Welcome New NLG Board of Directors

Last month the NLG Massachusetts Chapter held its Annual Meeting at which we elected a new Board of Directors and our Officers. Neil Berman will continue his 2-year term as a Chair of the Chapter; Patricia Cantor and Jeff Petrucelly were re-elected as Chapter’s Co-Treasurers. Please see the list of newly elected members of the Board of Directors on page 2. We are very thrilled to welcome new Board members who will be serving for the first time: Makis Antzoulatos, David Conforto, Jonathan Messinger, Gráinne O’Neill, Josh Raisler Cohn, and Jessica White.

(center) Chrissy Foot & Patty Garin enjoy conversation and the tasty food!

Makis graduated from Northeastern Law School and now works as a public defender for the CPCS Roxbury/Dorchester Municipal Court office. Prior to law school he worked as an advocate for at the Shattuck Homeless Shelter and was active in the movement for CORI Reform. He lives in Roslindale with his wife and daughter who keep him honest.

David is the Founder of Conforto Law Group, P.C, an employment law firm in Boston that dedicates its practice to the exclusive representation of employees.  He has successfully litigated a wide array of employment law issues — including discrimination and sexual harassment.  David has been a member of the NLG since law school and, during that time, coordinated the NLG Street Law Clinic project.  In 2007, he, along with Urszula Masny-Latos and Judy Somberg, represented the Guild among international observers for the Constitutional Referendum in Venezuela.

Patty Garin gives an engaging presentation on the parole crisis in Massachusetts

Jonathan is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School;  he also holds Master of Law degree from Lunds Universitet in Sweden.  He is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and New York, and works as a general practitioner; Jonathan is the founder of LoveYourLawyer.com.  He enjoys traveling, singing and playing futbol when off duty.

Gráinne is a staff attorney and Coordinator of Death Penalty Engagements at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute at Harvard Law School.  Prior to joining the Institute, Gráinne worked as a public defender in New Orleans. She attended Columbia Law School, where she served as Executive Editor of the Jailhouse Lawyers Manual.  She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar.

Josh has been active in the Guild for over 10 years as a legal worker, law student and lawyer. He has worked to support prisoners, activists and organizers, criminal defendants, and others targeted by state in both civil and criminal contexts. Josh graduated last year from Northeastern and is currently working as a public defender in the Roxbury and Dorchester courts.

Jessica White was very active in the Guild while attending Northeastern and is currently working on cases of guard brutality as a part time staff attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services. She volunteers for the Women’s Bar Foundation Framingham Project, the Rosa Parks Committee of the Women’s Bar Association, and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council.  On a more personal note, she is obsessed with romance novels and magical realism, and is now working on her own dystopian suspense romance novel.

We would like to send our heartfelt thanks to the last year’s Board members who decided to step down: Barb Dougan, Chrissy Foot, and Mary Lu Mendonça. Their contribution to the Board of Directors and the Guild has been immense. Thank you!