Annual Dinner

(l-r) 2010 Honorees Howard Cooper, Dan kesselbrenner, Jill Soffiyah Elijah, Josh Raisler Cohn, and Charlotte Noss.

NLG dinner guests applaud our honorees at the Testimonial Dinner May 7, 2010, at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston.

Each year the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild proudly recognizes accomplished legal professionals in the Guild community and gathers at the NLG Annual Testimonial Dinner in May to celebrate our shared successes.

The 29th Annual Testimonial Dinner, held May 7, 2010, humorously emceed by Susan Church and John Salsberg, honored Lawyers Jill Soffiyah Elijah and Howard Cooper, Legal Worker Dan Kesselbrenner, and Law Students Charlotte Noss and  Josh Raisler Cohn.

The evening featured a cocktail reception and sit down dinner, a silent auction with 30 items ranging from sports tickets to travel get-a-ways, a special tribute to Howard Zinn–the Guild’s first Dinner Honoree in 1982–by Roger Geller and Jim Miller, a short live auction, and ended with Guild members, friends, honorees’ families, and supporters dancing the night away!  Read More…

To see more photos from the NLG Dinner, please visit our Flickr.

We look forward to seeing you in May 2011!

The NLG Dance was a great, fun success! Our DJ played old favorites and new hits, enjoyed by dancers of all ages.

Trina Realmuto of the NLG Immigration Project places a silent auction bid, new this year.

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About Our 2010 Honorees

Our 2010 NLG Honorees: Jill Soffiyah Elijah and Howard Cooper (lawyers), Dan Kesselbrenner (legal worker), Charlotte Noss and Josh Raisler-Cohn (law students).

Soffiyah Elijah is Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, where she concentrates on “the urgent needs of the powerless, voiceless, and indigent” in the criminal justice system. Soffiyah has represented numerous political prisoners and social activists, most recently the San Francisco 8/Black Panthers.

Howard Cooper, a partner at Boston’s Todd & Weld, is one of Massachusetts’ most prominent litigators. He has distinguished himself defending the rights of minorities, including the Islamic community in its epic battle to build a Mosque in Roxbury, and the poor and disabled in suburban towns seeking housing and services. Howard is a member and sustainer of the Guild.

Dan Kesselbrenner is the Executive Director of the NLG National Immigration Project and a long-time Guild member. He is a nationally recognized expert on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Dan has devoted his life to advancing and defending immigrants’ rights.

Charlie Noss is a third year Northeastern law student and has been very active in the Guild. Among other activities, she provided leadership on campaigns supporting Northeastern Janitors in improving their union contract. During her first year of law school she did an outstanding job as coordinator of the NLG Street Law Clinic.

Josh Raisler-Cohn, a third year Northeastern student, has been active in the Guild for 10 years. Through legal observing and advocacy he has worked to support prisoners, activists and organizers, criminal defendants, low income people, tenants, and others targeted by the state.

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Consider Becoming a Sponsor in 2011!

In 2010 for the first time the Massachusetts Chapter of the Guild extended the invitation to become a Dinner Sponsor.  This pre-event sponsorship is essential to the Chapter’s financial security and ensures our enduring legal and political work.

Your generous support as a Dinner Sponsor also provides you with a unique marketing and advertising opportunity: your logo printed on 2,000 invitations sent to members, friends, and community organizations, as well as recognition and advertisement space in our Dinner Journal (please see specific sponsorship information).

Sponsorship Levels

$500 – Friend: your company or business logo printed in the Dinner Journal.

$1,000 – Supporter: 1/8 page advertisement space in the Dinner Journal.

$1,500 – Ally: 1/4 page advertisement space in the Dinner Journal.

$2,000 – Partner: 1/2 page advertisement space in the Dinner Journal.

$3,000 – Champion: full page advertisement space in the Dinner Journal.