Valerie A. Yarashus, MBA past president
Massachusetts Bar Association Past President Valerie A. Yarashus, a principal at Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow PC in Boston, has been been confirmed as a Superior Court judge following her recent nomination by Gov. Charlie Baker.
Yarashus, the MBA’s president from 2009-10, was unanimously approved by the Governor’s Council at a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 10. With her confirmation, she becomes one of the commonwealth’s 82 Superior Court justices, filling a vacancy created by the August retirement of Judge Christopher J. Muse.
Yarashus joins the bench with more than 25 years of experience in private practice, serving since 2009 as a principal at Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow PC. There, she concentrated in plaintiff’s trial practice, including motor vehicle liability, medical malpractice, construction site liability, fire/explosion cases, liquor liability, defective products, premises liability, workplace accidents, nursing home litigation, and a wide variety of other general liability cases. Yarashus previously spent 18 years as a personal injury and wrongful death attorney at Sugarman and Sugarman PC in Boston, where she earned partner status in 1996.
Nearly a decade removed from her MBA presidency, Yarashus continues to serve on the steering committee of the MBA Leadership Academy, and as a mentor to aspiring lawyers in the MBA’s Tiered Community Mentoring Program. A past president of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, Yarashus also formed and went on to chair the MBA Diversity Task Force, as well as helped establish the MBA Bench-Bar Task Force for Plain English Jury Instructions.
“Valerie Yarashus is an inspired choice for the Massachusetts Superior Court, which will benefit greatly from her considerable experience as a trial practitioner and bar leader,” said MBA President Christopher A. Kenney. “We commend those involved in her original selection and ultimate confirmation, including the Judicial Nominating Commission, Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and the Governor’s Council. Valerie has represented the MBA with dignity and grace throughout her many years of service, and she will bring the same integrity to the role of Superior Court judge.”
Among her notable accolades, Yarashus has been named by Law and Politics magazine as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer, as selected by her peers, every year since its inception. She has also been selected in the “Best of Boston” survey as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts, as well as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Massachusetts. In addition, she has been honored in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s “Up and Coming Lawyers’ Hall of Fame,” an honor that has been bestowed on only a few other Massachusetts lawyers.
Yarashus graduated from George Washington University and Harvard Law School, where she served as executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review.