Nancy Hathaway, a supervising attorney in CPCS’s Children and Family Law Division office in Boston, was honored by the Juvenile Bar Association (JBA) with the Leo J. Lydon award at its annual conference on March 20. The JBA is a statewide bar association dedicated to engaging and connecting attorneys who represent clients in abuse and neglect, delinquency, youthful offender and status offender cases. This award, named for the late Juvenile Court Judge Leo J. Lydon, honors an attorney who has demonstrated the utmost integrity, sound judgment, and perseverance in zealous advocacy and who has elevated the standard of Juvenile Court practice through example.
While Nancy is being honored for her overall work on behalf of her clients, one particular recent case exemplifies her personal and professional qualities that inspired this award. In a case that became quite high-profile, garnering local and national headlines and spawning extensive discussion on social media, Nancy represented a teenaged girl whose parents brought her to Boston for treatment of a controversial mitochondrial disease, were accused of neglect, and became embroiled in a complex custody dispute involving the state and medical providers. Throughout the lengthy proceedings, Nancy was charged with representing the interests of her endearing, but very sick teenaged client. In the end, Nancy was able to obtain the legal outcome that her client desired.
CPCS thanks the JBA for its ongoing support of attorneys doing this most important work on behalf of children and parents in our communities and appreciates this generous and well-deserved tribute to Nancy.