Board of Directors

	Eva Jellison (she/her) is the current Chair of the MA LGBTQ Bar Association and has been involved with the Bar Association for over nine years. Attorney Jellison previously co-chaired the Committee of Transgender Inclusion. Attorney Jellison is a partner at Wood & Nathanson, LLP, of Boston, MA, and she specializes in post-conviction criminal and juvenile defense. Before joining Wood & Nathanson, she clerked for Chief Justice Dana Fabe (Ret.) of the Alaska Supreme Court. She attended Northeastern University School of Law and Stanford University. Eva can be reached at [email protected]
	Joseph P. Lucia (he/him) is the Treasurer of the Mass. LGBTQ Bar. Joe has been a member of the Mass LGBTQ Bar since his first year of law school in 2005 and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2015. As a Board member, Joe serves as the Chair of the Law Students Committee and sits on the Judiciary and Amicus Committee. Joe is a 1999 graduate of Boston Latin School, a 2003 magna cum laude graduate of Williams College and a 2008 magna cum laude graduate of Boston College Law School. Joe served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Ariane D. Vuono of the Massachusetts Appeals Court and to the Honorable Margaret R. Hinkle of the Massachusetts Superior Court from 2008 to 2009. In 2010, Joe joined the Litigation Department of Foley Hoag LLP’s Boston office, where he worked until April 2014 when he was sworn in as an Assistant Attorney General in the Trial Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. In his current role as an AAG, Joe defends lawsuits in a wide array of substantive legal areas brought against the Commonwealth and its agencies. You can reach Joe at [email protected].
	MyShawndria Ward (she/her) is the Secretary of the Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association and joined the Board of Directors in 2020. MyShawndria is a Corporate Associate at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP where she represents a variety of financial institutions in finance transactions. Her practice includes syndicated debt financings and asset-based lending. MyShawndria is a proud alumna of Boston University School of Law and Johns Hopkins University. You can reach MyShawndria at [email protected].
	Matthew Barison joined the Board of Directors of the Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association in 2020. Matt is an independent trial lawyer who focuses on criminal defense and civil litigation. He is a Bar Advocate with Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, providing high quality indigent legal defense in Suffolk County, and is a regular at the Boston Municipal Court. Prior to attending Tulane Law School in New Orleans, LA, Matt served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan and Romania. Matt lives in Boston and enjoys swimming and sailing; he also serves on the Board of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway. Matt can be reached though his website.
	Daniel Ball (he/him) formerly served as a Co-Chair of the Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association. Daniel joined the Board of Directors in 2019. Daniel is a Litigation Associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP where he counsels clients in complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters, representing clients in litigation, arbitration, and governmental investigations involving securities, antitrust, intellectual property, and consumer protection claims before both state and federal courts throughout the United States, and before both domestic and international regulatory agencies and commercial arbitration panels. Daniel maintains an active pro bono practice. He regularly represents individuals and families in eviction proceedings, assists environmental non-profits, and volunteers his time working with citizenship clinics. Daniel is also an active member of Morgan Lewis, participating in the Boston office hiring committee, associates committee, and formerly serving as the firm’s LGBTQ+ Network Representative.
	Barry Bisson (he/him) is the owner and principal attorney at Bisson Law. His office focuses on criminal defense and civil litigation in Massachusetts and New York. In addition to being a Board member of the MA LGTBQ Bar Association, Barry is also vice-chair of the MBA Criminal Justice Section Council; Board member of the New England Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative; Board member of Starting out Solo; Vice President of Northeastern University School of Law; and an adjunct professor at New England Law Boston. You can reach Barry at [email protected].
	Annika Bockius-Suwyn (she/her) formerly served as a Co-Chair of the Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association, and currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Membership Committee. Annika joined the Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association's Board of Directors in 2018. Annika works as an estate planning and probate administration attorney at DangerLaw, LLC in Newton. Annika studied law at Boston University, focusing on diverse areas of family law, including assisted reproductive technology (ART), mediation, and the evolving rights of LGBTQ families. While in law school, Annika worked as a Rule 3:03 Student Attorney at BU’s Civil Litigation Clinic and was a founding member of the BU Family Law Association. Before joining DangerLaw, LLC, in June 2016, Annika served two terms as a Law Clerk to the Justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court (in Worcester, Middlesex, Plymouth, and Suffolk counties), where she researched complex legal issues and drafted judgments and findings in some of the busiest counties in the Commonwealth. You can reach Annika at [email protected].
	Matthew Costello (he/him) joined the Board of Directors in 2022. He is an associate in the Complex Disputes Group at Nixon Peabody LLP, where he focuses on complex litigation matters. Prior to joining Nixon Peabody, Matt was a litigation associate at a boutique litigation firm and WilmerHale. He previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable William E. Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island and the Honorable Gilbert V. Indeglia of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Matt is a magna cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Suffolk University Law Review. Matt is also a proud alumnus of Fitchburg State University. You can reach Matt at [email protected].
	Rachel Hutchinson (she/her) joined the Board of Directors in 2022. She is a civil litigation associate at Todd & Weld LLP, where she maintains a practice concentrated on higher education law representing colleges and universities, complex commercial disputes, and employment discrimination. Rachel is an alumna of Harvard Law and McMaster University. During her 1L and 3L summers, she worked at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), assisting in the fight for LGBTQ+ parentage rights. She can be reached at [email protected].
	Emily Claire Smith (she/her) is an associate at Huggard Law LLC.She joined the board of directors in 2022. Her practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and internal investigations. While in law school, Emily interned at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s White Collar Crime Unit and Greater Boston Legal Services, working directly with survivors of domestic violence. She was a student in the year long Boston College Law School Innocence Clinic, where she worked with clients who were wrongfully convicted. During her 2L and 3L years, Emily Claire worked as a law clerk and was active in B.C. Law's Lambda LGBT Society. You can reach Emily Claire at [email protected].

Administrative Staff

Riley O'Brien is the Mass LGBTQ Bar's Administrative Assistant. Email him at [email protected].