Higher Callings
Interviews of lawyers and others dedicated to serving the common good. The host of Higher Callings® is Donald Frederico, a Boston lawyer and past President of the Boston Bar Association with several decades of experience representing clients and leading nonprofit organizations. In those roles, Don has met many people who have found ways to serve their communities and the broader public and help people in need. We hope that, by shining a light on their good works, Higher Callings will inspire others to find their own paths towards making the world a better place.
Higher Callings
Access to Justice: A Conversation with Pro Bono Lawyer Susan M. Finegan
Pro bono publico, a Latin phrase meaning “for the public good,” is most often associated with free legal services lawyers provide to people who need help but cannot afford to pay for it. No lawyer I know better reflects that commitment than Boston lawyer Susan M. Finegan, a Partner and Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Mintz law firm.
In this episode of Higher Callings, I asked Sue about the pro bono work she and other Mintz lawyers perform. We also discussed a number of other topics about pro bono legal services, including why lawyers and other legal professionals choose to engage in pro bono work, how law firms incentivize their lawyers to take on pro bono cases, how working on pro bono cases provides important training for new lawyers, what Massachusetts has done to provide pro bono opportunities for retired lawyers, and how in-house corporate lawyers and government lawyers work with law firms to staff pro bono cases.
I began the interview by asking Sue about an extraordinary scene I witnessed during a formal Boston Bar Foundation charity event on a cold Saturday night in January during the earliest days of the Trump presidency, when she and other lawyers were called into action to address a sudden legal crisis.
You can find Sue Finegan's law firm bio here: https://www.mintz.com/our-people/susan-m-finegan
If you have enjoyed the Higher Callings podcast, you might also enjoy Don's Substack Newsletter, Reflections of a Boston Lawyer, which you can find here: https://donaldfrederico.substack.com/