In her adoption practice, she has successfully completed hundreds of adoptions, both domestic and international, and from the public and private sectors.

Attorney Mackin has two daughters by adoption, both born in the United States.

Her previous litigation experience includes twenty five years of litigating practice in the area of family law and children's rights. She was counsel in the first case enforcing the right to special education under federal law for the handicapped schoolchildren of Hartford, Connecticut, and in the first case recognizing the right of Massachusetts' abused and neglected children to sue the State for failing to protect them.

She is an honors graduate of Georgetown University (B.S. 1971) and the George Washington University Law School (J.D. 1974).

She is admitted to the Massachusetts and Connecticut bars, as well as the First and Second Circuits and the United States Supreme Court.

She is a fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and served on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Open Door Society (O.D.S.), a statewide adoption support group.  She is a member of RESOLVE, and has spoken at the annual RESOLVE and ACONE conferences on the topic Legal Issues for Massachusetts Adopters.