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CHIEF JUSTICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
ROBERT A. MULLIGAN APPOINTS HONORABLE BARBARA J. ROUSE
AS NEW CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT DEPARTMENT
Boston -- Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan today announced the appointment of Honorable Barbara J. Rouse as the new Chief Justice of the Superior Court Department of the Trial Court. Judge Rouse’s appointment is for a five-year term, pursuant to G.L.c. 211B, § 5, and will commence on November 1, 2004.
In announcing the new appointment, Chief Justice Mulligan said, “Judge Barbara Rouse has demonstrated that she has the vision, commitment to excellence, work ethic, and intelligence to provide superb leadership for the Superior Court. I am confident that she will administer the Superior Court in an inclusive and collegial way and that she will be accessible to the bar and all stakeholders in our justice system.”
He added, “Her nineteen years on the Superior Court have been marked by her unwavering commitment to the expeditious delivery of quality justice. I have asked her to address as her first order of business the six hundred defendants who have been held in jail for more than one year awaiting trial in the Superior Court, one hundred and twenty-six of whom have been held for more than two years.”
“I also want to express my appreciation to the extraordinary pool of talented justices who expressed an interest in the position of Chief Justice,” stated Chief Justice Mulligan.
Chief Justice Mulligan said, “I commend Chief Justice Suzanne V. DelVecchio for her accomplishments during her tenure, particularly her implementation of the Business Litigation Session, which Judge Rouse has pledged to maintain and fully support.”
Judge Rouse also applauded Chief Justice DelVecchio for her achievements, including the passage of Criminal Time Standards.
Chief Justice DelVecchio has been the Chief Justice of the Superior Court since November 1, 1999.
Upon hearing of her appointment as Chief Justice of the Superior Court, Judge Rouse said, “I am deeply honored and humbled to be named by Chief Justice Mulligan, whom I have had the pleasure of serving under when he was Chief Justice of the Superior Court. I look forward to working with Chief Justice Mulligan and the outstanding justices of the Superior Court. With their assistance and support and with that of the legislative and executive branches, the clerks, staff, and the bar, we will meet the challenges set forth for the Trial Court in the Monan Committee’s Report.”
Judge Rouse has been an Associate Justice of the Superior Court since 1985. During her tenure, she has been a Regional Administrative Justice in Suffolk County for Civil Business and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of Civil Time Standards. She has chaired the Superior Court’s Committees on Time Standards and on Law Clerks and has served as a member of several committees, including Rules, Education, and Judicial Enhancement.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Rouse was a Partner at Csaplar & Bok in Boston, where she started as an Associate in 1978. She was an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth from 1975 to 1978, and was Assistant Attorney General for Ohio from 1973 to 1975.
Judge Rouse received a J. D. from Boston College Law School, a M.A. from Columbia University, and a B.A. from Smith College.
In 2002, Judge Rouse received a Judicial Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Judges’ Conference. She also is a recipient of an Achievement Award from the Women’s Bar Association.
Since 1992, Judge Rouse has taught a Trial Advocacy course for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education and has been a member of the Board of Editors of the Boston Bar Journal for the past two years. She is a frequent speaker at numerous legal educational programs and bar associations and has published several legal articles and manuals.
Judge Rouse’s professional memberships include the Boston Bar Association, Massachusetts Bar Association, Fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and the National Association of Women Judges.
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