Susan M. Finegan
- Served as lead counsel on several high impact immigration litigation matters with the ACLU of Massachusetts:
- Achieved a groundbreaking victory for detained immigrants in a class action case, Pereira Brito v. Barr, that held that the government’s bond hearings were unconstitutional. Previously, the detainee was required to bear the burden of proof in order to be released from detention. After Brito, the government bears the burden to prove that the detainee was a flight risk or a danger to the community. This ruling had an immediate impact in Boston Immigration Court, and many class members were released from detention.
- Challenged President Trump’s first immigration executive order “travel ban."
- Achieved a groundbreaking victory for detained immigrants in a class action case, Pereira Brito v. Barr, that held that the government’s bond hearings were unconstitutional. Previously, the detainee was required to bear the burden of proof in order to be released from detention. After Brito, the government bears the burden to prove that the detainee was a flight risk or a danger to the community. This ruling had an immediate impact in Boston Immigration Court, and many class members were released from detention.
- Co-counsel for the Boston branch of the NAACP and other advocacy organizations in support of a COVID-era Boston Public School Exam School Admissions policy that resulted in increased socioeconomic, geographic, and racial diversity at Boston’s three highly selective schools. The policy was challenged in federal court by a group that alleged that it was unconstitutional. After a three-year court battle, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the policy did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
- Managed a team of Mintz Levin attorneys who advocated for the eventual passage of a new criminally enforceable restraining order law for sexual assault survivors in Massachusetts (G.L. c. 258E), filing a gap in the existing statute. For these efforts, the American Bar Association awarded the firm its Pro Bono Publico Award.
- Oversaw several compelling political asylum cases, including one that is the subject of a Steven Spielberg documentary, Finding Oscar.
- Successfully argued for a civil right to counsel for indigent parents in certain guardianship matters, favorably impacting hundreds of low income parents each year; Argued alongside L.B. v. Chief Justice of the Prob. & Family Ct. Dep’t, 49 N.E.3d 230 (Mass. 2016).Oversaw several compelling political asylum cases, including one that is the subject of a Steven Spielberg documentary, Finding Oscar.
- Managed a team of Mintz Levin attorneys who advocated for the eventual passage of a new criminally enforceable restraining order law for sexual assault survivors in Massachusetts, filing a gap in the existing statute. For these efforts, the American Bar Association awarded the firm its Pro Bono Publico Award.
- Successfully argued for a civil right to counsel for indigent parents in certain guardianship matters, favorably impacting hundreds of low income parents each year; Argued alongside L.B. v. Chief Justice of the Prob. & Family Ct. Dep’t, 49 N.E.3d 230 (Mass. 2016).
Specialize in representing of victims of crime and the nonprofits that serve them.
- Represent several families impacted by crime, including high profile domestic violence homicides and Boston Marathon bombing survivors.
- Represent hundreds of individual domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.
- Advise domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers on a variety of legal matters.