Hon. Margot Botsford (ret.), Chair
Hon. Margot Botsford (ret.) was appointed to the Commission by Governor Maura Healey in August 2023. She received her B.A. from Barnard College magna cum laude in 1969, her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1973, and an M.P.A. degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2007.
Upon graduating from law school, she served as Law Clerk to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis J. Quirico. During the next sixteen years, Justice Botsford worked primarily in the public sector. She served as an Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General Frank Bellotti for four years and later as an Assistant District Attorney in the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Scott Harshbarger for six years. Justice Botsford also practiced law in the private sector for one year as an associate at the firm of Hill & Barlow, and three years as a partner in the Boston law firm of Rosenfeld, Botsford & Krokidas. In 1989, she was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court, where she served for eighteen years. Governor Deval Patrick appointed her as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Judicial Court in September 2007, from which she retired in March 2017.
Justice Botsford has taught at Northeastern University School of Law, Boston University Law School, the National Judicial College, and the Flaschner Judicial Institute, and served as a Trustee of Northeastern University. Her judicial awards include Judicial Excellence Awards from the Massachusetts Judicial Conference and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, the Haskell Cohn Distinguished Judicial Service Award from the Boston Bar Association, the President's Award from the Boston Bar Association, and honorary degrees from Northeastern University and New England Law Boston. Justice Botsford was a prior President and Dean of the Flaschner Judicial Institute from 2009 to 2017, and currently is a Trustee Emerita.
Josefina Martinez Stamatos, Vice Chair
Josefina Martinez Stamatos was appointed to the Commission by Governor Charlie Baker in October 2018. She has been an attorney for 25 years and is a Senior Partner and General Counsel of EBS of Newton. Prior to joining EBS, Commissioner Martinez was a partner in the Business and Financial Services Litigation Group at McCarter & English, LLP and previously served as Deputy Legal Counsel to Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Council, and Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division of the Office of the Attorney General. Commissioner Martinez currently chairs Governor Baker’s Latino Advisory Commission and serves on the Compliance Committee for United Benefit Advisors and on the board of The Boston Home. She is a graduate of Boston College and Northeastern University School of Law.
Hon. Wilbur P. Edwards, Jr. (ret.)
Hon. Wilbur P. Edwards, Jr. (ret.) was appointed to the Commission by Governor Charlie Baker in December 2019. Judge Edwards served as an Associate Justice of the Southeast Division of the Massachusetts Housing Court from 2002 until his retirement in 2018, during which time he also served on the Trial Court Interpreters Committee, the Supreme Judicial Court Media Committee, and the Supreme Judicial Court Wellness Subcommittee. Prior to his appointment to the Massachusetts Housing Court, Judge Edwards was in private law practice, first as an associate at Roche, Carens & DeGiacamo in Boston and then as a partner at McKenzie & Edwards, P.C. in Boston and Cambridge. Before pursuing his legal career, Judge Edwards was a Real Estate Manager for Purity Supreme Super Markets, Grand Union Markets, Southland Corporation, and Toys “R” Us. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Boston College Law School.
Eron Hackshaw
Eron Hackshaw was appointed to the Commission by Attorney General Maura Healey in December 2020. He is the Assistant Director for Government and Public Interest Careers at Boston University School of Law. A trained and certified Mediator with the Harvard Law School Mediation Program, Commissioner Hackshaw has served as Court Liaison for the Small Claims session in Chelsea District Court and as a Community Mediator in the Roxbury Division, Boston Municipal Court. He is a graduate of Morgan State University and Howard University School of Law.
Hon. Thomas A. Connors (ret.)
Hon. Thomas A. Connors (ret.) was appointed to the Commission by Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin in March 2023. He received a B. A. Degree, magna cum laude from Boston College, and later a J.D. degree from Boston College Law School. Following graduation, he conducted a general legal practice in Dorchester for eighteen years, with a concentration in criminal litigation. The Boston Bar Association presented him its Thurgood Marshall Award for public service in providing trial advocacy to indigent criminal defendants in Suffolk County.
In 1995, he was appointed a Circuit Justice of the District Court, where he served in numerous Courts in the Boston area. In 2004, he was named and confirmed as a Justice of the Superior Court, where he served for sixteen years, sitting primarily in Boston and Dedham. He served as the Regional Administrative Justice for Norfolk County for the six years prior to his retirement in 2020. He was recognized by that County’s Bar Association as Person of the Year in 2019. During his years as a judge, he returned to Boston College Law School to teach as a member of its adjunct faculty, and he also lectured at numerous judicial trainings conducted by the Trial Court and other organizations.
Among activities since his retirement from the Superior Court, Judge Connors has been named to the English High School Alumni Board, and he also has served as an advisor to the school’s Law and Protective Services Pathways Program. He has also served as a Conciliator with the American Academy of Trial Lawyers Superior Court Statewide Conciliation Program.
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| Last updated: | August 23, 2023 |
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