Eleven of the thirty-five honorees to be inducted into the 2024 Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame in September are members of the BC Law community. Among them is longtime adjunct professor Thomas J. Carey Jr. ’65, who will receive the award alongside several former students and classmates.
The Hall of Fame recognizes Massachusetts lawyers who have practiced for thirty years or more. Their selection is based on career accomplishments, contributions to the development of the law in Massachusetts and to the bar, as well as efforts to improve the quality of justice in the Commonwealth.
Carey, who earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Boston College, exemplifies all aspects of this award, whether it be through his clerkships in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts or serving as the Appellate Attorney for the Major Violators Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
It is also apparent in his contributions to legal education and scholarship. He has been an adjunct at BC Law since 1990, teaching Appellate Advocacy and the Amicus Brief Clinic while working with various advocacy and moot court programs. Of note pertaining to Carey’s contributions to the Law School is his membership in the Order of the Coif and his receipt in 2016 of the BC Law Alumni Association’s Special Service Award.
Other legal honors include the Publications Trust Award and the Massachusetts Bar Association’s President’s Award.
“I owe much of my success to the support and assistance of my law school colleagues over the years, and to the education and values instilled in me by my teachers at Boston College Law school,” Carey says. “I am extremely grateful for this honor. It will come as no surprise to my fellow teachers that I also took great pleasure and pride at seeing several former students join me on the list. Seeing our students succeed in their careers is in itself a great reward.”
Classmate George M. Ford ’65 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Carey, as will fellow adjunct Thomas Maffei ’71 and former students J. W. Carney Jr. ’78 and Margaret R. Hinkle ’77. The late Mary K. Ryan ’77 (also a former student) will receive a posthumous award for her work in public service.
Others to be recognized at the September 17 event are alumni John J. Egan ’69, John J. McGivney ’81, and BC Law community members Paul T. Dacier, who serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board, and Carmen Ortiz, a former Rappaport Distinguished Visiting Professor.
Among previous BC Law inductees into the Hall of Fame are J. Owen Todd ’60, Leo V. Boyle ’71, Martin R. Healy ’75, David Rosenblatt ’82, and Paul Ayoub ’82.