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Children's Law Center of Massachusetts,
Inc. Jessica Berry, Staff Attorney, joined the CLCM in September, 2009 as recipient of a Skadden Fellowship. Jessica earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, and has an M.S.W. from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Following law school, Jessica clerked for the Honorable Nathaniel M. Gorton of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and then for the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. As a fellow at the CLCM, Jessica focuses on representing adolescents in child welfare, education, and mental health matters.
Maureen Caprio, Director of Finance and Office Manager, has been with the Law Center since 1990, first serving as receptionist, bookkeeper, legal secretary, benefits administrator, and office manager before assuming her position as Director of Finance. Maureen was past President of the Essex County Legal Secretary's Association (ECLSA) and served as Vice-President of the State Association. Maureen has degrees in Management, Office Technology, and Legal Administration.
Arlette Espindola joined the Law Center in August of 2008 as an Administrative Assistant. A native of Lynn, she is currently juggling work, parenthood, and a part-time course of study at North Shore Community College, where she is working toward a degree in Paralegal studies.
Katie Fleet, AmeriCorps*VISTA, joined the CLCM staff in August, 2009 as an Education and Community Outreach worker assigned to the Lynn office. Katie graduated with honors from Allegheny College in 2009, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Religious Studies. While a student, Katie worked as an Americorps Bonner Leader serving the community and several different non-profit agencies in the Meadville, PA area.
Michael D. James, Supervising Staff Attorney, has been with the
Children's Law Center since June 1999. Mike is a graduate of Cape Cod
Community College (AA), the University of Massachusetts/Boston (BA) and a
1989 Magna Cum Laude graduate of
the New England School of Law, Evening Division. He also served in the U.S.
Marines. Following his admission to the Massachusetts Bar, Mike served as a
staff attorney with the Boston Regional Office of the Federal Trade
Commission, where he was involved in consumer protection investigation and
litigation. Between 1992 and 1999, he was a sole practitioner, primarily in
Essex County. A member of the Committee for Public Counsel Services’
Children & Family Law Program panel, he focused his practice in the
areas of special education, social security disability, and family law.
Mike has served as a member of the education committee of the Essex County
Bar Association Advocates, and has presented seminars in the areas of
Juvenile Court practice and special education. In addition to his child
welfare and related special education practice at CLCM, Mike remains part
of the Essex County Bar Advocates panel and represents youth in juvenile
delinquency court matters.
Barbara Kaban, Deputy Director/Director of
Research & Policy at the Children’s Law Center, was a recipient of the 1998 Soros Justice
Fellowship. Ms. Kaban graduated Magna Cum Laude from Boston College
Law School and has an M.B.A. from Boston University and a M.Ed. in
educational psychology from Harvard University. Ms. Kaban provides direct representation
and appellate advocacy to children and youth in delinquency and educational
matters. She has co-authored three
books in developmental psychology, authored a book on the selection of
developmentally appropriate toys for children and published in newspapers
and magazines such as the New York Times and Harvard Magazine. Ms. Kaban's most recent publications
include Revitalizing the Infancy Defense in the Contemporary Juvenile
Court, Rutgers Law Review (Fall 2007), and Do You Know Where the
Children Are? A Report on
Massachusetts Youth Unlawfully Held Without Bail (September 2006).
Attorney Kaban also co-authored a recent research paper entitled, Protecting
Children: A Study of the Nature and Management of Guardianship of Minor
Cases in Massachusetts Probate and Family Court ((August 2008). She received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Access to Justice Award for Legal Services in 2009.
