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Laventis, who practiced law from an office in Holyoke, was described by colleagues as a zealous advocate for the rights of the accused, a fierce defender of the Constitution, and a woman of great integrity both in and out of the courtroom.

'She was a dedicated fighter for her clients; she worked very hard and cared very much for defendants' rights,' Northampton attorney Colleen Currie said this morning. 'She worked very hard to do the best for her clients in difficult situations.'

Stella Xanthakos, another city attorney, described Laventis as an 'extraordinary advocate' this morning.
'She gave her heart and soul to her clients,' said Xanthakos. 'She never ceased finding ways to help people, always finding the good in people.'

She said she had known Laventis for 20 years, both as a professional and as a city resident.'She had such a love of life and lived it with such integrity, compassion, and passion in life and in the courtroom,' said Xanthakos.

The accident
Laventis was driving a 1996 Honda Accord north on South Street when it collided head on with a 1997 Ford pickup truck, driven by Jacob Liptak, 23, of Westfield, that had crossed the center line as it was negotiating a turn while traveling south near Lyman Road, police said.
Liptak's truck then collided with a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Amanda Garlick, no age available, of 80 North St., Whately, that was also heading north on South Street, police said.
Liptak, who had leg and head injuries, and passenger Samantha Serre, 22, also of Westfield, who had knee injuries, were both transported by AMR ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
Serre was listed in fair condition Sunday afternoon; no condition was available for Liptak. There was no further information for either Serre or Liptak available from the hospital this morning.
Garlick was transported by AMR ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital with shoulder, chest, ankle and knee injuries, police said. She was treated and released, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Police are still investigating whether occupants of all three vehicles were wearing seat belts. Airbags deployed in both the Liptak and Garlick vehicles.
Police said road conditions were not a factor in the collision, and the accident remains under investigation. No citations or charges have been filed.
This morning police said the accident is still under investigation and anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to contact them at 587-1105.
Laventis legacy
Originally from Beverly, on the north shore of Boston, Laventis grew up as the youngest child of parents Constantine and Katherine Laventis, both natives of Greece. During the summer, her father ran a fruit and vegetable stand at an outdoor market in Salem.
Laventis had made her home in Northampton since 1973 and ran her law practice from offices in Holyoke.
In perhaps her most famous case, Laventis in 1999 argued before the state's Supreme Judicial Court in Boston that a roadblock in Holyoke designed to search for drugs should be declared unconstitutional as an illegal search and seizure. Her client, Hector Rodriguez, had been arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana as a result of such a roadblock in November 1997.
Northampton attorney William Newman, who noted the case that became known as 'drug roadblock' case as her professional legacy, represented the ACLU of Massachusetts in the same case.
'It was a pleasure to work with a dedicated defense lawyer who zealously represented the rights of her client and in doing so helped guarantee the fundamental constitutional rights of all persons in the Commonwealth,' Newman wrote in an email.
Laventis said a favorable decision by the court in the case, which was supported by civil libertarians, would have far-reaching effects on the use of such roadblocks.
'I think it's pretty scary that it gives that much discretion to the police,' Laventis told the Gazette at the time. 'It gives them a tool to harass people - and harass minority people - and all in the name of drug interdiction.'
The court ruled unanimously that checkpoints for drunken drivers are a 'minimal and focused intrusion' on people that are intended to remove a deadly and immediate menace from the road, while the kinds of drug roadblocks that led to her client's arrest are generalized searches to discover evidence of criminal activity, without any probable cause or reasonable suspicion.
Laventis was also successful in 1997 in getting overturned a zero-tolerance drug policy in the Easthampton public schools, and in reinstating a student expelled as a result of this policy.
Laventis represented a 16-year-old student after the student had allegedly smoked marijuana on a class trip to Canada. Citing failure to comply with due process, Laventis said the school had not held a hearing before issuing the suspension, had not given proper notice before the expulsion hearing and had failed to provide copies of witnesses' statements before the expulsion hearing.

A Hampshire Superior Court judge ruled that the mandatory expulsion policy was invalid and that the School Department's zero-tolerance policy contradicted the Education Reform Act of 1993, which leaves the decision to expel students caught with drugs or weapons in the hands of their principal.

Her client was one of five students who eventually reached a cash settlement with the school.
Besides her professional work, Laventis was also active in the city of Northampton, seeking a School Committee seat in 2001 and sponsoring a team in this year's Northampton Adult Spelling Bee, which benefits the Northampton Education Foundation.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.