Executive Director:

Gina Walcott, Esq.

Gina Y. Walcott, Esq. is Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, Inc., which is the state’s only lawyer assistance program and services the Commonwealth’s judges, lawyers, law students, and their families. Gina is the first African-American director of a lawyer assistance program in the nation.

Before LCL, Gina spent more than 8 years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. In that capacity, Gina worked in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, where she handled both affirmative and defensive civil litigation on behalf of the United States, federal agencies, and federal employees sued in their official capacity. While there, Gina was also active with the office’s Diversity Committee, Interviewing Committee, Stay In School initiative, and Legal Internship program. Before joining Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gina spent nearly six years at the state Attorney General's Office, both as a civil litigator and as a prosecutor. When she left the office in 1999, Gina had moved up the ranks to Acting Chief of the Unemployment Fraud Division. Similar to her interests at the US Attorney’s Office, Gina was active at the AG’s Office in the Racial & Ethnic Bias Task Force, the Diversity Committee, the Mentoring Program, and various Internship Programs.

In addition to her active work life, Gina Co-Chairs the Women’s Bar Association (WBA) Women of Color Committee, is a Steering Committee Member of the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) Diversity and Inclusion Section, is a Mentor for the BBA’s Group Mentoring Program, and is an active member of several state, local, and affinity bar associations, including: the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (of which she is also a Past President), the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Lawyers In Transition Committee, and the WBA’s Women Executive Director of Nonprofits Committee. Notably, Gina has also remained an active presence with respect to each of her alma maters: The Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Former Trustee); Wellesley College (Current Member, Wellesley Lawyers); and Boston University School of Law (Frequent Guest Presenter, Former Lecturer In Law - Civil Practice Clinic, Former ATLA Trial Teams Regional Competition). In the past, Gina has served on such boards as the Boston Bar Journal’s Board of Editors and the Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, which is an organization of criminal justice professionals named after this state’s first Black judge. Among other things, the Ruffin Society assembled and is primarily responsible for the traveling courthouse exhibit entitled, “Long Road to Justice: The African-American Experience in the Massachusetts Courts.”

Gina has been recognized for her many professional, civic, and personal contributions to the profession and her community. Recently, Gina was awarded the “Women of Justice” award by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, in conjunction with the Women’s Bar Association and the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers. Gina was nominated for this award by her law school alma mater, Boston University School of Law. Gina was also named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders by the Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce in its 50th year celebration, an award that has been given in the past to such distinguished individuals as John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Janet Langhart, Leonard Zakim, Alice Richmond, and Thomas P. O’Neil. Additionally, Gina was invited to become a member of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s Society of Fellows –an honor extended to only ½ of 1% of the Commonwealth’s practicing Bar. Gina has also been featured in the Boston Business Journal.

Gina is a native Bostonian. She attended the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge (1984); Wellesley College (B.A., 1988), and Boston University School of Law (J.D., 1993).


Clinical Staff:

Barbara Bowe, LICSW

On staff since 1996, Barbara J. Bowe, LICSW handles client assessments, referrals, and case management. She is LCL’s liaison with Massachusetts’ nine law schools. Barbara has also been involved in training programs for the following segments of the Bar: Judges, MBA, BBA Peer Support Program, Bar Advocate Programs, LCL Monitor Program, and Professional Responsibility Classes. She is a 1985 graduate of Boston University School of Social Work. Barbara has managed both inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment programs in Greater Boston, most recently at Westwood Lodge Hospital just prior to coming to LCL. She has worked in both in-house and offsite employee assistance programs, and has maintained a private practice for many years in Brookline, MA.

Nancy L. Brown, LICSW

Nancy came to LCL in 1999. A 1981 graduate of the Boston University School of Social Work, she acquired extensive experience in the field of substance abuse as the Executive Director of a 20-bed Boston residential treatment program, as the Assistant Director of the Bay Cove Treatment Center, and as Coordinator of the Alcohol Treatment Program at Family Counseling and Guidance Centers Framingham branch. She has also been a Field Instructor for Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and other area colleges’ graduate intern programs in Social Work, Counseling Psychology, and Marriage and Family Therapy. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.



Jeffrey Fortgang, Ph.D., CAS, LADC I

Dr. Jeff Fortgang graduated Yale in 1971, and, after working for a few years as a musician/songwriter, went on to get his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Adelphi University in 1980. His dissertation, internship, and fellowship focused on treatment of alcoholism. Jeff has held positions at Mass. General, Mt. Auburn, Newton-Wellesley, and McLean Hospitals, collaborated with various employee assistance programs, and directed programs at Westwood Lodge Hospital (inpatient) and Bay Colony/Spofford Hall Outpatient Services. A Clinical Associate in psychology at Harvard Medical School, he has been in his half-time LCL role since 1998. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the National Register of Healthcare Providers in Psychology, and is also a Certified Addictions Specialist. He is licensed in Massachusetts as both a psychologist and alcohol/drug counselor. His private practice offices are in Newton Highlands and Boston's Back Bay. In addition to seeing clients at LCL, he also writes articles, has been involved in developing and maintaining our web site, and coordinates our program evaluation system, electronic record-keeping, and resource database.

Office Manager:

Lottie Rutherford

All clinical staff are seasoned, independently licensed clinicians who have broad experience with both mental health and alcohol/drug problems. They maintain a large and ever-expanding file of resources, including clinicians (psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, nurses), career and financial counseling services, community services, self-help groups, coaches, peer assistance, etc.

LCL VOLUNTEERS

LCL volunteers are attorneys who identify themselves as recovering from alcoholism or drug addiction and make themselves available as supports for other lawyers seeking recovery, both individually and through the LCL Support Group meetings. This branch was the genesis of LCL, from which its other branches have sprung.