Staff

Matt Selig

is HLA's Executive Director. He has advocated for health care access for lower-income consumers since the early 1990’s. Matt began his professional career as the staff assistant for the Chief Counsel for Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s staff on the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources (now known as the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions). In Senator Kennedy’s office, he participated in advancing national health care initiatives including proposals to expand access to health insurance and strengthen public health programs. He left Senator Kennedy’s office to attend Suffolk University Law School where he graduated magna cum laude in 1997. Matt then worked in the Massachusetts State House as a legislative aide to State Representative Kay Khan who now co-chairs the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. In the State House, Matt drafted and helped enact various legislative and budgetary provisions including measures to improve mental health services and correctional health care. At HLA, Matt has represented and advised clients unjustly denied health care access and advocated for public policies to benefit low-income health care consumers. He received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

S. Stephen Rosenfeld

is the Volunteer Legal Adviser of Health Law Advocates. He is a specialist in health benefits law, including ERISA, health care consumer protection, long-term disability law and several related areas. He has litigated in all federal and state courts with jurisdiction in Massachusetts, including the United States Supreme Court, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Massachusetts Superior Court. He has served in the Executive Branch of Massachusetts Government as legal counsel to the Governor, and in the Department of the Attorney General, as chief of the Government Bureau. He has taught law at New York University, Northeastern University School of Law, and Boston College Law School.

Lorianne M. Sainsbury-Wong

is HLA’s Litigation Director. She serves as lead in-house counsel and consulting counsel on complex litigation, including class actions and appeals related to health care, such as Massachusetts constitutional protections for legal residents. Her substantive work focuses on protecting low- and moderate-income consumers from unaffordable medical debt and unfair collection practices. Additionally, Lorianne trains and mentors HLA staff. Before joining HLA, Lorianne represented consumers in tort claims, won political asylum for a pro bono client, and reviewed claims of policy owners in an alternative dispute resolution. Lorianne is a graduate of Assumption College (BA), New England School of Law (JD), and she studied under U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy at Salzburg University. Lorianne is proficient in Spanish and is admitted to practice in several state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gavi Bogin-Farber

is HLA’s Parmet Fellow. Gavi graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in May 2012. During law school, Gavi completed co-op positions in the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Suffolk Probate Project of Greater Boston Legal Services, the Law Offices of Howard Friedman, and at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Before law school, she worked at the Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston. Gavi is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. She is proficient in Spanish and Portuguese and is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.

Scott Bryson

joins HLA as its first director of development. A lifelong “Greater Bostonian,” he received his undergraduate degree in political science and history from Boston University and a Master’s degree from Boston College. Scott began his fundraising career with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America before returning to Boston to run the alumni and development office at Boston University’s School of Management. As Director of Alumni Relations at Babson College, Scott had a leadership role in that school’s first major capital campaign which raised more than $100-million. He has led the development efforts of a number of national and international organizations including the Holderness School, Plan USA, and the International School of Prague. A longtime member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Scott has also done significant pro bono consulting for international organizations like the Alba Berlin Jugend Stiftung and Northern Ireland Children’s Enterprises (N.I.C.E.).

Laura H. Goodman

is an HLA staff attorney and directs HLA’s Mental Health Parity Initiative. Laura is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, where she completed co-op positions with the Boston Juvenile Court, Stratify Iron Mountain, the Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations, and Segal Roitman, LLP. She also served as a Team Leader for the Domestic Violence Institute at Boston Medical Center, and was on the Senior Staff of Northeastern’s Law Journal. Prior to law school, Laura worked for HLA as an Administrative Assistant. She received her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Laura is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.

Samuel Leadholm

is HLA’s Children’s Mental Health staff attorney. Prior to his work at HLA, he worked for three years as a litigation associate at a small Boston firm specializing in urban renewal and land use law. Before graduating from Northeastern University School of Law in 2004, he completed internships with U.S. Magistrate Judge Joyce London Alexander, Boston University’s Office of the General Counsel, Posternak, Blankstein & Lund and the Public Health Advocacy Institute. He has served as the Chairperson for the Mass Mental Health Center’s Human Rights Committee since 2005 and worked with adults with mental illness and addictions in a supported housing program before entering law school. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University.

Jia Leung

is an HLA legal fellow. A 2012 graduate of Boston University School of Law, Jia has experience working at Health Law Advocates of Louisiana, the Rhode Island Offices of the Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island. Jia also holds a B.S. from Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation. She is an avid world traveler.

Robert MacPherson

is HLA’s first Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the administrative operations including support, payroll, financial reporting and systems. Prior to HLA, Bob worked in operations and accounting at BankBoston/Fleet Bank. He attended the University of Massachusetts and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Bob recently obtained a certificate in non-profit management from Northeastern University.

Lisa Morrow

is a staff attorney for HLA’s Juvenile Mental Health Access Project. Before joining HLA, Lisa spent four and a half years as a staff attorney at the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts. At CLCM, Lisa represented low-income children in education matters as the sole attorney for an education advocacy initiative in Lawrence, MA. She successfully advocated for improved educational services and placements for clients through team meetings, mediation, and filing for due process hearings at the Bureau of Special Education Appeals. Lisa also provided trainings to attorneys, parents, and service providers in the community on various aspects of education law. Lisa holds a law degree from Boston University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Visual Art and History from Brown University.

Jonathan Rayo

is the Paralegal/Intake Coordinator at HLA. A junior at Northeastern University, Jonathan is working towards a degree in Political Science and a minor in International Affairs. He previously worked at the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations, and Jacob Realty. Jonathan plans on attending law school in the future.

Grace Sullivan Rosenthal

is HLA's Deputy Development Director. Her responsibilities include coordinating the Annual Benefit Breakfast and managing HLA's Pro Bono Legal Network of more than 100 volunteer attorneys from the private bar. Before joining HLA, she spent two years as a fund development and marketing associate at the Maternity Care Coalition in Philadelphia. Grace graduated from Kenyon College in 2010 with highest honors in Spanish Literature. In addition to her work at HLA, she is a Licensed Zumba® Fitness Instructor and teaches at gyms and community health centers throughout Boston.

Meira Russ

is a Staff Attorney and Project Manager of the Juvenile Court Mental Health Advocacy Project (J-MHAP) at HLA. Before joining HLA, Meira was the Program Development Officer at the Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Meira has also worked as the Senior Education Attorney at the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts (CLCM). In that role, Meira coordinated education advocacy out of CLCM's Lynn and Lawrence offices. She also provided direct representation to children from low-income families in Essex and Middlesex counties, specializing in special education and regular education matters with particular emphasis on issues of school discipline. Meira has also represented children in CHINS (Children in Need of Services) proceedings in the juvenile court. She is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Boston University School of Law.

Nancy Ryan

is an attorney for HLA's Consumer Assistance Program. Nancy graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and Tufts University School of Medicine, earning a law degree in addition to a Master of Public Health in January 2012. Throughout law school, Nancy completed co-op positions at the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Care Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Greater Boston Legal Services’ Elder Law Unit, and US Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. Prior to law school Nancy worked as a fundraising professional for a variety of non-profits. Nancy is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross.

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