The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Mental Health Litigation Division

CPCS Accepts Nominations for Liacos Award

The "Paul J. Liacos Mental Health Advocacy Award" is presented annually to a public defender or private attorney whose legal advocacy on behalf of indigent persons involved in civil and/or criminal mental health proceedings (including SDP commitment proceedings) best exemplifies zealous advocacy in furtherance of all clients’ legal interests.


Previous Recipients:
1998	Stan Goldman
1999	Robert Weber
2000	John Swomley
2001	Mark Gillis
2002	Michael Farrington
2003	Laura Sanford
2004	Sondra Schmidt
2005	George Crane
2006	Alice Whitehill Wiseberg
2007	Debra Beard-Bader

Nominations for this award should be submitted to William J. Leahy, Chief Counsel, CPCS, 44 Bromfield Street, Boston, MA 02108. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, March 18, 2008. The Committee will present the award at the CPCS Training Conference on Thursday May 8, 2008.

January 31, 2011

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Robert Weber as Attorney-in-Charge of our soon-to-be-opened Bridgewater Commitment Unit. As most of you probably know, Bob has been practicing mental health law forever. He has served as Executive Director of the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, as Managing Attorney of Greater Boston Legal Services’ Children's Law Project, and as General Counsel of the Office for Children. And, since 1987, he has been a tireless advocate for our clients as a member of the Mental Health Litigation Unit’s panel and as a mentor for new attorneys. Bob will begin in early March 2011.