October 15, 2019

Central Mass. lawyers Rhonda Bachrach, Douglas Fox and Lawrence Cohen honored by SJC

BY Gary V. MurrayWorcester Telegram & Gazette

The state Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services will honor three Worcester-area lawyers next week for their commitment to providing free legal services to those in need.

Rhonda L. Bachrach, who has a law office in Leicester, and lawyers Douglas L. Fox of Holden and Lawrence E. Cohen of Worcester are among four lawyers and a recent law school graduate who will receive Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards at a ceremony Thursday, Oct. 24, at the John Adams Courthouse in Boston. The awards, named in honor of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, will be presented by SJC Justice Kimberly S. Budd.

Bachrach will be honored for what the standing committee called her exemplary record as a volunteer for the family law, small claims and housing lawyer-for-the-day programs administered by Community Legal Aid and the Worcester County Bar Association, for her work with CLA’s medical-legal partnership with UMass Memorial Health Care and for taking private pro bono cases for those agencies, as well.

Fox and Cohen were chosen for “their extraordinary dedication” to providing pro bono legal services for more than 30 years to the residents of Jeremiah’s Inn, a residential recovery program in Worcester, on a wide range of issues, from bankruptcy to driver’s license reinstatements, to housing and unemployment compensation, according to the standing committee. The lawyers provide the services in collaboration with the Honorable Harry Zarrow Homeless Advocacy Project, a special program of Community Legal Aid, which receives funding from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation.

Also receiving awards for their pro bono work will be Boston lawyer Robert P. Sherman and Lauren Victoria Rossman, a 2019 graduate of Boston College Law School.