Governor Baker Nominates Brian Walsh as Associate Justice of the District Court and Maureen Flaherty as Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court

Press Release

Today, Governor Charlie Baker announced the nomination of Brian Walsh as Associate Justice of the District Court and Maureen Flaherty as Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court. Combined, they have over 50 years of legal experience.

"The decades of experience in public service that Brian Walsh and Maureen Flaherty will both bring to the courts and the people of the Commonwealth make them well-qualified candidates," said Governor Charlie Baker. "I look forward to the Governor's Council's consideration of their nominations for these appointments."

"Attorneys Walsh and Flaherty bring with them 50 years of experience in the Massachusetts courts and legal systems and have demonstrated a commitment to justice and service," Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. "I am confident that their skills and knowledge will allow them to serve all those who will appear before them with fairness and justice."

The District Court hears a wide range of criminal, civil, housing, juvenile, mental health, and other types of cases. District Court criminal jurisdiction extends to all felonies punishable by a sentence up to five years, and many other specific felonies with greater potential penalties; all misdemeanors; and all violations of city and town ordinances and by-laws. The District Court is located in 62 courts across the Commonwealth.

For more information about the District Court, visit their homepage.

The Boston Municipal Court Department has 30 judges serving the City of Boston in 8 court divisions located in Brighton, Central (downtown), Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Roxbury, South Boston, and West Roxbury. Besides both criminal and civil cases, the Boston Municipal Court Department also has jurisdiction to review some government agency actions, such as unemployment compensation appeals and firearms license appeals.

For more information about the Boston Municipal Court, please visit their homepage.

Judicial nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the Governor's Council. Applicants for judicial openings are reviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and recommended to the governor. Governor Baker established the JNC in February 2015 pursuant to Executive Order 558, a non-partisan, non-political Commission composed of volunteers from a cross-section of the Commonwealth's diverse population to screen judicial applications. Twenty-one members were later appointed to the JNC in April 2015.

Brian Walsh

Brian Walsh is currently Senior Legal Counsel for the Arbella Insurance Group, a position he has held since 2005. He represents the company and those insured by it in all phases of federal and state civil litigation, and is responsible for annual training seminars for the company's several claims offices. Attorney Walsh began his legal career in 1996 as a litigation associate at Gallagher and Gallagher, P.C, and he took a similar position at Burns and Levenson, LLP, until 1999 when he joined the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney. Between 2000 and 2005, he worked first at Zevnik Horton, LLP and then subsequently at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Walsh volunteers for the Walpole Public School District as a parent volunteer and for Walpole Little League as a coach. He previously volunteered or served as a member in the New England Futbal Club, the Walpole School Committee, Walpole Zoning Board of Appeals, and the American Legion Boys' State Program. Walsh received a Bachelor's degree from Boston University in 1990 and a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School in 1995.

Maureen Flaherty

Attorney Flaherty has been a solo practitioner since 2013. Her practice focuses on criminal defense in the Boston Municipal Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court, as well as estate planning, real estate conveyancing, and reviewing contracts. She began practicing law as a staff attorney with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Legal Services in 1996, where she first became the Director of Inmate Legal Services and later Assistant General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel. While at the Sheriff's Department until 2001, Flaherty was tasked with representing the Department in labor disputes, civil, and criminal matters, as well as supervising attorneys and support staff. Flaherty then served as a solo practitioner from 2001 to 2012, before joining the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) as a Staff Attorney, where she represented indigent criminal defendants in the Roxbury and West Roxbury Municipal Courts. Flaherty volunteers with the with the Parkway Girls Softball League and the St. Theresa School Running Club, and previously served as a Troop Leader with the Girl Scouts of America. She also enjoys playing hockey in a recreational women's ice hockey league and softball in the West Roxbury Women's Softball League. Flaherty received her Bachelor's Degree from Boston College in 1988 and her Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School in 1995.

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