Diane F. Paulson

In October 2015, Diane Paulson retired from a senior attorney position at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) after practicing law for thirty-seven years as a legal services attorney. From 1978 until 1984, Diane worked as a staff attorney at Central Massachusetts Legal Services (now Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts), specializing initially in family, and subsequently, elder law. Diane then worked at GBLS as a staff attorney in the elder law unit and then, from its inception in 1986, as the first lead attorney for the newly established Massachusetts Medicare Advocacy Project. The mission of the Medicare Advocacy Project was to insure that Massachusetts Medicare beneficiaries received the Medicare coverage to which they were entitled. As lead attorney, Diane’s responsibilities included program implementation, case handling, coordination of other Massachusetts Medicare Advocacy Projects, statewide advocacy and training. From 1986 through 2003, she was also a GBLS managing attorney with responsibility for selecting and managing attorney and paralegal staff, case handling supervision, and budget management.

Diane earned a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1978, a M.Ed. from Boston University School of Education in 1967, and a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in 1959. Prior to entering law school, Diane worked as an editor of elementary school mathematics textbooks and a learning disabilities teacher.

As an Access to Justice Fellow, Diane will work with Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) to help their elderly Russian clients–who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), SNAP (food stamp) and maybe Russia pension benefits–receive their appropriate SNAP allotment. Currently, problems arise because of the data share system that provides information from the Social Security Administration (SSA), the agency responsible for administering SSI, to the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), the agency with SNAP allotment responsibility, about the amount of the client’s income. The goal of the project is to try to establish a systemic solution to ensure that proper SNAP benefits are awarded to recipients. The mission of JF&CS is to care for individuals and families by providing exceptional human service and health care programs, guided by Jewish traditions of social responsibility, compassion, and respect for all members of the community.