Born in Boston and raised in Needham, Justice Walsh graduated from the University of Massachusetts and the Western New England University College School of Law, cum laude, and was a Note Editor of the Law Review. She began her career as a law clerk for U. S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor in 1991. She then went on to become an assistant district attorney for the Northwestern district attorney’s office from 1994 through 1998. She was appointed to the Parole Board in 1998, eventually serving as chairwoman until she was appointed as an associate justice of the Eastern Hampshire District Court in 2008 by then-Gov. Deval Patrick.
Justice Walsh has served as the presiding justice of the Holyoke District Court and most recently served as the presiding justice of the Northampton District Court, as well as the Regional Administrative Justice for Region 6 of the District Court, which encompasses all four western Massachusetts counties. Justice Walsh was appointed to the Appeals Court by Governor Charlie Baker in 2021.