In honor of her exemplary service to the office of the Middlesex District Attorney, Somerville resident Anne Pogue was presented with the Ruth Abrams Outstanding Attorney Award at a ceremony held in Woburn, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone announced today.

The award is presented to an assistant district attorney who has demonstrated outstanding legal acumen, writing skills and oral advocacy.

Pogue is an ADA in the office’s Appeals and Training Bureau.

“Anne is a determined, intelligent, and diligent attorney and a true advocate for the office and the people we serve," District Attorney Leone said. “Her sincere dedication and excellence in her work makes her a clear choice for the Ruth Abrams Outstanding Attorney Award.”

The annual Middlesex District Attorney’s Awards Ceremony was held on December 9 at Woburn Memorial High School in Woburn.  The office has a proud legacy of exemplary service to the people of Middlesex County, and the series of awards are named in honor of many of the former members of the office.

Middlesex alumni who were in attendance to present the awards named in their honor were Attorney General and former Middlesex D.A. Martha Coakley, former Middlesex D.A. and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, and former Middlesex D.A. and Attorney General Scott Harshbarger. 

District Attorney Gerry Leone was elected in November of 2006 and took office in January 2007. Within four years, he has implemented a number of new initiatives designed to better protect and serve the people of Middlesex County. In 2007, Leone created a new Domestic Violence Unit to more effectively prevent and prosecute instances of domestic violence as well as better serve its victims. Leone also established the office’s first Cyber Protection Program in 2007, forming a team of prosecutors and investigators specifically focused on the protection of children and other citizens from the predatory dangers of the Internet.  A career prosecutor with a record of implementing innovative school safety programs, Leone has also launched an initiative to more comprehensively expand those prevention and intervention efforts into the middle schools, and to the 20 colleges and universities of Middlesex County.

Additionally, Leone launched a comprehensive plan aimed at combating Shaken Baby Syndrome in which he partnered with service agencies and Middlesex County hospitals.  The program aims to have all new parents undergo individual training sessions by hospital nurses on strategies to prevent SBS.  Since its launch at Winchester Hospital in March 2008, eight more hospitals have joined the program.  Leone also initiated a domestic violence program in an effort to better protect victims of domestic violence.  The program, in partnership with area law firms, provides victims of domestic violence with free legal assistance during the restraining order process. 

Lastly, Leone created a workplace violence prevention training program which aims to train safety, security, legal, and human resources personal on how to minimize the risk of a violence incident occurring in workplaces, including private companies, schools, public governmental agencies, and others.  

Middlesex County is the largest county in Massachusetts and one of the largest counties in the country with 54 towns and cities and 20 colleges in urban, suburban, and rural areas, comprising over one quarter of the population of Massachusetts.  The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has offices throughout the county, including communities such as Ayer, Cambridge, Concord, Framingham, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Natick, Newton, Somerville, Waltham and Woburn.