Mintz, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.  has been selected by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) to receive the 2014 Beacon of Justice Award.  The award honors law firms that have created and implemented innovative strategies to improve life outcomes for those unable to afford counsel. Award winners will be recognized at the NLADA Exemplar Awards Dinner on June 26 in Washington, D.C.

Recipients of the 2014 Beacon of Justice Award were selected based on their ability to increase access to representation through the utilization of groundbreaking and original ideas, tools, and technology to create new delivery models and initiatives.

Mintz was recognized for the firm’s involvement in two innovative programs: the Access to Justice Fellows Program and the Know Your Rights! Program. In conjunction with the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and its leaders, Mintz attorneys Martha J. Koster and Susan M. Finegan developed the Access to Justice Fellows Program which selects retired and retiring attorneys to partner with nonprofit and legal service organizations to deliver 10 to 20 hours per week of pro bono legal assistance for a full academic year. Additionally, Mintz has been the driving force behind the creation of the Know Your Rights! Program in Massachusetts. Katy E. Ward and Susan M. Finegan developed this program in conjunction with several organizations, including the Women’s Bar Association, the South Asian Bar of Greater Boston, and the Massachusetts Bar Association.  The program educates leaders of nonprofit organizations serving low-income women and their families on the legal matters their clients face. 

“It is an honor to be recognized by the NLADA for our work on the Access to Justice Fellows Program and the Know Your Rights! Program,” said Ms. Finegan, a Member of Mintz’s Litigation Section and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. “We are committed to providing legal services to low-income individuals through the creation and implementation of such replicable pro bono models.”

NLADA is America's oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to ensuring excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. For 100 years, NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state and local levels through the creation of many of the first public defense systems in the country, creation of the concept of a national center to protect the right to counsel, development of nationally applicable standards for legal representation, and groundbreaking legal legislation.