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Legal Adviser in Iraq Named Judge in Mass.

A lawyer and U.S. Army colonel who has spent much of the last two years in Baghdad on a special assignment to improve the legal rights of women was named this week to a judgeship in Massachusetts. Gov. Deval L. Patrick nominated Col. George F. Phelan to be a judge of the Probate and Family Court on the island of Nantucket.

Phelan is on special assignment to the U.S. State Department as Rule of Law adviser and women's rights advocate. Earlier this year, the State Department honored Phelan with its Swanee Hunt Award for his active role in advancing women’s issues in Baghdad. Phelan has helped develop several women’s NGOs, establish five comprehensive women’s centers and organize numerous legal education seminars.

In a State Department news release last year, Phelan said the mission of the Rule of Law program is to empower Iraqi women "to occupy their rightful place in a modern Iraqi society." That includes providing them with a safe place where they can seek assistance. To that end, he helped establish the Sadr City Women's Legal Clinic, offering free legal assistance to needy women.

Phelan is also a civilian attorney who maintains a solo practice in Fall River, Mass. He focuses his practice on probate and family matters with an emphasis on elder law, which he taught as an adjunct law professor. But his started his legal career on active duty with the Army's JAG Corps and has served since 1983 as a military attorney in the Army Reserve, where his duties included serving as legal adviser to the commanding general of New England's Reserve forces.

Speaking at a Massachusetts Bar Association event in Boston after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq last year, Phelan discussed his work in Sadr City, which he called "ground zero for human rights" in Iraq. It is, he said, "the best job I've ever had in the worst place I've ever been." While Phelan's nomination is subject to confirmation, let us hope he finds judging to be an even better job, because Nantucket is certainly a much better place to be.

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on November 6, 2009 at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Legal Adviser in Iraq Named Judge in Mass.

A lawyer and U.S. Army colonel who has spent much of the last two years in Baghdad on a special assignment to improve the legal rights of women was named this week to a judgeship in Massachusetts. Gov. Deval L. Patrick nominated Col. George F. Phelan to be a judge of the Probate and Family Court on the island of Nantucket.

Phelan is on special assignment to the U.S. State Department as Rule of Law adviser and women's rights advocate. Earlier this year, the State Department honored Phelan with its Swanee Hunt Award for his active role in advancing women’s issues in Baghdad. Phelan has helped develop several women’s NGOs, establish five comprehensive women’s centers and organize numerous legal education seminars.

In a State Department news release last year, Phelan said the mission of the Rule of Law program is to empower Iraqi women "to occupy their rightful place in a modern Iraqi society." That includes providing them with a safe place where they can seek assistance. To that end, he helped establish the Sadr City Women's Legal Clinic, offering free legal assistance to needy women.

Phelan is also a civilian attorney who maintains a solo practice in Fall River, Mass. He focuses his practice on probate and family matters with an emphasis on elder law, which he taught as an adjunct law professor. But his started his legal career on active duty with the Army's JAG Corps and has served since 1983 as a military attorney in the Army Reserve, where his duties included serving as legal adviser to the commanding general of New England's Reserve forces.

Speaking at a Massachusetts Bar Association event in Boston after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq last year, Phelan discussed his work in Sadr City, which he called "ground zero for human rights" in Iraq. It is, he said, "the best job I've ever had in the worst place I've ever been." While Phelan's nomination is subject to confirmation, let us hope he finds judging to be an even better job, because Nantucket is certainly a much better place to be.