Gov. Maura Healey nominated Gabrielle Wolohojian Wednesday to serve on the state’s highest court docket, rounding off the second of two picks the governor has to date been handed throughout her first time period after a pair of judges stepped down from the bench.
The choose expands Healey’s mark on the Supreme Judicial Court, which till the vacancies, was solely made up of judges chosen by former Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican. Wolohojian, a sixteen-year veteran of the Appeals Court, fills the seat vacated by Justice David Lowy, who retired from the court docket this month.
Healey stated Wolohojian, a former accomplice of the governor, is certified and ready to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court.
“Justice Wolohojian has served on the Appeals Court with distinction and her work is widely respected by members of the bench and bar. She has an exceptional understanding of the law and a strong commitment to the administration of justice,” Healey stated in a ready assertion.
Wolohojian was first appointed to the Appeals Court in February 2008 and has sat on over 2,700 appeals and authored greater than 900 selections, based on Healey’s workplace. She serves because the chair of the Supreme Judicial Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
A New York native and granddaughter to Armenian immigrants, Wolohojian acquired a Bachelor of Arts diploma from Rutgers University in 1982, a Ph.D. in English language and literature from the University of Oxford in 1987, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1989.
She served as a legislation clerk, first to Judge Rya Zobel of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts after which to Judge Bailey Aldrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Wolohojian transitioned into personal follow in 1991, becoming a member of the Boston legislation agency of Hale and Dorr, now often called WilmerHale, the place she turned a accomplice within the agency’s litigation division targeted on state and federal courts.
Wolohojian left the agency to function an affiliate impartial counsel on the Whitewater investigation. She returned to follow 16 months later.
The Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission unanimously really helpful Wolohojian for the submit, with member Martin Murphy arguing her tenure on the Appeals Court “has been exemplary.”
Murphy, a 40-year veteran of the Massachusetts authorized scene, stated Wolohojian is among the many most skilled appellate judges within the state, “with a long and deep record of productivity.”
“Her opinions have addressed every aspect of Massachusetts law — criminal and civil — including appeals from the Superior, Juvenile, Probate and Family and Land Courts. No sitting judge or practicing lawyer in Massachusetts is more qualified for nomination to the SJC than Justice Wolohojian,” Murphy stated in a Monday letter to Healey.
Another nominating fee member, Boston College Law School visiting professor Geraldine Hines, stated Wolohojian is “uniquely qualified to join the SJC at a time when it enjoys and is committed to maintaining its reputation as one of the most respected supreme courts in the country.”
A former affiliate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court from 2014 to 2017, Hines stated it’s “a difficult job that demands intellectual vigor, respect for the rule of law, an unwavering commitment to equal justice under the law, and an impeccable work ethic.”
“Knowing Justice Wolohojian as I do from our time together on the Appeals Court and from my conversations with colleagues who continued to serve on the court after my departure, I can say that she is richly blessed with these qualifications,” Hines wrote in a Monday letter to Healey.
Wolohojian is Healey’s second choose for the Supreme Judicial Court. The Governor’s Council unanimously authorised the governor’s first choose, former State Solicitor Elizabeth “Bessie” Dewar, to the bench final month.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”