St. Thomas More Award

This award recognizes members of the legal community who represent, in their professional and private life, the ideals of St. Thomas More.

J. Donald Monan, SJ

J. Donald Monan, S.J. assumed the post of Chancellor in August 1996 following 24 years as Boston College President—the longest presidential tenure in the University’s history. Prior to joining Boston College in 1972, Father Monan successively served Le Moyne College in Syracuse as Chair of Philosophy, Academic Dean and Vice President.

Father Monan entered the Society of Jesus in 1942 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1955. He holds his PhD from the University of Louvain in Belgium after which he conducted postdoctoral research at Oxford, Paris and Munich. Father Monan has received honorary doctorates from a dozen universities
ranging from Harvard to the National University of Ireland.

He is former chairman of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, served two decades as a director of the Bank of Boston (1976- 96), as interim president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (1996-97), and co-chair of the Massachusetts Summit for the Promise of our Youth (1997). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The National Mentoring Partnership, founding board member of the Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership, of which he served as co-chair from 1992-2001, and of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management. At the request of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, Fr. Monan in 2002-03 chaired a highly successful study of the management of the Massachusetts judiciary.

Father Monan is also a member of the Jesuit Philosophical Association, the Society of Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, the Society of Ancient Greek Philosophy, and the Massachusetts Historical Society.

William J. Kenealy, SJ, Alumnus of the Year Award

This award recognizes a member of our alumni community who has given of him/herself to benefit the Law School, its students and alumni.

John T. Montgomery '75
Ropes & Gray

John T. Montgomery graduated from the Law School in 1975.  He has been a litigation partner at Ropes & Gray since 1985 and has served as Managing Partner of the firm since 2004.  John focuses on complex civil litigation with an emphasis on trials and appeals in high profile cases involving novel or publicly sensitive issues.
 
His litigation practice has included a variety of complex matters involving pharmaceutical pricing, securities, intellectual property, insurance coverage, commercial tort, product liability, ERISA, and regulatory matters.  John has tried cases and argued appeals in Maine, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.  He has argued two successful matters before the U.S. Supreme Court.  Prior to joining Ropes & Gray in 1982, John served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He left the Ropes & Gray in 1990 to serve as First Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth and returned to the firm in 1992.
 
John is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Attorneys, and he has been recognized in Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America.  He also is a Director of the New England Legal Foundation.
 
John has been a member and adjunct member of the Board of Overseers of the Law School since 2001.  In addition, he served as co-chair of the strategic planning committee for the Law School formed in 2010 in connection with the ABA re-accreditation process that is currently underway. John and his family have also supported the Law School though The Montgomery Family Endowed Scholarship Fund.   In 2011, he received the Mary Daly Curtin and John J. Curtin Jr. Award for Public Interest from the Public Interest Law Foundation.  John lives in Winchester with his wife Kristin.  His daughters Laura ('05) and Sarah ('11) are graduates of the Law School and currently serve as Assistant District Attorneys in Suffolk County.

Holland Lifetime Achievement Award

Recognizes an alumna/us who has, over the course of his or her lifetime, made significant contributions to the Law School and/or the community.

Paul Kane '70
McGrath & Kane

Paul M. Kane is the senior partner of McGrath & Kane, Attorneys at Law, Inc. Attorney Kane was an Assistant Dean of Boston College Law School from 1970 to 1977; and a Lecturer in Family Law at Boston College from 1970 through 2011.  He has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School since 2006.

Attorney Kane graduated from Boston Latin School (1960), Boston College (A.B., 1964), and Boston College Law School (J.D., 1970).  Attorney Kane served in the United States Navy as a Lieutenant from 1964 to 1967.  He is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1971); and has been admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1971); the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, First Circuit (D. Mass.) (1971) and the United States Supreme Court (1985).

Attorney Kane has lectured on numerous aspects of Family Law practice for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education where he has also served on the Family Law and Advocacy Institute since 1982, and as a member of the Curriculum Policy and Coordinating Committee since 1987.  Attorney Kane is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Middlesex County Bar Association, Massachusetts Inns of Court, and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.  He has lectured extensively on selected topics of family law and evidence t.  Attorney Kane has been continuously listed in Best Lawyers in America since 1989.  He has also been listed in Super Lawyers since 2004, and was recognized by the Irish Voice as one of the 100 Best Lawyers in America (2008).  He is also the recipient of The Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Scholar-Mentor Award (2011), and Senior Partners for Justice Gideon Award (2011)

Attorney Paul M. Kane has represented clients in many high profile, high conflict cases before the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  He has appeared before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court arguing on issues of jurisdiction, child custody, relocation of parents and children, inherited assets in a divorce case; and the valuation of closely held business entities.  Attorney Kane has also served as an expert in related family law cases.

