Helping Lawyers Give
Attorney heads Suffolk center that encourages public service
By Laurel J. Sweet, Boston Herald, December 5, 2007

Photo by Patrick Whittemore

Attorney Susan Prosnitz harbors no illusions that she alone can put an end to the booming industry of lawyer jokes, but she might just prove that the world is truly better off because of her kind of attorney.

The former chief litigator for the Boston Police Department and general counsel to the Executive Office of Public Safety has settled into a new role at Suffolk University Law School as executive director of the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service, openingTuesday.

The center was made possible by a $5 million donation from real estate investor Jerome Rappaport Jr. and his wife, Phyllis, the most generous gift ever bestowed on Suffolk Law School. Prosnitz's dream is to encourage lawyers of both tomorrow and today that a career devoted at least in part to helping your fellow man can be fulfilling.

“Any student or alumni or any lawyer anywhere in Boston who is in pursuit of a career in public service can come here and get help getting there,” Prosnitz said of the center's mentoring mission.

One goal is to use the stunning Tremont Street facility as a kind of community think tank for faculty, students, government officials and policymakers to share ideas and talents.

A product of Duke University Law School, Prosnitz, 45, was at one time an associate litigator at a private firm at One Financial Center when, for a 40 percent cut in pay, she went to work for former Boston police Commissioner Francis “Mickey” Roache.

Her first day on the job she tore her skirt on the broken desk where she was seated. “But I never looked back,” Prosnitz said. “I always looked forward to Mondays.”

Sure, it would be a rare thing to see a TV lawyer struggling to pay the rent and shopping at Wal-Mart in between pro-bono assignments, but Prosnitz said volunteerism and public spirit are not tough sells to prospective Suffolk students.

“True success,” Prosnitz said with the beaming smile of one who should know, “will be measured by how they were able to use their skills as lawyers to better the public good.”