Stars on the Horizon

Three NUSL graduates were saluted as “rising stars of the bar” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in the paper’s 2008 picks for “Up and Coming Lawyers.”

Nancy Cremins ’03 is an associate with Robinson & Cole in the firm’s litigation practice. Cremins’ first case at Robinson & Cole involved sexual abuse allegations against the Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese. She was on a team of attorneys that represented an insurance company sued by the Archdiocese for lack of coverage in the payouts for the settlement of the claims. The daughter of two Irish Catholic immigrants, Cremins grew up attending church within the Archdiocese. “Going through documents that date back to the 1950s and show the church was aware of what was going on was challenging,” she told Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. “It goes to the heart of your faith.”

Kimberly Dougherty ’03, a former social worker, has served as primary counsel in the prosecution of several complex tort cases. Since joining Hagens, Berman, Sobol, Shapiro in 2007, she has added complex class actions to her resume. Dougherty’s talent comes in connecting with her clients and convincing the court: she represented the family of a 16-year-old honor student and football star who was rendered a quadriplegic after suffering an Ephedra-related heart attack. Dougherty secured a settlement of more than 350 percent of what was anticipated from the bankrupt defendant.

Rahsaan Hall ’98, a Suffolk County prosecutor for eight years, left the DA’s office in 2008 for a new challenge: handling long-term cases for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, where he had gone on co-op during law school. As an assistant DA, Hall was one of the youngest prosecutors to represent the commonwealth in homicide trials, handling several high-profile cases. Hall, the son of Professor David Hall, told Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly that he had concerns about being an African-American prosecutor, but credits former Suffolk County DA Ralph Martin ’78 with alleviating them. “He said that the victims, and the communities impacted by these crimes, are also made up of people of color,” Hall told the paper.

PHOTOS (3): DAVID SPINK

Kim Named Chief Counsel

Saskia Kim ’00 was named chief counsel to the California Senate Judiciary Committee in January. The committee, staffed by attorneys, has jurisdiction over civil law in California, including recent bills on same-sex marriage, the foreclosure crisis and the rights of terminally ill patients. An expert in privacy law, Kim previously served as deputy director of the California Senate Office of Research and counsel to the Assembly Judiciary Committee. She is married to Hudson Sangree ’00, a staff writer at The Sacramento Bee.

Ralph Martin: Diversity Hero

Ralph Martin ’78, managing partner of the Boston office of Bingham McCutchen, co-chairman of his firm’s diversity committee and managing principal of the Bingham Consulting Group, was honored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a 2009 Diversity Hero. Suffolk County’s first African-American district attorney (1992-2002), Martin also served as the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s second African-American chairman.

Lucas is Rookie of the Year

Peter Lucas ’07, a pre-trial attorney in the torts division of the New York City Law Department, was named “Legal Rookie of the Year” for 2008. In his first year of practice, Lucas completed more than 100 discovery responses and made more than 25 affirmative motions resulting in dismissals of 15 cases brought against the city.

Spring 2009 Class Notes

IN MEMORIAM

Richard Egbert ’72

Several years ago, during an interview with Northeastern Law Magazine, renowned criminal defense attorney Richard Egbert ’72 chuckled at the growing stature of his alma mater and said, “I wouldn’t get in there now.” It was a charmingly self-effacing comment, all the more so because Egbert was one of the most brilliant, talented and successful trial attorneys in New England, the go-to guy for the toughest cases, a man respected by opponents, colleagues and judges for his tenacity and skill.

“I think the greatest calling a lawyer can have is to represent people accused of crimes,” he told the magazine. “We are all that’s standing between you and the government.”

Egbert, 61, died in July after an afternoon of waterskiing with his family in upstate New York. He grew up in Newton, Mass., with fight in his soul and a connection to the underdog. His Northeastern professors quickly spotted him as an exceptional courtroom talent, and, after opening his solo practice in Boston in 1972, Egbert’s client roster grew to include judges, alleged murderers and mobsters. At $525 an hour, he was one of Boston’s highest-paid lawyers, with a string of controversial clients including “Cadillac Frank” Salemme, the reputed head of the New England Mafia, and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, a cohort of crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger. In 2002, Egbert represented notorious Providence mayor Buddy Cianci, who was acquitted on 11 of 12 federal criminal charges. Egbert obsessed over the single conviction; giving up wasn’t in his makeup.