Attorney Kane serves on the Board of Advisors of Senior Partners for Justice.  He is a member of the Board of Overseers, Boston College Law School.  And, since 2009, Attorney Kane has served a member of the Board of Directors of Franciscan Hospital for Children, where he participates as a member of the Development, Executive, Finance, Planning and Search Committees.

Hon. David S. Nelson Public Interest Law Award

This award recognizes a member of our alumni community who has made significant contributions to the public sector or in public interest law.

Kimberly Motley-Phillps '90
Neighborhood Legal Services Association

Kimberly Motley-Phillips ’90, a Pittsburgh native, earned her bachelor’s degree in
Psychology with a double minor in German and Religion from the University of
Pittsburgh in 1979. She then relocated to Boston, MA where she received her M.Ed in Rehabilitation Administration from Northeastern University in 1981.

While in Boston, she worked at the Roxbury Court Clinic, was head coach for a Division III volleyball team, and worked for several years as a probation officer for Boston Juvenile Court before attending Boston College Law School in 1987. She obtained her Juris Doctorate degree in 1990. While at Boston College, Attorney Motley-Phillips was highly active on campus serving on the Admissions Committee and student government. She was also co-chairperson for the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), and part of both the Frederick Douglas Moot Court Team and Student Advisory Board for Mock Trial.

Since graduating from law school, Attorney Motley-Phillips has worked at Neighborhood Legal Services Association (NLSA), a public interest law firm in the greater Pittsburgh area. For many years she was primarily responsible for family law cases including working with victims of domestic violence. She also has participated as an instructor in NLSA’s Legal Services Practicum in family law at both the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Duquesne University Law School.

For the last several years, Attorney Motley-Phillips has been responsible for coordinating the Medical Legal Collaborative for Patients (MLCP) through NLSA and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in McKeesport, PA, a hospital that serves a large urban area. MLCP aims to improve the health and overall well being of the patients by making legal services a core component of patient care. The program also is a member of the national Medical Legal Partnership networks, founded at Boston Medical Center. In 1991, Attorney Motley-Phillips was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Pennsylvania District Court.

Attorney Motley-Phillips became a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1991. Other affiliations include the Beaver County Bar Association and Allegheny County Bar Association. She is a member of the Boston College Black Alumni Network, Boston College Alumni Network, Northeastern Alumni Association, and the Homer S. Brown Law Association. She also serves as a trustee at Bethany Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA.

Barbara Siegel '89
Senior Partners for Justice Volunteer Lawyers Project

Barbara Siegel is the manager of Senior Partners for Justice, a pro bono project started by retired family court judge Edward M. Ginsburg in 2002 at the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association (VLP). In this position, she coordinates several court-based pro bono projects in Massachusetts, including Limited Assistance Representation family law and guardianship clinics and a project in which experienced volunteers assist the Probate & Family court in reviewing the annual reports filed by guardians. She is also leading an effort to build a statewide pro bono website in Massachusetts. Barbara’s public interest career started her first summer of law school when she worked at the Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau. Following a clerkship in the Massachusetts Appeals Court and a short-lived associate position in a law firm, she entered the legal aid world in 1992 and has never looked back. Her pro bono work while in private practice included representation, with a team of BCLS professors and alumni, of one of the Framingham Eight battered women and work, with the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, on the first case to challenge the exclusion of the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Group of Boston from the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade.  Prior to joining VLP, Barbara served as a senior staff attorney at the Disability Law Center and assistant legal director at the Community Legal Services and Counseling Center.  Barbara is a graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School, a former carpenter, and an aspiring banjo player.

Recent Graduate Award

Award created in 2004 for someone who has graduated in the past 5-10 years to be recognized for outstanding achievement.

Dominic Blue '02

Dominic L. Blue is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), where he leads the Corporate Law Department and Risk Management insurance group of MassMutual's Law Division. Dominic's team is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, investments, intellectual property, contracts, employment, employment, benefit plans, privacy and data security. His team is also responsible for managing MassMutual's enterprise wie insurance risk.

Prior to joining MassMutual in August 2011, Dominic spent over six years with the international law firm of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, alternative investments, leverage buyouts, venture capital transactions and serving as outside general counsel to various growth companies. Prior to working for Edwards Wildman, Dominic was an associate in the corporate law group of Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP, a former Boston law firm.

Dominic received his B.A. in 1998 from the College of the Holy Cross, where he was a member of the varsity football team and a co-captain. He earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School and his M.B.A. from the Carroll School of Management (Boston College ) in 2002.

Dominic is the current President of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and serves as an appeal board judge for the Supplier Diversiy Office of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was selected as a Massachusetts Rising Stars 2011 by Super Lawyers and as a member of the 2009 class of Greater Boston Chamber's Boston's Future Leaders.