Thursday,
May 26, 2005
CEREMONIES
MARK REDEDICATION OF SUFFOLK REGISTRY SELF-HELP CENTER IN MEMORY OF
LIFELONG BOSTON RESIDENT ROBERT L. KAVIN OF HYDE PARK
From
left to right: John Kavin, Robert L. Kavin Resource Center
Director Denis Martin, and David Sholl following the unveiling
of the memorial plaque.
In
ceremonies held at the Edward Brooke Courthouse in Boston
yesterday, The Suffolk County Probate and Family Court
Registry’s self-help center for those who come to court
without an attorney was renamed for the late Bob Kavin of
Boston. Formerly known as the Addington Resource Center, the
facility serves hundreds of unrepresented court litigants each
week. It will now be known as The Robert L. Kavin Resource
Center.
Kavin
first joined the Registry staff in 1997 after working for the
Boston City Council and the Boston Public Library. He is
credited as the moving force behind the self-help center and
other unique efforts to help unrepresented litigants, and
personally authored many of the self-help kits that explain
— point-by-point and in simple words — how to get a case
before a judge.
Following
opening prayers by Rabbi Rachmiel Lieberman of Congregation
Lubovitch in Brookline, First Justice John M. Smoot, praised
Kavin during yesterday’s event: “Bob knew the law and
complicated statutes as well as anyone, and always found a way
to break things down and explain them in the simplest terms to
anyone who couldn’t understand,” said Judge Smoot. “Most
of all, he provided a sympathetic and understanding ear and a
few words of encouragement to those who needed them the
most.”
After
the room marker and a memorial plaque were unveiled by
Kavin’s brother, John Kavin, and friend David Sholl,
Register Richard Iannella told the nearly 100 gathered for the
event that Kavin was a public servant in the truest sense of
the words. “Bob wasn’t interested in money, political
power, or anything else along those lines. He just wanted to
help those who had a problem to solve by giving them the
answers they needed,” said Iannella. “The self-help center
that he worked so hard to create is a perfect tribute to his
legacy, and I am proud to rename the center in his honor.”
