Margaret Van Deusen began her legal career as a public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Suffolk County. During her 10 years in the trial and appellate units she represented clients in the juvenile, district and superior courts, the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court.
Switching to civil practice, Margaret joined the Environmental Protection Division of the MA Attorney General’s Office where she prosecuted environmental violators and defended the environmental agencies. She then worked at Rubin and Rudman LLP.
In 2000, Margaret became Deputy Director and General Counsel at the Charles River Watershed Association, an environmental research and advocacy nonprofit in Weston dedicated to protecting the Charles River and its watershed. She directed CRWA’s advocacy and litigation focused on clean water, climate change, resilience, and sustainability. Margaret retired from CRWA in Spring, 2019. She is a cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College and received her J.D. from New York University School of Law.
As an Access to Justice Fellow, Margaret will be working in the Greater Boston Legal Services’ (GBLS) CORI and Re-Entry Program providing legal advice on CORI issues and representing clients at criminal record sealing and expungement hearings. Recognizing that past criminal records prevent people from getting jobs, housing, and accessing other opportunities, the CORI Unit at GBLS was formed in 2008 to combat the impacts of criminal records on clients.