CHIEF JUSTICE
FOR ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
APPOINTS HONORABLE LYNDA M. CONNOLLY AS
NEW CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT DEPARTMENT
Boston, MA — Chief
Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan
today announced the appointment of Honorable Lynda M.
Connolly, First Justice of the Dedham District Court,
as the new Chief Justice of the District Court Department
of the Trial Court. Judge Connolly’s appointment is
for a five-year term, pursuant to G.L.c. 211B, § 5, and
will commence on June 21, 2004, the day after Chief Justice
Samuel E. Zoll retires, having reached the age of seventy,
the mandatory retirement age for judges. Chief Justice
Zoll has served as Chief Justice of the District Court
since 1976, and has served as a judge for thirty-one
years.
In
announcing the appointment of Chief Justice Connolly,
Chief Justice Mulligan said, “Judge Connolly is a highly
intelligent, experienced judge with an extraordinary
capacity for work. As chairperson of the Budget Advisory
Committee, she is a proven leader and is greatly respected
and admired by judges, lawyers, and all who work in the
court system. I am certain that in the tradition of the
District Court Department she will continue to advance
the tremendous achievements of her predecessor, Chief
Justice Samuel E. Zoll.”
Judge
Connolly was appointed as First Justice of the Dedham
District Court by Chief Justice Zoll in 2003. Prior to
that, she was designated as Acting First Justice of the
Charlestown District Court (now a division of the Boston
Municipal Court) for almost two years. She was appointed
as an Associate Justice of the Marlborough District Court
by Governor William F. Weld in 1997. Prior to her appointment
as a judge, Judge Connolly served as General Counsel
at Gallagher & Gallagher, P.C. and practiced in litigation,
and insurance regulatory and employment law areas. From
1991 to 1997, she also served as a Special Assistant
Attorney General to assist the Attorney General’s office
with its civil trial backlog. From 1980 to 1989, she
practiced as a sole practitioner in Boston in the areas
of probate and corporate law. She also was associated
for two years with the firm of Connolly & Johnson
where she focused on litigation, care and protection
matters and custody and adoption proceedings. She began
her legal career in 1975, serving as a special prosecutor
in the Major Violator’s Division of the Suffolk County
District Attorney’s Office.
Between
1981 and 2002, Judge Connolly also served as an adjunct
associate professor at Bentley College, adjunct professor
at New England School of Law and Suffolk University Law
School, and as a guest lecturer at Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government. She continues to serve
on the faculty for educational programs sponsored by
Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, the Judicial
Institute, and the District Court. She is a member of
the District Court Committee on Continuing Education
and of the Committee on Chaper 123 Commitments.
Judge
Connolly is a graduate of Boston College Law School
and the College of William and Mary. A resident of Roslindale,
Judge Connolly is married and has four children.
