Mintz Member Susan Finegan is the recipient of the 2017 Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) Yvette C. Mendez award for her dedication to making the Pro Bono Appellate Project a success.

Ms. Finegan will be formally honored by the VLP at their Annual Reception on September 13^th at the Boston Public Library. The Yvette C. Mendez is a distinguished honor, only awarded four times in the past fifteen years, recognizing a member or project of the Greater Boston Bar Association that has made an extraordinary contribution to furthering equal access to justice in ways beyond the traditional law practices. 

Throughout the past several years, Ms. Finegan has worked in partnership with VLP and the courts to start and oversee the Pro Bono Appellate Project. Through this pro bono project, over 140 pro bono attorneys have helped several hundred self-represented, low income litigants. “When we at VLP learned that Sue committed to creating a Pro Bono Appellate Project, we had no doubt that this would get done well; and we knew we wanted to work with her. Sue has been the moving force behind many successful efforts in the Boston area to increase access to justice,” said Joanna Allison, Executive Director of the VLP.

The VLP credits Ms. Finegan with building a coalition of legal aid providers, private firms and attorneys, and court personnel to assist litigants in navigating “a very complex system.”

Appointed Mintz’s first full-time Pro Bono partner in 2007, Ms. Finegan chairs the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, serves as lead counsel on numerous high profile pro bono litigation matters, and oversees the firm’s 300+ pro bono matters. She is an active member of the legal community, including serving as Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and a member of the Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services.