Born in Wilmington, Delaware, and raised in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Justice Robert E. Toone graduated magna cum laude from Yale College with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. He then earned his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
Upon graduation, Justice Toone worked as a civil rights attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. After serving as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, he worked as counsel for Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington. In Boston, Justice Toone was a partner in the litigation department at Foley Hoag LLP. From 2015 to 2023, he served as chief of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Government Bureau, which is responsible for representing the Commonwealth, its officials, and employees in civil litigation, and conducts government oversight.
Justice Toone was nominated by Governor Maura T. Healey and was administered his official Oath of Office on December 22, 2023. His first panel sitting was on January 8, 2024, and he had an oath of office ceremony on March 26, 2024.