Press Release  Supreme Judicial Court Announces Formation of New Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure

BOSTON, MA — The Supreme Judicial Court today announced the formation of a new committee, the Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Appeals Court Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian has been appointed to chair the new committee, which will advise the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court regarding the use and efficacy of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure.

The committee will monitor the application of and response to the significant amendments to the appellate rules that became effective on March 1, 2019, review and recommend further amendments as needed or warranted, and review other issues and proposals concerning the appellate rules that might arise from time to time.

The committee will also produce an annual report summarizing pending or enacted changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and setting forth its recommendation regarding whether similar amendments should be made to the Massachusetts rules.

"We thank Justice Wolohojian and the other members of this new committee for their willingness to undertake this commitment and look forward to working with them and to seeing the results of their work," said Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants.

The committee will have three ex officio members:  Bessie Dewar, State Solicitor; Francis V. Kenneally, Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth; and Joseph Stanton, Clerk, Appeals Court.

The remaining twelve members, who will serve initial staggered terms of one to three years, include:  Pamela Alford, Norfolk District Attorney's Office; Brien Cooper, Clerk of the Appellate Division of the District Court; Jessica Early, Esq., Holland & Knight; Julie E. Green, Attorney General's Office; David A. F. Lewis, Esq., David A. F. Lewis LLC; Joseph Jackson, Assist. Dep. Court Administrator, District Court; M. Patrick Moore, Esq., Hemenway & Barnes LLP; Alex Philipson, Administrative Office of the Superior Court; Jeffrey Jude Pokorak, Professor, Suffolk University Law School; Janet Hetherwick Pumphrey, Esq., Lenox, MA; Thomas Ralph, Middlesex District Attorney's Office; and Afton Templin, Dir. of Juvenile Appeals, Committee for Public Counsel Services.

The responsibility for advising the Justices with respect to the Rules of Appellate Procedure previously rested with the Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure. With the formation of this new committee, that committee will now be known as the Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure will report to the Supreme Judicial Court's Rules Committee.

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