Joyce Leary Clark, the owner of Scarborough Legal Center, grew up on a small dairy farm
in Saco. She graduated from Thornton Academy in 1981, and received her A.B. degree from Harvard University
in 1985. After graduating from Harvard, Joyce worked for Harvard University and Fidelity Investments, and then returned
to Maine for law school. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Maine School of Law in 1990.
The week she graduated from law school, Joyce began her legal career at Picher & Barrett
in Scarborough, which later became Picher & Associates. Upon the death of the firm's owner, Frank Picher, in
1996, Joyce became a solo practitioner. In 2002, she worked as Staff Attorney for Consumer Credit Counseling Services
of Maine, concentrating in consumer bankruptcy practice, but she returned to private practice in 2003.
Joyce is an active member and past president of the Kiwanis Club of Scarborough, and also a member, past
secretary, and past board member of the Saco Valley Land Trust. She has interviewed local applicants to Harvard
University for the Harvard Club of Maine since 1993. She has represented many pro bono clients through
the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project, and also currently represents clients through Pine Tree Legal Assistance's MASH (Maine
Attorneys Saving Homes) program.
Joyce and her husband, Edward Clark, also
a Saco native, live in Portland with their children, Emma and Henry, both of whom attend St. Brigid School.
