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Katherine Hesse, a Partner at Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP has dedicated much of her career to helping people in need and supporting legal charities. Most recently, she provided pro bono work for a grant advisory committee where she was tasked with reviewing grant proposals. As a result of her and the other volunteer’s contributions, the foundation was able to award $2.6 million in grants, which will help thousands of people get the legal assistance they need but could otherwise not afford here in Massachusetts. Ms. Hesse was responsible for reviewing proposals and interviewing the applicants. She then needed to rank each proposal based on relevance to the Foundation’s priorities, project design, budget and organizational capacity. Once completed, she attended the grant advisory committee meeting where she reported on the applicants and gave a recommendation of award amount.

Ms. Hesse is one of the founding partners of Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, a multi-service law firm with offices in Boston, Quincy, and Springfield, Massachusetts. MHTL emphasizes the counseling and representation of business, government and not-for-profit entities. Ms. Hesse concentrates primarily in labor and employment, employee benefits and human resources related matters. An MCAD certified trainer, she frequently conducts training seminars for the MBA, MCLE, BBA, and for clients and other professional and business groups on employment and benefits related topics. Ms. Hesse is past Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Boston Bar Association and member of the Labor Law Section Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association. She has served as president of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists and as chair of the Attorney’s Committee of the International Foundation of Employees Benefit Plans. In addition to her professional commitments, Ms. Hesse also serves or has served on several boards.

Ms. Hesse has received a number of awards for her professional service and for her charitable commitments. In 1997 she was the recipient of the prestigious Cushing-Gavin Award for excellence in providing management labor relations legal counsel. She also received the Leading Women award from the Patriots Trail Girl Scouts Council. Ms. Hesse is a graduate of Smith College and the Boston University School of Law. She is admitted to the Bars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.