Nancy King's five siblings accepted the Access to Justice Lifetime Achievement Award on her behalf at the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2008 Access to Justice Awards Luncheon on March 6 at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.

The luncheon was dedicated to King, a Lincoln resident and the former executive director of South Middlesex Legal Services in Framingham, who died in December after a 22-year battle with breast cancer.

"Nancy will be remembered in the legal world as a leader, a compassionate advocate for the delivery of legal services to the poor, a wise mentor, and a highly effective fundraiser for legal services," MBA President David W. White Jr. said. "Selfless to the end, rather than fret about herself, she took care of clients, colleagues and relatives. For example, she would even help run her office by phone from the hospital when treatments demanded her presence."

<p>King's sisters Mary, Patricia and Eileen, as well as her brothers Michael and Thomas, accepted the award from White at the luncheon. Mary King read a speech her sister gave more than 10 years earlier when she was honored with the David Nelson Award for Public Interest from Boston College Law School, her alma mater.

<p>&quot;I believe in the idea of equal justice under the law, and that may be both naive and idealist, but I am proud of both characteristics,&quot; Mary King said, reading her sister's speech.

<p>Following the award presentation, White announced that the board of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation - the MBA's philanthropic partner - has created the Nancy King Memorial Fellowship. This fellowship will support a legal intern during the summer months at South Middlesex Legal Services. The fellowship was made possible by a contribution from MBA Past President Elaine M. Epstein and matching funds from the foundation's Fellows program.