Biography of Clerk Francis V. Kenneally, Esq.

Clerk for the Commonwealth

The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court appointed Mr. Kenneally as Clerk for the Commonwealth on November 6, 2013. Prior to his appointment, he was the First Assistant Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court Clerk's Office for Suffolk County for two years. 

For eight years, he was principal and founder of the Kenneally Law Office, where his practice included representation of indigent criminal defendants in the Boston Municipal Court through Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, Inc., civil litigation in construction cases, appeals, corporate law, probate and estate matters, real estate transactions, and zoning and land use matters. Before that, he was Third Assistant Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court Clerk's Office for Suffolk County for five years. 

From 1990 to 1996, he was associated with Church & Houff, P.A. in Baltimore, Maryland, where he handled litigation matters on behalf of corporations and casualty insurers in multidistrict mass tort litigation, including asbestos and lead paint claims, coverage disputes, premises liability and motor vehicle cases. 

He has served as a volunteer mediator in civil cases in the Quincy District Court and as clerk for the Weymouth Board of Zoning Appeals, and while in Maryland, he volunteered as pro bono counsel for the Homeless Persons Representation Project, Inc.  He is a graduate of Fairfield University and Catholic University Law School where he was a member of the Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy and the National Trials Team.  He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and lives in Weymouth with his family.