Prior to joining the firm, Polly worked as a law clerk to the Justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court and as law clerk to the Honorable Irma S. Raker of the Maryland Court of Appeals, that state’s highest court.  She taught on an adjunct basis at Fordham University School of Law in 2003-2004.

Polly earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Boston College Law School where she was a Public Interest Scholar, the Editor-in-Chief of the Boston College Third World Law Journal and co-chair of the Lambda Law Students Association.  Upon her graduation in 2002, she was awarded the John D. O’Reilly, Jr. Award for contribution to the law school community through service to students.  Polly also holds a B.A., with distinction, from Yale University, where she won the GALA senior essay prize for her thesis addressing ordination of lesbian and gay clergy in the Episcopal Church. Polly grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Winsor School in Boston. 

Polly is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York.  Her publications include Nuts and Bolts:  Estate Planning and Family Law Considerations for Same-Sex Families, in the Western New England Law Review (Vol. 30, No. 3 2008), Forcing Boys to be Boys:  The Persecution of Gender Non-Conforming Youth, in the Boston College Third World Law Journal, and contributions to the Massachusetts Divorce Law Practice Manual (MCLE 2008).    

   Joyce Kauffman 

Patience (Polly) Crozier

Before opening the Law Office of Joyce Kauffman in 1999, Attorney Kauffman was an associate and a partner at Triantafillou & Guérin, P.C. Attorney Kauffman is a member of several bar associations, including the Boston Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association, the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts.  On the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association from 1997 to 2003, she served as co-chair of the Board from 2000-2003 and as chair of MLGBA’s Family Law Section from 2003-2006.  Attorney Kauffman currently serves on the Civil Gideon Task Force of the Boston Bar Association.  She volunteers with Senior Partners for Justice, an organization providing legal services to indigent individuals.

Attorney Kauffman has been an activist for alternative families since the early 1970s.  An advocate early on for lesbian and gay families, Attorney Kauffman helped to organize a public celebration of lesbian mothers on Mother’s Day in 1978.  She was a founding member of the Somerville Women’s Center in 1976 and of the Cambridge Lavender Alliance/Parents, Teachers, and Allies in the early 1990s.  Attorney Kauffman is a past board member of The Family Pride Coalition (now Family Equality Council) and has been in the forefront of LGBT family law in Massachusetts.  Attorney Kauffman has been a member of the Family Law Advisory Council of the National Center for Lesbian Rights since 2003, a group of experienced family law and estate planning attorneys from across the nation who meet regularly to discuss family formation and protection issues, evaluating national trends and state-by-state cases in order to advance the rights and protections of LGBT parents and families.

In recognition of her outstanding work as a lawyer and activist, Attorney Kauffman received the Gwen Bloomingdale Pioneer Spirit Award, MLGBA, 2007; the Fisher Davenport Award, Family Pride Coalition and COLAGE, 2004; and the Barney Frank Award, Massachusetts School of Law, 2003.  Attorney Kauffman was selected for inclusion in New England’s Super Lawyers 2008.  She is a frequent speaker and commentator on family law issues. 

Publications and Media Coverage:

1. •Quotation of the Day, New York Times, June 15, 2008
   

2. •“Marriage, Civil Union, Domestic Partnership – What’s the Difference?” Divorce Center Briefs, February 2008
   

3. •Contributor, “Legal Issues of Importance to Clinicians,” Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health, Makadon, Mayer, Potter, and Goldhammer, editors, published by the American College of Physicians, 2007
   

4. •“Protect Your Family,” Bay Windows, November 30, 2006
   

5. •“Protecting Our Relationships,” 2006
   

6. •“On Legal Gay Marriage,” 2006
   

7. •“Ignoring Children’s Needs is True Immorality,” Boston Globe, OpEd, March 14, 2006
   

8. •“Member Spotlight: Joyce Kauffman,” Lawyers Weekly, August 8, 2005
   

9. •“Red Flags in a Blue State:  Lesbian and Gay Divorce in Massachusetts,”  Family Mediation Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 3, Summer 2005
   

10. •“Adoption Basics for One-, Two-, or Multiple-Parent Families,” Representing Nontraditional Families, K. Triantafillou, ed., MCLE, 2000; revised 2005
    

11. •“De Facto Parents: State of the Law in Massachusetts,” Family Mediation Quarterly,Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter 2003
    

12. •“One Egg + One Womb = Two Moms,” And Baby Magazine, Premier Issue 2001
    

13. •“Same-Sex Co-parent Adoptions,” Adoption and Reproductive Technology Law in    Massachusetts, S. Crockin, ed., MCLE 2000
    

14. •“Protecting Families:  Standards For Child Custody in Same-Sex Relationships,” contributing author, GLAD, 1999
    

Selected Speaking Engagements:

1. •“Legal issues for LGBT Families,” Fenway Community Health
   

2. •“So, are you gonna get married?” Instructor, Newton Community Education
   

3. •“Red Flags in a Blue State,” The Divorce Center
   

4. •“The Ripple Effects of Goodridge”, panelist, The Flaschner Judicial Institute  
   

5. •“Adoption and Reproductive Technology Law,” panelist, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education
   

6. •“Non-Traditional Family Law,” panelist, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education
   

7. •“Legal Issues for LGBT Families,” RFamily Vacations, Inaugural Cruise, 2004
   

 Television Appearances:

1. •Good Morning, CN8, 2008
   

2. •The Tucker Carlson Show, 2006
   

3. •The Group, WGBH, Boston, MA, 1994