Here is the link to the press release:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=go…
For more information:
Contact:
Kyle Sullivan
Cyndi Roy
Becky Deusser
(617) 725-4025
The fact that Governor Patrick recognized the need to appoint a Probate and Family Court judge as quickly as possible in Middlesex County is much appreciated. That Probate and Family Court is the highest volume in the state – down by eight family service officers [also called probation officers] who mediate and assist pro se litigants [those without attorneys].
In today’s tough economic times, 80% of those appearing in Middlesex Probate and Family Court seeking divorces, or custody are pro se, according to the Honorable Peter DiGangi, the presiding judge of that court.
GOVERNOR PATRICK ANNOUNCES NOMINATION OF THREE TOP ATTORNEYS TO KEY JUDICIAL POSITIONS
BOSTON – Thursday, April 29, 2008 – Governor Patrick announced today the nominations of a highly respected federal prosecutor to the Superior Court, a specialist in domestic relations to the Middlesex County Division of the Probate and Family Court, and a seasoned juvenile court practitioner to the Bristol County Division of the Juvenile Court.
Timothy Q. Feeley, 58, a Marblehead resident and graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Suffolk University Law School, has served more than 17 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the criminal division. Feeley’s extensive prosecutorial background, including his service as Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, is complemented by nine years of complex civil litigation at the former Boston law firm of Gaston & Snow, where Feeley was a partner.
“Tim Feeley brings to the trial bench humility and an understanding of the human condition that will ensure fair and thoughtful administration of justice,” Governor Patrick said. Feeley will fill the vacancy created by Judge Margot Botsford’s appointment in September to the Supreme Judicial Court.
Maureen H. Monks, 49, a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Boston University School of Law, currently serves as a partner in the Women’s Law Collective in Cambridge. “Maureen Monks is a compassionate collaborator who offers important expertise in the evolving issues of family law,” Governor Patrick said.
A Jamaica Plain resident who concentrates in domestic relations and domestic violence, Monks also serves as a clinical faculty member with Suffolk University Law School’s Battered Women’s Advocacy Project. Monks is slated to fill the vacancy on the Middlesex County Division of the Probate & Family Court created by the retirement of Judge Beverly Weinger Boorstein.
Lawrence Moniz, 60, a dedicated Taunton practitioner, has years of experience as a trial attorney and advocate in the juvenile court. A cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School and graduate of Providence College, Moniz is a former partner of the Taunton law firm O’Boy and Moniz. Highly regarded by the Bristol Bar for his work in some of the region’s most difficult child abuse and neglect cases, Moniz began his legal career after working thirteen years as an English high school teacher in Taunton.
“Larry Moniz will offer our juvenile justice system critical insight into the needs of children at risk and those who live on the margin,” said Governor Patrick. Moniz is nominated to fill the vacancy created by Judge James M. Cronin’s retirement from the Bristol County Division of the Juvenile Court.
