Associates Forum.
Michael Frieber, Director of the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General’s Pandemic Funding Oversight Unit
Michael Frieber is the Director of the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General’s Pandemic Funding Oversight Unit, which is charged with coordinating the Office’s work to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse of funds received by Massachusetts public entities to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its economic consequences.
Rachel Gargiulo, Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Rachel Gargiulo is a counsel in the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. Her litigation practice includes a wide range of complex commercial and securities litigation, and she advises clients in connection with government and internal investigations. Rachel also maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on juvenile justice, prisoner’s civil rights, and immigration matters.
Anne Georges, Staff Attorney, Greater Boston Legal Services
Anne Georges is a staff attorney in the Immigration Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS). Her work at GBLS primarily focuses on humanitarian-based immigration relief, including removal defense matters, domestic violence-based petitions, and petitions for children and youths.
In addition to her work at GBLS, Anne is a part-time lecturer and clinical faculty at Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL), where she leads the Immigrant Justice Practicum, a course that provides law students the opportunity to assist in the representation of non-citizens in a variety of humanitarian-based immigration matters.
Sean Grammel, Litigation Associate, Anderson & Kreiger LLP.
Sean Grammel focuses his practice on representing public sector clients, including government agencies, municipalities, and airports. This work includes conducting sensitive internal investigations, counseling clients on compliance, and representing them in court at the trial and appellate levels. In addition to his work for public sector clients, Sean has significant experience with private sector companies, including cases involving contract disputes, insurance coverage, unfair competition, and product liability.
Kari-Ann Greene, Attorney, Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency
Kari-Ann Greene is an attorney at the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), where she does a broad range of legal work related to affordable housing finance transactions and initiatives. Prior to MHFA, she worked for Boston-based law firm D’Ambrosio LLP, where she was responsible for negotiating a broad range of commercial and residential real estate transactions, as well as handling corporate and research matters.
Sean Hildenbrandt, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Sean Hildenbrandt is an Assistant Attorney General in the False Claims Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office where he is responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of the Massachusetts False Claims Act. Prior to serving in the False Claims Division, Sean served in various positions within the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division, where he worked collaboratively with charitable organizations in addition to investigating claims of waste, fraud, and abuse of charitable funds.
Sean is a Board Member of Bikes Not Bombs and previously served on the advisory board of a start-up nonprofit that focuses on K-12 mental health education and advocacy.
Darshana Indira, Senior Associate, Laredo & Smith, LLP
Darshana Indira is a Senior Associate at Laredo & Smith, LLP. She is an employment and business lawyer who advises company owners, organizational leadership, and c-suite executives in a broad range of employment and commercial litigation matters. Born in India, Darshana is fluent in Malayalam.
Darshana is currently the Co-President of the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston and serves on the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Nominations and the BBA Labor & Employment Steering Committee.
Natalie M. Jersak, Public Finance Associate, Locke Lord LLP
Natalie Jersak is a rising fifth-year Public Finance Associate at Locke Lord LLP. Her practice covers representation on all sides of tax-exempt and taxable bond issuances publicly offered or privately placed for state, municipal, and other public bodies, as well as 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities who serve one or more public interests (e.g., lower and higher education, affordable housing, healthcare, and assisted living).
She is a member of the Boston Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association, National Association of Bond Lawyers and the Boston Chapter of Women in Public Finance.
Nicole M. Levesque, Associate, Conn Kavanaugh Rosenthal Peisch & Ford, LLP
Nicole Levesque is an associate attorney at Conn Kavanaugh whose practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial and construction litigation and white-collar criminal defense. Nicole has substantial experience in representing clients in complex state civil litigation, defending clients against state and federal government investigations, and providing legal counsel on a wide variety of industry-specific regulatory matters.
MacKenzie K. Mahoney, Staff Attorney, The Second Step, Inc.
MacKenzie K. Mahoney is a Staff Attorney with The Second Step, Inc. as a part of their Steps to Justice Program, where she represents survivors of domestic violence in abuse prevention order proceedings, and a range of family law matters across the state of Massachusetts.
MacKenzie is committed to empowering the next generation of young attorneys and volunteers as a mock trial coach and judge at the undergraduate and high school levels.
Odette Martins, Associate, Sunstein LLP
Odette Martins is an associate at Sunstein and concentrates in trademark law. Prior to joining Sunstein, Odette was a Trademark Examining Attorney at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
She is a member of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and Women’s Bar Association.