“He was a fierce defender of the Constitution and of everyone he represented,” says Stephanie Page ’78, a public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Boston. “He would never give up, he would always fight and most often prevail.”

Egbert leaves his wife, Shannon McAuliffe, an attorney; a brother, Stephen, of North Hampton, N.H.; two daughters, Shea McGonigal of Portland, Maine, and Danielle Petruzzi of Arlington; a son, Manuel, of Pembroke; and three grandchildren.— Elaine McArdle

Rachel Carol King ’90

Rachel Carol King ’90 died August 25, 2008, at her summer home in Wayne, Maine. She had lived fully while coping with breast cancer for the last five years.

Rachel’s legal career included work in the Alaska Public Defender’s office as an assistant public defender. She helped found and was the first executive director of Alaskans Against the Death Penalty, successfully keeping Alaska death penalty free. She served as executive director of the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and was active in the Green Party and in other human rights causes.

For many years she worked as a legislative counsel and lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, DC, during which time she fought tirelessly in support of civil liberties and was instrumental in limiting the scope of the USA Patriot Act. Most recently, Rachel worked as legal counsel for the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and homeland security.

Rachel served as chair of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) and authored two books on the subject, Don’t Kill in Our Names: Families of Murder Victims Speak out Against the Death Penalty and Capital Consequences: Families of the Condemned Tell Their Stories. She was an avid photographer and runner, competing in more than a dozen marathons. She also wrote a novel, Tales of the District. At the time of her death, she was enrolled in a master’s degree program in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University.

Rachel is survived by her husband, Richard McAlee, three step-daughters, her parents and other family members. Donations may be made in Rachel’s name to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, www.ncadp.org, and in support of breast cancer research to Dr. Leisha Emens at Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1650 Orleans St., Room 409, Baltimore, MD 21231-1000. — Sharon Barr '90

PHOTOS: (TOP) WEBB CHAPPELL; (BOTTOM) COURTESY

The School of Law congratulates our graduates appointed to the judiciary.

Pedro Jimenez Jr. ’92 joined the Family Division bench in New Jersey’s Mercer County Courthouse this fall. Jimenez spent 15 years practicing criminal law as an assistant prosecutor in Middlesex County before becoming a deputy attorney general in the Department of Law and Public Safety and then a member of the civil division bench in Middlesex County.

Robert Fields ’90 was appointed associate justice of the Housing Court, Western Division, which serves the four Western Massachusetts counties. Prior to being sworn in on December 30, 2008, Fields was clerk magistrate of the Housing Court.

Kenneth King ’80 joined the Middlesex (Massachusetts) Juvenile Court in January. He previously served as an associate professor of clinical law with Suffolk University Law School’s Juvenile Justice Center.

David Weingarten ’81 is now a member of the Boston Municipal Court. A longtime Dorchester resident and practitioner, he has years of experience in both criminal defense and complex civil litigation as a partner in the law firm Macy & Weingarten.

Angela Ordonez ’89 has been appointed an associate justice of the Norfolk (Massachusetts) Probate and Family Court. She previously served as an associate justice in the Nantucket Division of the Probate and Family Court.

Paul Wooten ’77 was elected to the New York Supreme Court — the state’s trial court — in November. Serving in the Second Judicial District, he previously headed his own firm and was active in public service.

David Sullivan ’86 received the 2008 President’s Award from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation (MBF). Sullivan was one of two attorneys recognized for volunteerism, leadership and commitment to increasing access to the state’s justice system. Sullivan was lauded for his “exemplary contributions” to the MBF as a volunteer for the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Grants Program, which provides civil legal services to low-income persons. Sullivan has served as register of probate for the Hampshire Probate and Family Court since 2003.