Available position on the Committee for Public Counsel Services
The justices of the Supreme Judicial Court invite interested individuals to apply for appointment to the Committee for Public Counsel Services, pursuant to G.L. c. 211D, § 1. The individual selected will serve until October 2023 and will then be eligible for appointment to a four-year term.
The committee is charged with planning, overseeing and coordinating the delivery of criminal and certain noncriminal legal services by salaried public counsel, bar advocate and other assigned counsel programs, and private attorneys serving on a per-case basis to persons of limited means in matters in which there is a right to counsel.
The justices seek applicants with experience in public defense, private bar advocacy, criminal appellate work, and public administration and finance, or who serve or have served as a dean or faculty member of a law school. Applicants should have a strong commitment to quality representation in indigent defense matters or have significant experience with issues related to indigent defense. The justices strongly encourage those with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply.
Interested applicants should send a cover letter and resume to Anna Rachel Dray-Siegel at anna.dray-siegel@jud.state.ma.us by Dec. 2. If you have questions about the application process or the position, contact Dray-Siegel.
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U.S. District Court reappoints magistrate judges
The judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts have reappointed Magistrate Judges Katherine Robertson and Donald Cabell upon the recommendation of a Merit Selection Panel appointed pursuant to the Order dated July 19, 2022. Both Robertson and Cabell were first appointed to be U.S. magistrate judges for eight-year terms in January 2015 and will commence their new terms in January 2023.
As magistrate judges, Robertson and Cabell preside over pretrial matters in all types of civil cases filed in federal court and, with the consent of the parties, preside over jury and jury-waived civil cases through judgment. They also preside over pretrial matters in criminal felony cases, and handle petty offenses, misdemeanor and extradition cases through trial and sentencing. In addition, the magistrate judges in Massachusetts are the principal mediators in the District Court’s pretrial mediation program, which is available to all civil litigants free of charge.
Prior to joining the bench, Robertson was an assistant district attorney in the Appellate Division of the Hampden District Attorney’s Office. She began her legal career as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Frank H. Freedman in Springfield from 1990 through 1992 and then with Hon. John M. Greaney of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court until 1996. Robertson was an associate and then a partner in the firm Bulkley, Richardson in Springfield, where she had a primary focus on employment law and complex business disputes.
Cabell previously served as the justice attaché in the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. He began his legal career as an associate in the firms Hale and Dorr and Peckham, Lobel, Casey, Prince and Tye in Boston. In 1995, Cabell was hired as an assistant U.S. Attorney. During his time with the United States Attorney’s Office, he served in the major crimes unit and anti-terrorism and national security unit.