Bowditch Featured in Worcester Telegram Article “Pro bono legal service integral to Worcester lawyers’ work”

October 28, 2019

The Worcester Telegram recently discussed the pro bono work Worcester attorneys do, which highlighted Bowditch winning the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Medical-Legal Partnership Pro Bono Advocacy Award in September, as well as quoted Bowditch attorneys AiVi Nguyen, Jim Hanrahan, Terry Briggs and Andy Bartholomew about the firm’s pro bono work.

Said AiVi in the article:

AiVi Nguyen, a partner at Bowditch & Dewey who accepted the ABA’s national award on behalf of her colleagues, grew up in Worcester in a low-income family.

“I am where I am because there were people who helped,” she said, citing the guidance provided to her parents on accessing disability and welfare benefits.

Now she helps others in need through the medical-legal partnership by advocating with a landlord for a clean, mold-free apartment for a patient with asthma, for example, or helping a parent of a child with special needs get the services they require.

“It will significantly change this person’s life,” she said.

Terry had this to say about his pro bono work:

Terrence J. Briggs, a Bowditch & Dewey partner who spends most of his time negotiating business contracts and employee compensation, helped a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder and his mother, who has developmental challenges, ward off eviction by the Worcester Housing Authority over the cluttered condition of their otherwise clean apartment.

“If you put them out on the street, they were likely to be homeless,” Briggs said.

“There was actually more social work in these” cases than there would be normally in adversarial situations, he said.

Andy discussed his pro bono work this way:

Andrew Bartholomew, an associate at Bowditch & Dewey, said he’s been helping a woman work with the Worcester Public Schools to transfer her child to a school better equipped to handle his emotional needs.

A business law litigator, he said, “It’s completely different from what I do in my regular line of work.”

Bartholomew said he felt no pressure to focus more on his billable work.

“To be honest, I hope to do more going forward,” he said. “It’s something you should do: give back to your community.”

Jim was quoted as saying:

“Public service has been in the DNA of Bowditch & Dewey since the beginning,” said James D. Hanrahan, a real estate lawyer and former managing partner, now in the Framingham office, who formalized engaging all the lawyers in the firm in outside service.

“It’s expected that you’ll do it and you’ll be supported,” he said. “We firmly believe it’s being an integral part of the community.”

Continue reading “Pro bono legal service integral to Worcester lawyers’ work” on the Worcester Telegram website.