Elizabeth A. Porada was born on September 1, 1933, in Northampton. She received her B.A. from Radcliffe College in 1955, attended Boston University Law School, and received her LL.M. in 1961 from Harvard University. Justice Porada was in private practice until 1978, when she was appointed to the Northampton District Court. In 1982 she was appointed to the Superior Court and served as an associate justice for eight years until Governor Michael Dukakis appointed her to the Appeals Court in 1990. She served on this Court until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 2003, but remained a recall justice until 2004.
Justice Porada has served as a member on the Governor's Massachusetts Bar Association Commission on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children and was also on the Board of Directors of Children's Aid and Family Service for Hampshire County.