Elizabeth McIntyre (’14) Receives Adams Pro Bono Publico Award
Mass. Supreme Judicial Court recognizes recent graduate’s commitment to providing legal services for those in need
The Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services has selected recent BU Law graduate Elizabeth McIntyre (’14) to receive an Adams Pro Bono Publico Award for her exceptional commitment as a law student to providing legal services for the most underserved populations.
The Adams Awards are presented annually to honor Massachusetts lawyers, law students, small and large law firms, government attorney offices, corporate law departments, law schools, or other institutions in the legal profession that demonstrate outstanding commitment to providing volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged. McIntyre—currently an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and Staples Inc, with the Cambridge-Somerville arm of Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS)—will be honored alongside a retired judge and two attorneys.
McIntyre was nominated for the honor by BU Law’s Director of Public Service and Pro Bono Carolyn Goodwin. “Elizabeth is an emerging leader in our legal community with an exceptional commitment to serving the poor and disadvantaged and the legal skills to make a difference,” Goodwin wrote in her nomination.
McIntyre came to BU Law with the expressed intent to pursue a career in legal aid, and she immediately became engaged in pro bono service upon entering law school in Fall 2011. By April 2014, she had completed a total of 469 volunteer hours, for which she earned the BU School of Law Pro Bono Program Student Award, given each year to the graduating student who has completed the highest number of pro bono hours during law school.
Her reach was significant both in the BU Law community and beyond. Some of her pro bono commitments as a law student included:
- Volunteer work with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the Volunteer Lawyers’ Project Fair Employment Project, LIFT, and the Victim Rights Law Center
- Summer internships with Greater Boston Legal Services and the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Externships with Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Shelter Legal Services
- Client representation in BU Law’s Civil Litigation Program in the Housing, Employment, Family, & Disability Clinic
- Two spring break pro bono trips to Detroit to volunteer with Michigan Legal Services in the Tax Foreclosure Prevention Project
- Leadership as co-service chair of BU Law’s Public Interest Project and a committee member of the Boston Bar Association’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Section
Last fall, McIntyre was the inaugural recipient of the Leadership Scholarship, presented by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly to one JD student “based on high academic achievement, exceptional leadership qualities, and involvement with community service.”
In her current role at GBLS, McIntyre seeks to reduce the school-to-prison pipeline for poor children with disabilities in Boston Public Schools by advocating for their educational and mental health rights through direct representation and policy work.
Boston University School of Law congratulates Elizabeth McIntyre and her fellow Adams Award recipients on this very well-deserved honor.