Allan

Rodgers

Nominated by Jon Laramore

"From 1969 to 2010, Allan Rodgers was the executive director of Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, one of the premier legal services backup centers in the U.S. He not only led the center administratively, which involved recruiting and retaining a top-notch staff covering housing, public benefits, family law and other areas, he also litigated cases and advocated public policy outcomes. He helped drafted the state's Chapter 40B zoning law, which has led to creation of tens of thousands of affordable housing units in the state. He was key in passing the Massachusetts Abuse Prevention Act, which allows tens of thousands of survivors of domestic violence to obtain protection annually. He filed and co-counseled class action lawsuits challenging harmful rules and policies in public benefits, unemployment insurance, child support collection and custody, and he led many court reform efforts to ensure that the justice system was fair and accessible for low-income individuals.

Allan was a national leader among support centers, and he was involved in the efforts to keep legal services from being defunded nationally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was an articulate spokesperson for why it was important for legal aid lawyers to be involved in policy work, where their efforts could do more good for more people (often just by making sure that public officials understood the consequences of proposed actions) than could be achieved by case-by-case litigation. His advocacy was responsible for stopping many changes in Massachusetts welfare rules that would have harmed low-income people. He also understood the importance of family law, which was less glamorous than some other areas, and he led efforts to keep family courts open and friendly to low-income litigants. When LSC funding of state support centers ended, Allan found ways to keep Massachusetts Law Reform Institute operating based on private funding, IOLTA, and eventually other state-based funding sources. Allan has been a personal inspiration to me and to many other legal aid advocates in Massachusetts, New England, and across the country."