Clerk for the County of Suffolk
On Jan. 1, 2025, Allison S. Cartwright, Esq., was sworn in as Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for the County of Suffolk by Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd.
Attorney Cartwright was elected in November 2024 by the voters of Suffolk County to become the SJC Clerk for the County of Suffolk. She is the second woman and first black person to hold this position since its inception in 1693.
As SJC Clerk for the County of Suffolk, Attorney Cartwright is responsible for the management of the Court’s single justice caseload, which is comprised of petitions seeking review of lower court rulings under the SJC’s general superintendency power and various rules of court; bail review; appeals from State registration boards and agencies; all matters relating to Bar Admission and the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and administrative disciplinary matters filed by the Board of Bar Overseers affecting members of the bar.
Clerk Cartwright began her legal career as a public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) in 1992. She later became Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of Boston before opening Cartwright & Coleman, a civil and criminal litigation law firm, from 1997 to 2001. In 2001, she opened her solo law practice, Cartwright Law Office. During that time, she also served as a bar advocate and Supervising Attorney for the Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, Inc. In 2019, she returned to CPCS as Attorney-In-Charge of the Roxbury Defenders Unit and was promoted to Managing Director of the Central Region in 2021, where she managed offices in in Suffolk and Norfolk counties.
Clerk Cartwright earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1984, a Master or Arts in American Studies from Michigan State University in 1987, and a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 1992.
Clerk Cartwright has served in many capacities in the training and mentoring of new attorneys and law students. She has served as a guest lecturer at Boston-area universities and as training faculty at Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop. Additionally, Clerk Cartwright has given presentations to students in all levels of primary and secondary education. Kindergartners are among her favorite students to speak with about the legal profession.
Clerk Cartwright has a teenage son and lives in Boston.