2025 News UMass Law News 2025: PBN Interviews Drew on Mass Bar Lifetime Achievement Award

Professor Drew sat down with Providence Business News to talk about her recent acceptance of the Mass Bar’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Providence Business News (PBN) invited UMass Law Professor Margaret Drew to discuss her Massachusetts Bar Access to Justice Lifetime Achievement Award. Professor Drew received the award at the Mass Bar Association’s Access to Justice Awards Celebration on June 5th. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes attorneys who have dedicated their careers to advancing access to justice in the Commonwealth. The event awarded nine attorneys who were recognized for their exemplary legal skills and service to the community with the keynote address given by UMass Law Adjunct Professor and Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Serge Georges Jr. and opening remarks by MBA President-elect Michael H. Hayden.

The PBN interview took a deeper look in to Professor Drew’s mission and philosophy of her dedication towards access to justice advancement. During the interview, Professor Drew remarked on her gratitude for the support from colleagues for her nomination of the award and her initiatives towards domestic violence advocacy. “I was surprised to learn how many lawyers supported my receiving this award. I am touched that they recognize the work I have done on behalf of marginalized people, particularly survivors of intimate partner abuse,” Drew told PBN. Professor Drew spoke about her mission of education and advocacy stating, “we need to change our culture that turns away from challenging those who engage in bullying and other abusive behaviors.”

Professor Drew also discussed advocacy initiatives such as survivor assistance, realities of domestic abuse, and her future hopes for improvement of recognition of coercive control and intimate partner abuse in the LGBTQ+ community. After practicing law in Massachusetts for 25 years, Professor Drew joined UMass Law in 2014, where she is a professor and director of clinics and experiential learning. She publishes on human rights and domestic violence, and is also the co-founder and editor of Human Rights at Home Blog.

To see photos of the event: https://www.massbar.org/publications/press-room/2025-mba-access-to-justice-award-celebration