BOSTON – Mintz is pleased to announce that Member and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee Susan M. Finegan has been selected as a member of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s inaugural “Hall of Fame” class. This recognition celebrates her role as a trailblazing pro bono advocate, dedicated to supporting marginalized communities, and her remarkable prowess in the field of litigation.

A nationally recognized pro bono pioneer and Chair of Mintz’s Pro Bono Committee, Ms. Finegan serves as lead counsel on numerous high-profile pro bono litigation matters. She also manages the firm’s pro bono efforts, consisting of over 300 varied cases annually throughout eight offices, and advises firm clients on developing and sustaining pro bono programs within their in-house legal departments. Over the course of her career, Ms. Finegan has helped to defeat President Trump’s first immigration travel ban in early 2017, engineer the passage of a Massachusetts restraining order law for sexual assault survivors, and successfully argued for a civil right to counsel for indigent parents in certain guardianship matters, among other accomplishments.

More recently, in the wake of the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, she has worked with a small team at the firm coordinating the efforts of over 110 colleagues who have volunteered to assist in the preparation of Immigrant Visa and Humanitarian Parole applications for individuals who have ties to Massachusetts, many of whom were specifically targeted by the Taliban.

Ms. Finegan served as lead counsel on a variety of high-impact pro bono cases with teams of lawyers at the firm. In addition to the travel ban and guardianship litigations noted above, Ms. Finegan led a Mintz pro bono team that achieved a groundbreaking victory for immigrants’ rights in Pereira Brito v. Barr. The first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit was filed by Mintz, together with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts and the ACLU of New Hampshire, on behalf of immigrants who were jailed due to flawed detention hearings in which the detainee was required to bear the burden of proof as to not being a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Ms. Finegan has also fought for equal justice for low-income and disadvantaged people across the state by creating innovative statewide programs. By way of illustration, Ms. Finegan co-founded with Mintz Member Martha Koster the Access to Justice Fellows Program, which is now in its eleventh year, matching retired lawyers with partner nonprofits, legal services organizations, and the courts for at least a year of pro bono service. This program has had over 185 participants who have devoted over 200,000 pro bono hours. She has also spearheaded several creative funding mechanisms to support legal aid organizations, and worked with a team to create the state’s Appellate Pro Bono Clinic for hundreds of low-income appellants.

Ms. Finegan has been active in the community, serving in leadership on many boards and commissions, such as serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College, Chair of the Judicial Conduct Commission, Co-Chair of the Access to Justice Commission, Chair of the Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, Co-Chair of Boston College Law School’s Law Day, and a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission.

Mintz has an unwavering commitment to providing outstanding pro bono services. The firm partners with nonprofits, legal service organizations, in-house legal departments, and other law firms to provide life-changing legal assistance for individuals in need. To learn more about the firm’s pro bono work, please click here.