Amendment to Board of Bar Examiners Rule
III
The Supreme Judicial Court has approved the amendment to Board of
Bar Examiners Rule III, effective July 1, 2016. Visit
www.mass.gov/courts to learn more.
Hon. Amy L. Nechtem appointed Juvenile Court Chief
Justice
Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey has announced the
appointment of Judge Amy L. Nechtem as chief justice of the
Juvenile Court for a five-year term commencing July 31, 2014.
Nechtem has served on the Juvenile Court since 2001, and in 2012
was selected president of the National Association of Women Judges
(NAWJ). She will succeed Chief Justice Michael F. Edgerton, whose
term ends on July 30, when he reaches mandatory retirement.
Nechtem serves in the Essex County Juvenile Court and has served
in a variety of leadership roles to develop educational and
community outreach programs. She is a member of the Trial Court's
Standing Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mentoring
Program and Videoconferencing Committee. She was recently awarded
an innovative grant for Essex County to provide alternative dispute
resolutions and education to youth and families involved in
harassment cases. She received the 2011 Massachusetts Judges
Conference Judicial Excellence Award for the Juvenile Court
Department.
As president of the 1,200-member National Association of Women
Judges, she led the development and implementation of a strategic
plan, presented three national conferences and oversaw 30
specialized committees working to advance fair and equal access to
justice and national juvenile justice and child welfare
initiatives.
Magistrate Judge Neiman to retire
United States Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman has advised the
court that he intends to retire on Jan. 5, 2015, the 20th
anniversary to the day of his swearing-in in 1995.
Neiman has served in Springfield for the last 20 years and was
chief magistrate judge for the District of Massachusetts from
January 2006 through December 2009.
Neiman graduated from Tufts College in 1967 and Harvard Law
School in 1971. He was a partner in the Northampton firm of Fierst
& Neiman from 1981 through 1994. While there, he received the
Massachusetts Bar Association's Community Service Award for
Outstanding Pro Bono Service. Prior to the private practice of law,
Neiman served as a legal services attorney with the Center on
Social Welfare Policy in New York from 1971 to 1973 and with
Western Massachusetts Legal Services from 1973 to 1981. He has also
been an adjunct faculty member at Western New England University
School of Law and served on the editorial board of the Federal
Courts Law Review from 1999 to 2006.