Legal Studies Program

Guberman Lectures

The Joshua A. Guberman Lecture was established at Brandeis University to honor the memory of a man whose passionate concerns were for individual well-being and social justice.

As a practicing attorney in Greater Boston, Mr. Guberman was well known for his keen intellect, precise legal knowledge, wide-ranging interests and wise judgment. He was a counselor whose relationships with clients were characterized by a depth of caring rarely seen. Colleagues commented that he would become involved with the families of his clients and that, as time went on, he would serve their children. As the family businesses grew, so did the practice of Joshua Guberman.

After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he joined the firm of Brown, Rudnick, Freed and Gesmer. He served in World War II and then became a dedicated public servant, active in the American Jewish Congress, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Capital Punishment Information Services and many other groups. He also worked to improve the public schools. He was himself an excellent teacher.

Mr. Guberman’s colleagues recollect his work with the Boston Broadcasters, where his sense of fairness and good humor frequently helped resolve seemingly insoluble dilemmas. “When we sought his advice, we were assured of both precise legal answers and consummately just ones.”

In tribute to Joshua A. Guberman, his family has endowed an annual lecture in law and social policy at Brandeis University. The lectures are sponsored under the auspices of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and the Legal Studies Program.

It is appropriate that the host for these lectures is a university named in honor of the great jurist, Louis D. Brandeis, whose profound concern for social justice is reflected in the social and economic issues he introduced in his judicial writings.

Through the lectures named in his honor, Joshua A. Guberman — who loved social justice and human beings — will be aptly remembered and linked with Justice Brandeis and the university which bears his name.

video of Guberman Lecture with Elizabeth Matos, JD

Punishment Culture and the Persistence of Mass Incarceration In Massachusetts

Elizabeth Matos, JD, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, presented the Guberman Lecture in 2022.