Monday,
May 16, 2005
SUFFOLK
PROBATE REGISTRY TO REDEDICATE SELF-HELP CENTER IN MEMORY OF
ROBERT L. KAVIN, NOTED PUBLIC SERVANT AND LIFELONG BOSTON
RESIDENT
Suffolk
County Register of Probate Richard Iannella has announced that
the Registry’s self-help center for pro se litigants
will be renamed for the late Robert Kavin of Boston. Formerly
known as the Addington Resource Center, the facility serves
hundreds of unrepresented litigants each week, and will now be
known as The Robert L. Kavin Resource Center.
A
lifelong and proud Bostonian, Kavin was a Registry official
who made headlines at the age of thirteen when he testified at
a State House hearing against a proposed sales tax. Later,
upon graduating from Boston English High School, he went to
work for the Boston Public Library. There, he expanded upon
his already vast knowledge of the history of Boston and noted
public figures.
In
1969, Kavin became a legislative assistant to Boston City
Councilor Christopher Iannella, where he worked until 1992.
Iannella would often tell others: “I was fortunate enough to
go to Harvard Law School, but never did I have Bob’s
knowledge and ability to write complex legislation like he
did.” Kavin helped to author a host of city ordinances,
including the city’s residency requirement, rent control,
and environmental laws.
When
Richard Iannella was elected Suffolk County Register of
Probate, Kavin joined the Registry staff, and Registry
officials relied heavily upon him as they set out to establish
the state’s first self-help center for unrepresented
litigants. “Bob had a knack for translating confusing legal
jargon into simple words that anyone could understand,” said
Iannella. Spending countless hours poring over complicated
court forms full of technical jargon and legalese, Kavin
authored a series of self-help kits that explain —
point-by-point and in simple words — how to get a case
before a judge. As Registry officials considered a name for
the new self-help center, it was Kavin who first proposed
naming it after Isaac Addington, the first Register of Probate
for Suffolk County.
Rededication
ceremonies will be held on Thursday, May 25th at
4:00pm at the Registry on the 3rd floor of the
Edward Brooke Courthouse, 24 New Chardon Street, in Boston.
The public is invited to attend the event.
“In
light of Bob’s outstanding record of public service and all
that he accomplished on behalf of the court and the public, I
am proud to rename the self-help center that he worked so hard
to create in his honor,” said Iannella.
