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.

Mary K. Ryan '77

Mary K. Ryan is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Land Use practice group at Nutter, McClennen & Fish LLP, Boston, MA.  Mary's practice includes substantial trial and appellate cases in the state and federal courts, particularly in environmental and land use litigation, as well as administrative hearings and proceedings.  A frequent lecturer and writer on hazardous waste and environmental litigation issues, Mary has been a faculty member of the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.’s Annual Environmental and Land Use Conference since 2008, focusing on environmental permitting litigation. She is a member of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.  She has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 1989 and in Chambers USA since 2004 in the area of environmental law.  Ms. Ryan was named the Best Lawyers’ Boston Environmental Lawyer of the Year for 2011.
Among her numerous leadership positions in the bar, Mary served as president of the Boston Bar Association (BBA) in 1997-1998. She is on the Board of the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts, was the founding co-chair of its Environmental Committee, and serves as the Clerk of the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC).  She served as president of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, chaired the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1999 to 2011 and co-chairs the BBA Project on Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel.

Mary is an active member of the American Bar Association (ABA). She is a member of the ABA House of Delegates, currently serves on the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono & Public Service, is a past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, a past member of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and has been active with the ABA Litigation Section’s Environmental Litigation Committee.

Attorney Ryan has received several honors for her contributions as a member of the legal profession, including the William J. Kenealy, S.J. Alumnus of the Year Award from the Boston College Law School Alumni Association (1998), the Leila J. Robinson award by the Women’s Bar Association (2003), the Dennis Maguire Pro Bono Award from the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association (1999) and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Pinnacle Award for Achievement in the Professions (1998).

She is a graduate of Boston College Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif) and Tufts University (B.A., magna cum laude).  Upon graduation from law school, she served as law clerk and then chief law clerk to the Justices of Superior Court of Massachusetts and as law clerk to the Honorable Ruth I. Abrams, former associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

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 Bronzo '74

John F. Bronzo is Senior Director, Commercial Development, in Pfizer Primary Care, the business unit of Pfizer Inc. responsible for medicines such as Lipitor, Celebrex and Viagra.  Primary care is Pfizer’s largest organization, operating globally in markets including the United States, Europe, Canada, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
 
Prior to moving into the business operations of Pfizer Primary Care, Mr. Bronzo had been practicing law in New York since being admitted in 1975. Most recently, he was General Counsel, Pfizer Animal Health, and as such was responsible for the worldwide legal affairs of Pfizer’s veterinary medicines group.  Before joining Pfizer in 1982, Mr. Bronzo was associated with the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft on Wall Street for eight years.
A native of New York, Mr. Bronzo has lived overseas in Brazil for six years, and is a Cum Laude graduate of Boston College and Boston College Law School.  Mr. Bronzo also has an L.L.M. in tax law from New York University.

Mr. Bronzo is married and he and his wife, Carole, live in Westchester County, a suburb of New York.  Their eldest son, John, graduated from Boston College in 2006, and is currently a third year student in the Law School.  Their daughter, Christine, is a graduate of Fordham University, and their youngest son, Joseph, is a sophomore at Boston College.  Their eldest daughter, Sandra, is married and lives with her husband and their five children in Texas.

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.

ileta Joseph Sumner '90

A native of San Francisco whose mother passed away when she was only 13, ileta Joseph Sumner embarked on her second career when she became a lawyer.  Having studied ballet, tap and jazz dance since the age of 2 ½, ileta danced professionally with Rudolf Nureyev when he toured with the Stuttgart Ballet, the American Ballet Theater and was featured in “Dance Between the Lines,” the longest running dance show in the history of San Francisco.

After graduating from Rockford College in Rockford, IL (90 miles west of Chicago) with a BA in Political Science and a minor in English in 1987, ileta earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1990.  However, her career was postponed due to the stationing of her fiancé near Madrid, Spain, in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.  ileta married MSgt. (ret.) James H. Sumner, IV and stayed in Spain for two years, until their subsequent reassignment to San Antonio, TX where she passed the bar in 1993.Fortunately, after the usual rounds of interviews, ileta got her dream job as a staff attorney with Bexar County Legal Aid (San Antonio) where she specialized in the representation of victims of domestic violence.

After four (4) years, ileta moved to Family Violence Prevention Services, Inc. d/b/a The Battered Women’s Shelter, where because of funding through a pilot program of H.U.D., she single-handedly created the first legal department in the organization’s 20+ history.  There, ileta gave bilingual representation of residents of over 15 homeless shelters and transitional residence facilities in the areas of family, housing and consumer law, once again, however, specializing in helping victims of domestic violence in matters regarding divorce, custody and protective orders.  During her tenure there, ileta received eight (8) local, state and national awards, served as President of the San Antonio Black Lawyers Association as well as President of the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association.  In addition, ileta was editor of the newsletter for the local women’s bar for eight (8) years, writing monthly articles on subjects as diverse as affirmative action, discrimination, immigration, child abusers, the economy and motherhood.

A frequent lecturer, ileta gave seminars on protective orders on behalf of organizations such as the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association as well as the Robert Cover Public Interest Retreat and Boston College Law School.

ileta and her husband are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary in April 2011 with their two adopted sons, Joshua Dominic age 12, and Jayson Joseph age 9.

Francis M. O'Boy '64

Francis Michael O’Boy is a 1957 Graduate of Coyle High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1961 from Providence College. He then went on to Boston College Law School, graduating in 1964, and was admitted to the bar that same year. He has practiced law in Taunton for the past 47 years with an emphasis on criminal and civil trial practice. He is married to the former Patsy-Ann Vallett, a guidance counselor at Bishop-Feehan High School, and they have one child, Kerrin V. O’Boy, an English teacher at Coyle Cassidy High School. Frank has been a long time member of the Diocese of Fall River’s Red Mass Committee and in 2005 was awarded the St. Thomas More Medal at the Red Mass celebrated by Bishop George Coleman, a Coyle classmate.

