A Look at Women's Bar Foundation Pro Bono Projects

 

A prosecutor based in Milton, Massachusetts, Susan Corcoran has served the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office as assistant district attorney since 2019. When she is not using her experience as a prosecutor to support district attorneys in all phases of criminal matters, Susan Corcoran spends time as a member of professional groups such as the Women’s Bar Foundation.

The Women’s Bar Association exists as a community of women lawyers working to improve the state of their profession, as well as society as a whole, through quality legal services. The Women’s Bar Foundation (WBF) functions as a philanthropic extension of this mission, with a focus on providing low-income women with access to quality legal services and representation. The WBF manages a number of pro bono projects.

The Elder Law Project (ELP) operates with two objectives. First, the project strives to provide low-income senior citizens with education regarding the importance of drafting end of life documents, including wills. In addition to this mission, the ELP assists seniors in preparing these documents at no cost.

The Family Law Project for Domestic Abuse Survivors provides free legal representation to domestic violence survivors. In addition to representing individuals in legal matters, the WBF team assists survivors in avoiding related challenges, ranging from homelessness to loss of child custody.

Finally, the Women’s Prison Re-Entry Project works with women engaged with various aspects of the criminal justice system. Women in the program have the opportunity to work with teams of volunteer attorneys who provide insight into a variety of legal topics, including child custody, housing, and matters of criminal warrant cleaning. WBF has expanded the program to include the Clemency Pro Bono Project. Clemency is a unique and rare legal condition in states like Massachusetts that allows older women who have served more than a decade of their sentence to petition for commutation.

Things Art Collectors Should Note When Making Purchases

 Susan Corcoran is an assistant district attorney at the Plymouth County district attorney’s office in Brockton, Massachusetts. Currently, she is a superior court assistant district attorney, and besides being a prosecutor, she has supervised assistant district attorneys in various criminal cases. Susan Corcoran also likes music, theatre, and art.

Art collectors gather artworks for their aesthetic value, financial gains, and other reasons. However, there are specific tips collectors must note when purchasing artworks.

The first thing is for collectors to set a budget for art exhibitions. This is because art can be quite enticing, and collectors could easily overspend when faced with multiple pieces of beautiful art items that are up for sale. Therefore, having a pre-set budget can help collectors set a boundary that prevents them from getting overzealous with their purchases.

Also, collectors who buy artworks as financial investments should watch out for artists fresh out of prominent art schools and consider purchasing some of their works. These new artists could later become famous, and their works would become more valuable. Collectors should also choose artworks that appeal to them when making purchases, as this could reduce their feelings of loss if the item’s monetary value doesn’t increase.

Finally, art collectors should find out what documents would be required to prove the authenticity of their acquisitions in the future and store those documents as carefully as the artwork itself.

The Major Role of District Attorneys

An established legal practitioner with more than two decades of experience as a prosecutor, Susan Corcoran currently serves as an assistant district attorney with the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office. She assists in every aspect of a jury trial as a prosecutor, from motion preparation to teaching litigation techniques. Susan Corcoran began her career in the 1980s with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney.

Sometimes called 'prosecuting attorney' or 'county attorney' (depending on the state), a district attorney is an elected official who represents the appointed state in criminal cases. The role of district attorneys in each state is to mitigate crime and ensure that justice is served. In this endeavor, they guide and work with law enforcement agencies, interact with crime witnesses, present cases to grand juries, attend hearings, and participate in criminal trials when necessary.

When the police arrest a suspect for a crime, it is not up to them to determine whether criminal charges are to be filed. District attorneys serve this role. As representative of the state, they will gather and scrutinize all pertinent evidence, and talk to witnesses to determine whether the suspect is likely to be involved in a serious crime. If the offense is a misdemeanor, the case may not necessarily end with a trial; instead, the attorney may take a more lenient route such as a plea bargain. A felony charge, on the other hand, typically ends in a trial. The trial may be preceded by a grand jury or preliminary hearing in which the district attorney shows all evidence that links the defendant to alleged offenses.

Art as a Hobby Begins with the Essentials

Susan Corcoran, an assistant district attorney from Milton, Massachusetts, is a prosecutor with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office. Outside of her role as a prosecutor, Susan Corcoran has hobbies that include art.

Picking up a pencil or paintbrush does not have to be intimidating for those looking to tap into their creative talents through art. Many would-be artists can keep it simple by focusing on their tools and choosing subjects drawn from their inspiration.

The novice artist has a few different drawing tools to express themselves. The most common are acrylics, oils, or watercolors. According to a Good House Keeping article published in January 2020, no one tool is better than the other, and in fact, choosing one depends on the individual’s situation.

For example, if on a budget, acrylics and watercolors tend to be less expensive than oils. On the other hand, acrylics dry faster than the other two options and have been the most popular choice of artists since the 1960s. Ultimately, choosing a drawing tool depends on the needs of the artist.

Novice artists should also plan to purchase a variety of paintbrushes in a range of sizes. Also, some experts suggest using art paper rather than standard print paper, which tends to be a bit thin.

Finally, there is no painting without a subject, so finding a muse to draw is essential. Art lovers may look to nature among other sources for inspiration. Additionally, other sources of inspiration might come from a person’s catalog of photos or personal life.