Judicial Office Applications and Instructions

Thank you for your interest in serving in the Massachusetts Judiciary. Please follow these instructions for all judge, clerk-magistrate and recorder of the Land Court applications filed on or after April 21, 2023.

Judicial Nominating Commission

The Details   of Judicial Office Applications and Instructions

What you need   for Judicial Office Applications and Instructions

Please note applications are provided for reference and preparation. Applications will only be accepted for vacancies listed on the Apply for Open Vacancies page. 

Candidates applying to a vacancy on the Supreme Judicial Court should follow the instructions set forth in the SJC application. Applications for positions on the Supreme Judicial Court should be submitted to the following email address:  SJC.JNC@Mass.Gov.

All other applicants should carefully review Executive Order No. 610, with particular attention to Section 2.0, Qualifications for Judicial Office; Section 2.1, Applicants for Justice Positions; Section 2.3, Code of Conduct for Applicants for Judicial Office; and Section 2.4, Code of Conduct for Nominees for Judicial Office.  Applicants should take care to avoid violations of the "Code of Conduct for Applicants" with regard to lobbying and political contributions. 

Application Instructions

  1. Applications for Judicial, Clerk-Magistrate and recorder of the Land Court vacancies contain two parts, Part I and Part II.  Both Parts I and II of the application must be completed in accordance with these instructions in order to be considered by the Judicial Nominating Commission. 
  2. All pages of Part I and Part II should include your applicant number on the first page.  To create an “applicant number,” use your middle initial (or “X” if no middle initial), followed by a hyphen and the last four digits of your  social security number.  For example, John F. Smith (SS#: 012-34-5678) would have an applicant number of F-5678.   For all other pages of the application please include a header or footer containing the applicant number, date of application and page number.
  3. Please use 12 point font on your application and please do not rearrange the order of questions or remove any questions from the application.
  4. If a question does not apply, please state "Not Applicable" in the space provided.  If information is not available, please state "Not Available" and explain why.
  5. Part II is used for the “blind review” by the JNC. Please take care not to list your name in Part II (or on the attached writing sample). For example, listing the name of a firm or trust would reveal the applicant’s identity, use “XXX”:  “The Law Office of XXX” or “XXX Trust”. 
  6. The JNC does not accept paper applications.  Please submit your application in pdf form via email to the JNC at jnc@state.ma.us. Please scan Part I (including resume as a cover as well as the Certification and Waiver Form) and Part II (including writing sample) separately and save the documents in pdf form, using your ID number and Part I or Part II and the date to name the documents.  For example, for John F. Smith with a Social Security #012-34-5678, the two documents would be “F-5678 Part I [date of submission]” and “F-5678 Part II [date of submission]”.   Please keep Part I and Part II as separate documents.  Only Part II is reviewed by the JNC at the “blind review” stage of the process; Part I, including the resume, is not reviewed by the JNC until an applicant advances to an interview. Please do not send your application directly to the members of the JNC.
  7. Closing deadline:  All applications must be emailed to the JNC on or before the time and date of the posted deadline in order to be considered. 

Please Note:  JNC applications are not public records. After recommendations are made by the JNC, applications are forwarded to the Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel for review.  In addition, applicants should be aware that the entire application may be reviewed by the Joint Bar Committee and, after nomination, by the Governor's Council.

Questions:  Please contact the JNC staff at (617) 725-4031 or at jnc@state.ma.us.

How to apply   Judicial Office Applications and Instructions

The JNC does not accept paper applications. Please submit your application in pdf form via email to the JNC: jnc@state.ma.us 

Downloads   for Judicial Office Applications and Instructions

Contact   for Judicial Office Applications and Instructions

Address
Judicial Nominating Commission, Office of the Governor, State House, Room 271, Boston, MA 02133

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