Community Legal Aid Attorney Named President of Berkshire Bar Association

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Community Legal Aid staff attorney Dana Doyle was elected as the next president of the Berkshire County Bar Association at the association's annual meeting, held on May 15. Doyle’s two-year term will begin on Sept. 1.

Doyle, a Pittsfield resident, is a certified mediator, certified conciliator, collaborative law attorney, parenting coordinator, and guardian ad litem investigator, and has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1998. Prior to joining the family law unit at Community Legal Aid in 2017, she spent 15 years in private practice as a solo practitioner and an associate at several law firms in Berkshire County.

Attorney Doyle began her law career at Community Legal Aid's predecessor organization, Western Massachusetts Legal Services, where she was employed from 1998-2002. She has been actively involved in the Berkshire County Bar Association since she first moved to Pittsfield in 1998. She has served on the executive committee of the bar association since 2009 and also serves on the Probate and Family Court Bench/Bar committee (chairperson from 2003-2011).

"I am hoping to build on the work of past presidents, while offering increased opportunities for the current membership," Doyle said. "Presently our membership consists of approximately 150 attorneys and judges. I value the camaraderie and the opportunity to meet and work with lawyers from all walks of the profession that our Bar Association provides, as, well as the feeling that we do makes a difference."

Doyle previously served as a member of the Pittsfield Licensing Board and served on the Board of Directors of the Elizabeth Freeman Center (president from ’06-’08) and the Massachusetts Justice Project.

200 Pittsfield Students Walk for Men's Mental Health

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:20AM / Sunday, November 17, 2024

Reader's note: This article discusses suicide and mental illness.
 

Judy and Paul Coty, left, their daughter Veronica, Matt Capeless and PHS Principal Maggie Esko at the Movember gathering.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Around 200 Taconic and Pittsfield high school students marched downtown to support men's health on Friday.

The third annual "Move for Movember" walk-a-thon raised money for mental health, as more than three of four suicides that occur in the United States are by men and boys. It also supported the Aaron T. Coty Memorial Scholarship, which honors a beloved student who died in 2015 after silently struggling with mental illness.

Each walker paid a $5 registration fee and was asked to raise an additional $20.

"I can still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that Aaron died by suicide on Sept. 17, 2015. I could not believe it. It did not make sense. I didn't want to believe it but it was real, and it was something that we had to get through together," said Matt Capeless, Movember community ambassador and physical education and wellness teacher at Taconic High School.

"My friends and I struggled thinking about what we missed or what we could have done differently. We cried together and shared memories of the good times we had together. One thing was certain, we cannot go back in time."

Coty's family has attended suicide prevention walks for nine years and walked for Movember for the last three years.

"I wish Aaron had gotten help because we had no idea that he was struggling," his mother, Judy Coty, said.

"He was always smiling and happy and had tons of friends and was very outgoing and personable."