Theresa Coney, Esq. is the Racial Equity Statewide Training Lead for the Committee for Public Counsel Services. As a pioneer in this position Theresa has developed and implemented a strategic plan to engage more than 3000 public defenders, private attorneys, and staff in racial equity work to address the disparities which exist in our legal systems. In 2021, Theresa launched the Why Race Matters Speaker Series which includes a multipart series of legal education courses from race equity leaders in the Commonwealth and around the country. This is not Theresa’s first time in addressing the disproportionality of race in the legal system. She has had a career which involved the creation of tools, programs and strategies to reduce the inequities that people of color face both in and out of our legal systems. Formerly a Trial Attorney with the CAFL Division of CPCS since 2016, Theresa was the first Co-Chair of the Child and Family Law Division Racial Justice Task Force with the Committee for Public Service Counsel Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to representing indigent clients, Theresa worked on several Division-Wide initiatives in CAFL including training, supervision and diversity.
A litigator for more than 20 years, Theresa is a former Assistant Attorney General with the Offices of the New York State Attorney General and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts handling mental health, civil rights, employment discrimination and other cases in State and Federal Courts. She began her legal career as a prosecutor with the New York City Law Department in 1998, where she worked with the New York City’s Mayoral Office to develop and implement an alternative to incarceration program for juveniles, entitled Weekend Court. Theresa left the Division of the New York City Law Department handling major crimes, as the Attorney-in-Charge for the Richmond County Office. Theresa has been training in litigation skills and presenting on legal topics for more than 15 years on a local, state and national level. She is responsible for the development and implementation of several training programs and/or curricula. A former Adjunct Professor at Roxbury Community College and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, she teaches intermittently with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
Theresa volunteers with several bar associations and philanthropic organizations in varying capacities including: the Criminal Justice Section (CJS) Liaison on the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession; the Co-Chair of the ABA CJS Racial Justice and Diversity Committee, member of the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, member of the Supreme Judicial Court Well-Being Committee DEI Recommendations – Courts, Public Agencies, and Legal Services Working Group, member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Diversity Equity Inclusion Committee, and member of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association Professional Development Committee. Theresa is an adjunct professor at Roxbury Community College where she helps to lead their Restorative Justice Initiatives. Theresa is also a current Hearing Officer for the Board of Bar Overseers for the Supreme Judicial Court. She has received several professional awards and honors.
Brockton, MA 02301
508-484-5834
Tconey@publiccounsel.net