Robyn L. Laukien, Staff Attorney/Pro Bono Coordinator, began her tenure at the Children's Law Center in July 1999 as a volunteer advocate. She came on staff in the fall of 1999. Robyn is a graduate of Wellesley College and Boston College Law School. Upon graduating from B.C. Law in 1988, she joined the Boston firm of Widett, Slater & Goldman as a corporate associate. After four years of practicing business law, she left to work part time at Bruker Instruments, Inc. as in-house Corporate Counsel. Robyn worked part time at Bruker for over six years while raising her two children, but still found time to volunteer as a foster care case reviewer, participate in an outreach program through the New England Aquarium with Head Start preschoolers, and serve as President of the Aquarium’s Council from 2002-2006. Robyn was Co-Chair of the Aquarium’s 30th Anniversary Gala, and is an annual member of the corporate fundraising committee. While President of the Aquarium Council, Robyn served as a Trustee. Currently, she is an Overseer and a member of the Aquarium Development Committee. Robyn’s experiences as a parent and volunteer led her to her work with the Children’s Law Center. Gregory Marshall, AmeriCorps*VISTA, joined the Children’s Law Center in August 2009 to spearhead the community outreach initiative in Lawrence. Prior to joining the CLCM, Greg taught English at a bilingual primary school in Honduras. He has also worked with the DOME project (Developing Opportunities through Meaningful Education) in New York. Greg is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He is fluent in Spanish.
Jay McManus assumed the position of Director of the Children's Law
Center in March 1999. A graduate of New England School of Law, he
previously worked as staff counsel to the state's Department of Social
Services, and as Assistant General Counsel to AFSCME, Council 93, a public
employee labor union. Between 1991 and 2007, he directed the Massachusetts
chapter of the IPPCH-Because of the Children Program, a not-for-profit that
provided relief to children of Irish political prisoners and to families
affected by the conflict in the North of Ireland.
Lisa Morrow, Staff Attorney, is a 2007 graduate of the Boston University School of Law. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Brown University. Lisa began working at the Children’s Law Center in April, 2008 as a legal volunteer. She assumed her staff attorney position in October, 2008, and was assigned to the Lawrence office of the CLCM to lead a new education advocacy initiative in that city. She has worked in the offices of the Rhode Island Public Defender, and served as an Assistant Clerk in the Connecticut Judicial Branch. While in law school, Lisa spent time in Belfast and Dublin, Ireland as part of Fordham University’s course of study of International Human Rights and International Organizations. Amanda Richard joined the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts in September of 2008 as a full-time Community Outreach and Intake worker. A Lynn native, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Assumption College in May of 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Amanda served in various student governmental roles while at Assumption, including Vice-President of her graduating class. In 2006 she studied abroad at the Universidad de Granada in Spain. During her summers over the past four years she has worked for the city of Lynn’s public schools and Parks & Recreation Department in various capacities. Amanda is fluent in Spanish. Marlies Spanjaard is the Coordinator of the EdLaw Project, a collaborative
initiative of the CLCM and the Youth Advocacy Project of Boston. is the Coordinator of the EdLaw Project, a collaborative initiative of the CLCM and the Youth Advocacy Project of Boston. Marlies joined the EdLaw Project in August, 2001 where she has represented students in school disciplinary hearings, special education team meetings, and administrative hearings before the Bureau of Special Education appeals. Marlies has provided trainings on education related issues throughout the state and before a wide variety of audiences including parents, youth workers, students and lawyers. In 2007, Marlies began teaching at Wheelock College as an adjunct instructor in the college's Juvenile Justice and Youth Advocacy Concentration. She earned her J.D. and her M.S.W. at Washington University Law School and George Warren Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis, MO.
Bryna Williams began
working as a staff attorney with the Law Center’s Edlaw Project in August, 2006. She earned her A.B. from Washington
University in St. Louis and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School
of Law. Bryna gained valuable experience in client advocacy through
internships with the Public Guardian of Cook County in Chicago, the Citizen
Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, Illinois, and as a student clinician at the
Loyola Civitas ChildLaw Clinic. Additionally, she served as the managing editor of the Children’s Legal Rights Journal and
as the president of her law school’s Public Interest Law Society. During
her time in Chicago, Bryna taught “know your rights” courses to children
and youth the city’s public schools and the Cook County Juvenile Detention
Center.
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