Justice Tan graduated magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa from Rice University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology. She then earned her Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School.
Upon graduation, Justice Tan worked as a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Boston. From there, she went on to serve as the Deputy Director and Clinical Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School.
Governor Deval Patrick appointed Justice Tan as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court in 2013, and she was appointed as First Justice of the Middlesex County Juvenile Court in 2019. During that time, Justice Tan has been a significant contributor to the judiciary and continuing legal education. She serves as a Board Member and Executive Committee member of the Flaschner Judicial Institute and has served as a member of the Supreme Judicial Court Jury Management Committee, a mentor and Advisory Committee member of the Massachusetts Trial Court Judge-to-Judge Peer Mentoring Program, and a member of the Supreme Judicial Court Evidence Guide Committee.
Justice Tan was appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court in December 2024 by Governor Maura Healey. Her first panel sitting was on December 18, 2024, and she participated in a ceremonial oath of office event with Governor Healey on February 24, 2025.