Good morning. My name is Amy Blake, and I am the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Senator Feeney, Representative Biele, and members of the Joint Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Appeals Court. I also extend my gratitude to your legislative colleagues for their longstanding support. That support has enabled the Appeals Court to deliver fair, just, and timely decisions—often serving as the court of last resort for many attorneys and self-represented litigants.
As you know, we review decisions from all seven Trial Court departments, as well as the Appellate Tax Board, the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board, and the Industrial Accident Board. In my view, the Massachusetts Appeals Court is the premier intermediate appellate court in the nation. In addition to producing high-quality opinions, we have led the way in strengthening administrative operations, expanding education and training initiatives, improving case processing, and advancing technology—becoming the first court in the Commonwealth to operate fully paperless. None of this progress would have been possible without your support, including the passage of the Judiciary IT Bond Bill. This has allowed us to move forward with a modernized case management and document management system that will benefit all court users, judges, and staff. We hope to go live with the case management system by the end of the year! Thank you.
The Appeals Court remains deeply committed to access to justice. We have developed a wide range of tools to assist attorneys, litigants, and the public in understanding the appellate process, filing requirements, and court rules. These include a comprehensive, user-friendly Guide to Civil and Criminal Appeals for self-represented litigants, as well as fillable forms available on our website. In collaboration with Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Innovation and Technology Lab, we continue to offer guided online interviews that assist self-represented parties in preparing motions, briefs, and petitions.
I have also extended our informal brief pilot project, which relaxes certain requirements to help self-represented litigants submit meaningful briefs. The Civil Appeals Clinic, operated by the Volunteer Lawyers Project, resumed in-person office hours at our Clerk’s Office in spring 2025. In addition, we continue to livestream and archive oral arguments on the Appeals Court’s YouTube channel, enhancing both transparency and public access.
Our workload continues to evolve. In fiscal year 2025, both panel and single justice filings reached their highest combined levels in a decade, exceeding pre-pandemic totals from fiscal year 2019. Our panel docket remains approximately 64% civil and 36% criminal, consistent with post-pandemic trends. We issued 1,032 decisions in fiscal year 2025—an increase of 216 from the prior year—and achieved a clearance rate of 120%, reflecting both increased productivity and a reduction in our active caseload.
The most significant growth has occurred on the single justice docket, driven largely by appeals arising from Housing Court eviction matters. The single justice docket is a specialized docket where one associate justice reviews urgent or interlocutory matters including emergency motions and stays. Entries from the Housing Court increased from 99 cases in fiscal year 2016 to 356 in fiscal year 2025—an increase of 260%. Since fiscal year 2021, filings have risen by 439%, with motions to stay eviction increasing by 730%. Many of these matters involve self-represented litigants.
Under our current staffing model, this level of demand is not sustainable. Any given afternoon may bring a series of unrelated emergency filings from tenants and their families statewide, each requesting that the single justice stay an eviction set to occur the following morning. Each motion requires the Appeals Court’s single justice and assistant clerk, frequently outside business hours, to pull Housing Court records, analyze the applicable laws and procedures, and render immediate rulings on the tenant's request to stay the eviction, all while the tenants do not know their next housing location and a sheriff waits at the dwelling for the court's direction on whether to pack the tenant's belongings and lock the residence. We are the last court of review for these tenants and landlords and must analyze each case on its own facts in chaotic, emotional, and urgent situations. This work depends heavily on the exceptional efforts of our Clerk’s Office personnel.
Beyond our core casework, I would like to highlight several key initiatives. Our active DEI Committee continues to provide programming, mentorship, and opportunities for engagement across the court. Last May, we partnered with the Boston Bar Association and the Boston Public Schools to host an Open House at the John Adams Courthouse. Fifty-four students of color in grades 10 and 11 participated, learning about careers in the court system through interactive sessions with attorneys, court officers, interpreters, and staff. The day included a tour of the courthouse, pizza, and of course Appeals Court swag!
We are also collaborating with Kandace Kukas, Executive Director of the Board of Bar Examiners and three community colleges—Bunker Hill, North Shore, and Roxbury—to offer internships and our judges and staff are participating in Law Day events, guest lecturing at classes, and attending career fairs.
Additionally, our “Appeals on Wheels” program continues to bring the Appeals Court into communities across the Commonwealth; this year, we sat in Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Hampden, Hampshire, Suffolk, and Worcester counties hearing cases in local courthouses, colleges, and law schools.
Finally, a little bit about our numbers. With respect to staffing and budget, the Appeals Court currently has twenty-four associate justices and one Chief Justice, with one associate justice position vacant. Our budget request includes full funding for staff, annualization of previously filled positions, parking lease obligations, and inflationary increases for maintenance contracts. Personnel costs are expected to rise due to collective bargaining agreements and related adjustments. Notably, more than 90% of our budget is devoted to payroll, leaving very limited opportunities for additional cost savings.
For fiscal year 2027, the Appeals Court respectfully requests an appropriation of $16,464,049. This request reflects a maintenance budget, with modest and necessary staffing adjustments based on a 2023 staffing model review and the need to fill critical vacancies. It assumes full staffing of judicial and law clerk positions necessary to support the court’s work. Respectfully, the requested appropriation is simply a maintenance budget with some modest and necessary personnel additions, designed to preserve current staffing and operations at essential levels, even after considering inflation, required COLA adjustments, mandatory step increases, and projected retirement buybacks.
We recognize the fiscal challenges facing the Commonwealth. Accordingly, we are requesting only what is necessary to fulfill our essential responsibilities. We remain committed to responsible stewardship—controlling costs where possible, using resources efficiently, and making prudent investments that yield long-term savings.
Thank you again for your consideration of the Appeals Court’s request. I would be happy to answer any questions.
| Date published: | March 24, 2026 |
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