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36 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 1 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/wnelr36 and id is 1 raw text is: WESTERN NEW ENGLAND LAW REVIEW Volume 36 2014 Number 1 ARTICLES DISPELLING ALIMONY MYTHS: THE CONTINUING NEED FOR ALIMONY AND THE ALIMONY REFORM ACT OF 2011 RACHEL BISCARDI INTRODUCTION Alimony has captured the public's imagination over the past six Rachel Biscardi is the Director of Pro Bono Projects at the Women's Bar Foundation (WBF) where she recruits, trains, and mentors volunteer attorneys to represent low-income victims of domestic violence in their family law cases. She is the recipient of Lawyer's Weekly 2013 Excellence in the Law Award, Boston University School of Law's 2013 Public Interest Award, and the Women's Bar Association's 2010 Certificate of Service. Before joining the WBF, Ms. Biscardi worked at Community Legal Aid, the Essex County District Attorney's Office, and as a judicial law clerk in the Probate and Family Court. Ms. Biscardi teaches family law at New England Law, Boston and Northeastern University School of Law. In 2010-2011, Ms. Biscardi served as the Women's Bar Association's (WBA) representative on the Legislative Task Force on Alimony which drafted the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 codified in MGL c. 208 § 48-55. Currently, she is the WBA representative on the Governor's Working Group on Child-Centered Family Laws which is reviewing the custody laws in Massachusetts. Ms. Biscardi is the former co-chair of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Coalition, which is comprised of law firms, district attorney's offices, legal service agencies, and batterer's intervention programs. Ms. Biscardi is also a member of the Boston Bar Association's Family Law Steering Committee and the Legal Services Family Law Task Force. She has authored several articles on the value of pro bono work in such journals as the BBA Family Law Journal and the WBA Chronicle. She has also appeared in television shows such as Chronicle and Greater Boston with Emily Rooney. Ms. Biscardi is a graduate of Boston University School of Law with a specialization in litigation and dispute resolution. She would like to extend her appreciation to the Women's Bar Association for their continued support and dedicate this article to her spouse, Tony Biscardi, She would also like to thank Maria Tartaglia, a third year law student at Boston University School of Law, who interned with the Women's Bar Foundation in the summer of 2012. She was instrumental in helping research and assist in drafting this legal memorandum. 1

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