Justin R. Masterman, Associate, Nutter’s Real Estate Department
Justin R. Masterman is an associate in Nutter’s Real Estate Department. He focuses his practice on all aspects of commercial real estate law and finance.
Justin is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), NAIOP Massachusetts, and the Boston Bar Association (BBA). He serves as member of the Gen2Gen emerging leaders group at B’nai B’rith Housing, a nonprofit developer whose mission is to ease the housing crisis in Greater Boston. Justin formerly co-chaired the Public Policy Committee of the BBA’s Real Estate Section.
Kate McCann, Assistant General Counsel and Data Privacy & Security Manager, Massachusetts Health Policy Commission
Kate McCann is Assistant General Counsel and Data Privacy & Security Manager at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), where she has served in various roles in the Office of the General Counsel since joining the agency in 2014. The HPC is an independent state agency established in 2012 that develops policies to reduce health care cost growth and improve the quality of patient care.
Nicole Merida, Associate, Casa Myrna
Nicole Merida is the Managing Attorney of Casa Myrna’s Legal Advocacy Program, where she represents survivors of domestic violence in abuse prevention orders and immigration matters.
Nicole is a member of the Boston Bar Association Delivery of Legal Services Steering Committee, a member of the Women’s Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Albert J. “AJ” Moscone, Jr., Moscone Law
Albert J. “AJ” Moscone, Jr. is the founder of Moscone Law, where he focuses on an array of matters, including criminal, civil, and business litigation as well as transactional and hospitality matters. He has successfully litigated before a judge or jury in multiple venues throughout the Commonwealth, as well as in Federal Court, and has guided home and business owners through transactional and zoning/licensure matters.
Born and raised in East Boston, he currently serves on the Board of Directors for the East Boston Chamber of Commerce as well as the East Boston YMCA.
Ashley Paquin, Associate, Nutter, McClennen & Fish
Ashley Paquin is an associate in Nutter, McClennen & Fish’s litigation department. Ashley focuses her practice on advising clients in a broad range of matters, including SEC investigations and other government inquiries, securities litigation, and complex civil litigation. Ashley previously worked as an associate at Ropes & Gray.
Margarita Amanda Petrakis, Immigration Attorney, Rian Immigrant Center
Margarita Amanda Petrakisis an Immigration Attorney at the Rian Immigrant Center who represents clients in family-based and humanitarian immigration cases and facilitates Rian’s medical-legal partnerships with Boston Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, providing critical immigration legal services to hospital patients and their families.
Marina Pullerits, Senior Associate, Choate
Marina Pullerits works with clients of Choate’s Litigation Department. While in law school, Marina completed an internship with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and served as a judicial extern to Judge Allison D. Burroughs of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Joseph J. Sherman, Staff Attorney, MetroWest Legal Services
Joseph J. Sherman is a Staff Attorney at MetroWest Legal Services, where he specializes in housing advocacy and prioritizes eviction defense in public and subsidized housing, subsidy terminations, denials for public and subsidized housing, lockouts, and shelter denials and terminations. Joseph started at MetroWest Legal Services as a volunteer member of AmeriCorps Legal Advocates of Massachusetts during the 2017-18 service year, at which time he exclusively served elders as a general practitioner.
Aaron Spacone, Associate, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP
Aaron Spacone is an Associate at Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, where his practice focuses on labor and employment law.
Outside of the office, Aaron volunteers his time as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Even Field, Inc., a non-profit organization promoting character, leadership, and integrity in youth sports. Aaron is also a member of the Alumni Board of The Wheeler School, a Providence, Rhode Island independent school he attended for 15 years.
Kelsey Tavares, Associate, DLA Piper LLP
Kelsey Tavares is an associate in DLA Piper LLP’s litigation and regulatory groups. Her practice focuses on complex litigation and regulatory matters involving clients in the life sciences, food and beverage, consumer products, and hemp and CBD industries. In addition to her litigation and regulatory practice, Kelsey maintains a robust pro bono practice and has represented clients faced with housing, immigration, disability, and civil rights issues.
Domonique Williams, Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Domonique Williams is the Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s Office.
Born and raised in Roxbury, Domonique went on to direct the Office of Housing Stability for the City of Boston and served as Deputy Director for the Office of Equity.
