Governor Healey Nominates Associate Justice Amy L. Blake as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court

Governor Healey Nominates Associate Justice Amy L. Blake as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court 

If confirmed, Justice Blake will serve as the first woman Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court 

BOSTON – Today, Governor Maura T. Healey nominated Justice Amy L. Blake to serve as the next Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. If confirmed, Justice Blake would replace Chief Justice Mark Green, who recently retired after serving nearly 23 years on the Appeals Court, and seven as Chief. Justice Blake will now continue forward to the Governor’s Council for confirmation.  

“Justice Blake’s decade of service on the Massachusetts Appeals Court and additional experience with the Probate and Family Court and in private practice make her an outstanding candidate for Chief Justice,” said Governor Healey. “I’m proud to nominate her and appreciate the Governor’s Council’s review of her nomination. I’m also grateful for Chief Justice Mark Green for his leadership on the Appeals Court.”  

“The Appeals Court does important work for all our residents, and Justice Blake is uniquely qualified to lead this court,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “I am excited to work with the Governor’s Council as they move to consider this nominee.” 

The Appeals Court is the state’s intermediate appellate court. The Appeals Court is a court of general appellate jurisdiction, which means that the justices review decisions that trial judges from the several Departments of the Trial Court have already made in many different kinds of cases. The Appeals Court also has jurisdiction over appeals from final decisions of three State agencies: the Appellate Tax Board, the Industrial Accident Board and the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board. The Appeals Court consists of a chief justice and 24 associate justices. 

For more information about the Appeals Court, visit its homepage. 

About Justice Amy L. Blake: 

Justice Amy Lyn Blake has served as Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court since 2014, when she was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick. 

Prior to the Appeals Court, Justice Blake served as an Associate Justice on the Probate and Family Court from 2008-2014. She was previously a Partner at Casner & Edwards, LLP, an Associate and Partner at White, Inker, Aronson, an Associate at Yasi & Yasi, PC and an Assistant District Attorney for the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at New England Law. 

Justice Blake is the District One Director of the National Association of Women Judges, a fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and an Associate Editor of the Massachusetts Law Review. She served as co-chair of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Bar Journal and actively serves on a number of committees, including the Trial Court's Public Outreach Committee and the Supreme Judicial Court's Committee on Judicial Guidelines for Self-Represented Litigants. 

Justice Blake has previously been named Jurist of the Year by the Middlesex County Bar Association, and Lawyer of the Year by the North Shore Women Lawyers’ Association.  She has also received the Distinguished Jurist Award from the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers. 

Justice Blake graduated from the University of Rochester and New England Law. While in law school, she was named a New England Scholar and awarded the Amos L. Taylor Award for Excellence in Achievement. She lives in Peabody with her husband.