HONORING 2026
GREAT FRIEND OF JUSTICE
Professor Margaret Burnham

The Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s Annual Meeting brings our community of fellows, donors, grant recipients, and friends together to celebrate all that has been accomplished over the last year in our efforts to increase access to justice in our state. This is a free event. All are welcome!

EVENT DETAILS:

Date:           Thursday, March 5, 2026
Time:           5:30 pm to 7:30 p.m.
Location:  Suffolk University Law School
120 Tremont Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA

The Massachusetts Bar Foundation is pleased to announce that Professor Margaret A. Burnham has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Great Friend of Justice Award.

Professor Burnham, University Distinguished Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law, has devoted her career to advancing civil rights, accountability, and equal justice under law. A former attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the first African American woman appointed to the Massachusetts judiciary, she has long been a leader in using the law to confront injustice.

She is the founder and director of Northeastern’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, which investigates racially motivated killings from the Jim Crow era that were never adequately addressed by the legal system. Through this work, and through her acclaimed book By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners, Professor Burnham has illuminated the role of legal institutions in both perpetuating and remedying injustice.

The Great Friend of Justice Award recognizes individuals whose work advances the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s mission to expand access to justice and strengthen the integrity of our legal system. Professor Burnham’s lifelong commitment to civil rights, institutional accountability, and the pursuit of fairness exemplifies that mission.

The Foundation looks forward to honoring Professor Burnham at its 2026 Annual Meeting.

In addition to presenting Great Friend of Justice award, the MBF Society of Fellows will elect officers and trustees for 2026 and honor new Life Fellows (those who completed pledges in 2025). MBF grant recipient, Housing Families, will provide a view from the field. The event will include a one-hour meeting followed by a cocktail reception.

To RSVP, please click here. To Sponsor this event, click here.