Blake ceremonially sworn in as Appeals Court chief justice
At a ceremony on Tuesday in the John Adams Courthouse in Boston, Gov. Maura Healey administered the ceremonial oath of office to Hon. Amy Lyn Blake, swearing her in as chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Blake was administered the official oath of office on Nov. 14, 2024.
In her remarks, Blake thanked her colleagues in the Appeals Court, family and friends, former judges and lawyers with whom she worked, and Healey and Lt. Gov. Kimberly Driscoll.
“Thank you, Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov. Driscoll, for your trust in me, and for being the ones to deliver the final blow that shattered the chief justice glass ceiling. Until today, the Appeals Court was the only court in the commonwealth that had never been led by a woman,” said Blake, who fills the seat previously held by the recently retired Hon. Mark V. Green.
Discussing her vision as a leader of the Appeals Court, Blake said, “It is the decisions that I will make in my new role as chief justice that are paramount to the success of the court. With that in mind, I would like to share with you what leadership means to me. It's about guiding the team to stay focused on delivering justice and keeping them motivated to give their best in achieving it.”
Blake was first appointed to the Probate and Family Court in 2008 by Gov. Deval Patrick. In 2013, she was named "Distinguished Jurist" by the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers. In 2014, Patrick appointed her to the Appeals Court as an associate justice. In 2017, she received the Jurist of the Year Award from the Middlesex County Bar Association.
Admitted to the bar in 1992, Blake served as an assistant district attorney until 1994, prosecuting cases in the District Court bench and six-person jury sessions while supervising the District Attorney's Office in two district courts. From 1994 to 2008, she focused her private practice on domestic relations law with the firms of White, Inker & Aronson; Yasi & Yasi; and Casner & Edwards, rising from associate to partner.
She 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 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. Blake is also a lecturer in Law at New England Law | Boston.
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Court Reporters Association announcement on
Rule 30 changes
The following is an announcement from the Massachusetts Court Reporters Association regarding amendments to Rule 30(b)(4) of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure. The Massachusetts Bar Association wrote in support of the amendments prior to their adoption, with one recommendation that attorneys and deponents in remote hearings leave their microphones unmuted, while non-participants remain on mute until a need so speak arises. The comments can be viewed here.
As of February 1, 2025, the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 30(b)(4) regarding remote depositions will change. Currently, and since March of 2020, stenographers referred to as "officers" have been able to swear in witnesses remotely, regardless of their status as a Massachusetts notary public. Not only does the new Rule 30(b)(4) continue that practice, it also puts into place many other requirements. In fact, the word "must" is used a great deal, not ambiguous words like "shall" or "may."
Some of the changes are the platform such as Zoom must be stated on the notice of deposition. Stenographers are able to swear in deponents remotely. A list of participants must be seen by all attendees. All participants need to log in separately. Video and sound need to remain on for the deponent, attorneys and court reporter. Anyone in the room where the deponent is located will need to log in separately. Also, only a videographer can record the deposition.
The National Court Reporters Association Code of Professional Ethics Advisory Opinion 44, and also the Massachusetts Court Reporters Association Advisory Opinion from November of 2020 both state that the stenographer should not act in a dual role as court reporter and videographer in any proceeding. More specifically, there are several requirements for video depositions, including specific read-on instructions, a digital clock being displayed at all times, and ways to edit the video file, et cetera.
These changes only affect video-conferencing or telephonic depositions. In-person rules remain the same. Remember, Rule 30(b)(4) only deals with two types of remote depositions: video-conferencing depositions and telephone depositions. The majority of Rule 30 applies to in-person depositions, and those other provisions are NOT changing as of February 1, 2025.
Please see the attached Supreme Judicial Court order to read the new rule in its entirety: https://www.mass.gov/doc/amendments-to-rule-30-b-4-of-the-massachusetts-rules-of-civil-procedure-effective-february-1-2025