Equal Justice for All

Antone “Gerry” Singsen III ’64, of Lincoln, Mass.; Mar. 1. After graduating from Columbia Law School, he clerked for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, then began service as a staff attorney and Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County. He was a leader in managing and ensuring funding for civil legal services for the poor. He helped to start up the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), where he helped establish a funding policy that guided the expansion of federal civil legal services and served as vice president for finance and management from 1979 to 1982. He was a lecturer at Harvard Law from 1983 to 1994 while remaining a consultant with LSC and other legal aid organizations. He wrote more than 28 articles on all aspects of legal services for the poor and published High Quality Legal Representation: The Fundamental Goal for Legal Services for the Poor. Together with his wife, he formed Singsen and Tyrrell Associates, a professional training organization that helped to improve agencies’ financial and program management performance. He led the state planning effort that informed the creation of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission in 2005 and served as consultant to the commission until he retired in 2016. Under his guidance, the commission increased funding for Massachusetts programs and identified best practices for systemic advocacy, intake, screening, and hotline processes, as well as for fundraising, social service partnerships, court-based service centers, and expanding the civil right to counsel. The commission was often recognized as a national model. In 2012, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association awarded him the Denison Ray Award for dedicating his professional life to equal justice for the poor, and in 2017 he received a lifetime service award from Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, as well as a special Access to Justice Award. At the time of his death, he had completed the first draft of Making Legal Services Count, a forthcoming memoir chronicling his lifetime of contributions to equal justice for all. He is survived by his wife, Jayne Tyrrell; two daughters, including Molly Singsen Richter ’93; two grandchildren; six siblings and their spouses; and nine nieces and nephews.