Frank has been lead counsel in over 75 homicide cases, both as a prosecutor in the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, in private practice, and for the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Among the significant cases which he had the honor of being lead counsel are: The Big Dan’s Pool Room Rape Case in 1984, the Attleboro Cult Case where religious fanatics starved at baby to death, and the Fall River Devil Cult Case. He has been appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to the Committee for Public Counsel Services and to various Supreme Judicial Court Committees. Frank was elected to the Taunton School Committee for two terms and has been the President of the Taunton and Bristol County Bar Associations. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for Massachusetts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Frank has taken a great deal of pride in representing indigent defendants in the murder and manslaughter cases. He takes particular pride in giving the same amount of time, effort and zeal to representing the indigent defendants as he does in cases for private clients. He remains committed to seeing that the lowliest in our society receive competent and committed representation when facing the bar of justice; then, and only then, will a true adversary system result in just outcomes.

Frank has been named among the top lawyers in New England, as published in Boston Magazine for the past 5 years, and has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell, the oldest publication ranking lawyers, with the mark of AV Preeminent in the trial field, which is the highest designation in legal ability and ethical conduct.

Recent Graduate Award

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

Michelle Limaj '07

Michelle Limaj is a business associate at Foley Hoag LLP.  Her practice focuses on technology transfer and licensing, protection of intellectual property rights, venture capital financing, corporate governance, securities law compliance and day-to-day corporate legal matters.  Michelle also represents a number of nonprofit educational and health organizations, and assists them with transactional and intellectual property work as well as compliance with the state and federal laws governing tax exempt entities.

In addition to her corporate work, Michelle maintains an active pro bono practice. She represents victims of domestic violence as well as asylum seekers and U Visa applicants in Massachusetts district and immigration courts.  Before joining Foley Hoag LLP, Michelle spent eight years as a communications officer with international organizations including the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration and Physicians for Human Rights. She has consulted for a number of aid agencies and academic institutions on communications matters. Michelle is also the founder and director of the Rahman Limaj Scholarship Program, a public charity that supports high school education for girls in rural areas of former Yugoslavia.

Chapter Awards

This award recognizes and alumna/us who has made, through vision and action, a significant contribution to the development of his or her regional alumni chapter.

Rhode Island
Patricia K. Rocha '82

Patricia K. Rocha is Chair of the Litigation Group at Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. in Providence, Rhode Island, whose practice also includes healthcare and white collar criminal defense.  She has been recognized in Chambers USA, Leading Lawyers as one of the “leaders in Rhode Island,” as well as in Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Administrative Law, Commercial Litigation, Healthcare Law, White Collar Criminal Defense, and Labor and Employment Law.  Ms. Rocha has also been selected as a Rhode Island Super Lawyer.  She is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and Litigation Counsel of America.  She is Chair of the Federal Board of Bar Admissions of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Chair of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness, and a member of the Rhode Island Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline.

Northern California
Molly Agarwal '06

Molly Agarwal, BCLS ’06, practices all aspects of employment law for large and small businesses at Miller Law Group in San Francisco.  Prior to joining Miller Law Group, she practiced labor and employment litigation at Littler Mendelson.              
Since the Fall of 2009, she has continued the Northern California Alumni Chapter’s tradition of fostering alumni engagement.  The Chapter has since held seven events and built momentum through quarterly opportunities for alumni to meet one another and develop professional connections as well as friendships.  In addition to providing alumni with ongoing events, Ms. Agarwal responds to dozens of inquiries from current BCLS students seeking employment opportunities in the Bay Area, as well as requests from local alumni seeking introductions to other alumni.  She is delighted to give back to her alma mater through her leadership of the alumni chapter, and she is genuinely honored by the Chapter Award. 

Ms. Agarwal also serves on the Board of Directors of GirlVentures, a Bay Area nonprofit that aims to empower 6th to 12th grade girls through “outdoor adventures for inner discovery.”  She recently served as President of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC) Foundation, Liaison to the South Asian Women Attorneys Network (SAWAN), and Co-Chair of SABA-NC’s Pro Bono Committee.  In October 2010, she envisioned and executed “An Evening for Pakistan” to raise over $25,000 for flood relief efforts implemented by the International Rescue Committee and CARE.  Ms. Agarwal enjoys traveling with her husband, playing with her two kittens and attempting to turn her fondness for baking into a passable ability to cook real food.

Judy Liao '05

A New York native, Ms. Judy Liao graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College in 2002.  She graduated Boston College Law School in 2005.  During her time at BC Law, she played an active role in APALSA.  Among her favorite professors were Professors Brodin and Cassidy.  Arriving in San Francisco in 2005, she started her legal career with help from the BCLS Alumni Network, and landed her first job at a boutique employment litigation firm.  Ms. Liao has concentrated in civil defense litigation since graduation from Boston College Law School, specifically concentrating in the areas of employment law, commercial law, and tort defense.  She is currently a mid-level associate at a general civil litigation defense firm in San Francisco.  Ms. Liao is also admitted to the New York State Bar.  Ms. Liao has never forgotten the role that BCLS's strong alumni network played in getting her foothold in the competitive Bay Area legal market, and continues to devote time strengthening the BCLS community in Northern California along with Molly Agarwal, Class of 2006 and Kimberly Chin, Class of 2010.  Ms. Liao spends her free time hiking in the Bay Area, attempting to improve on her golf game, and sampling new restaurants. She wishes to thank the Law Day Committee Co-Chairs and Boston College Law School for this great honor and is greatly humbled by this honor.