Issue Watch #14 – Update on Bar Advocate Pay, State Budget News, Bench Appointments, and More

July saw two long-time court leaders moving into new roles, the enactment of the annual state budget, and at least a short-term resolution of the bar-advocate crisis. Read on for the details about that—and the BBA Council member who showed up on both the JNC and GBH Radio. Not to mention my own Instagram debut…

Legislative Update

Legislature Hikes Hourly Rates for Bar Advocates
Just before shutting down formal sessions for the month of August, the Legislature passed a measure that will provide two $10-per-hour increases—immediately and one year from now—in the statutory compensation rates for private bar advocates who agree to represent indigent defendants. Many unrepresented defendants had been released without conditions, and some charges have been dismissed without prejudice, as bar advocates declined to take new cases as a protest over rates that lagged well behind neighboring states. The BBA had strongly urged all parties to resolve the growing crisis, with President Matt McTygue saying:
“A swift and fair resolution is essential—not only to get the wheels of justice moving again, but to finally address the chronic underinvestment in indigent defense that brought us to this moment. This cannot wait. The integrity of our justice system demands it.”

Budget Update

Governor Signs State Budget But Cuts Trial Court—and Seeks Greater “9C” Authority
At the start of July, Governor Maura Healey signed into law the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget, approving the Legislature’s funding levels for three BBA priorities: MLAC, CPCS, and the Access to Counsel Program that was created in last year’s budget for housing cases. However, she used her line-item veto pen to strike $9.3 million from Trial Court appropriations—our other budget priority. As we wait to see whether the Legislature will override that veto, we have also raised concern about the Governor’s request that lawmakers expand her unilateral “9C” budget-cutting authority, for this fiscal year, beyond the executive branch—including to the judiciary—should revenues decline precipitously. In a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe, President McTygue wrote:

As lawyers, we are especially troubled by how this would affect the independence of the judiciary, which must remain free from political pressure to function properly. Even if we assume a governor has the most honorable intentions, granting the executive branch the ability to interfere with the judiciary’s finances would unavoidably put the rule of law at risk.

Matt V.P. McTygue
President, Boston Bar Association

Your correspondent cut an explainer video on all of the above as well.

Courts, Cases, and New Faces

New Judges Atop Two Local Courts
The leaders of both the US District Court for Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court (PFC) have moved on in recent weeks:

• Chief Justice John D. Casey of the PFC stepped down from the bench as of July 6, after 20 years of service, including seven at the top. He has since been named to lead Suffolk University Law School’s new AAA-Suffolk Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Innovation Clinic, which is scheduled to launch on August 1, 2025. We wish him well in his new role! (As previously reported in this space, Judge Brian Dunn has taken over as Chief Justice there.)
• Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor of the US District Court left that position this month, having spent 5½ years in that role—which is now filled by Chief Judge Denise Casper (a former BBA Executive Committee member and officer). His time on the bench he’s served on since 2004 will continue, as Judge Saylor has taken on senior status.

We thank both outgoing chiefs for their service, and we welcome their two successors.

Judicial Appointments, Confirmations, & Nominations

Elsewhere within the courts, we’ve seen a host of new judicial appointments and nominations:

At the federal level, Joshua D. Dunlap, a partner in the Portland, Maine, office of Pierce Atwood, has been nominated by the President to fill the seat on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that was vacated when Judge William J. Kayatta, Jr., took senior status last fall. The graduate of Notre Dame Law School was a law clerk to Judge Paul J. Kelly, Jr., of the 10th Circuit, and is co-chair of his firm’s Appellate & Amici team.

New to the Bench

Superior Court

Judge Emily A. Karstetter was a District Court judge since 2012, and served as the first justice of the Malden District Court for the past six years. Prior to becoming a judge, she had a solo practice for 14 years, focusing on criminal defense and employment discrimination. She also spent eight years at a small firm, with a practice primarily in insurance-defense litigation, criminal defense, and business disputes. Judge Karstetter is a graduate of Wellesley College and New England Law | Boston.

Amy L. Karangekis was Regional Chief of the Western Massachusetts Division of the Attorney General’s Office in Springfield since 2018, where she was responsible for the overall supervision, management and direction of the largest regional office and oversaw attorneys and staff in both Civil and Criminal Divisions. She represented the Commonwealth in criminal prosecutions, including human trafficking, organized crime, gaming enforcement, and enterprise and major crimes. Previously, she was a contract attorney for law firms in Massachusetts and Maine, assisting on civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts, and an Adjunct Professor at New England Law | Boston.

District Court

Lisa Core was a solo practitioner for about a decade, with a focus on court-appointed and private criminal defense. She also held roles as an ADA in Essex County, supervisor of Lynn District Court and Lynn Gun Court, and as a law clerk in the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Judge Joanna Rodriguez was an associate justice in the Juvenile Court since 2020, presiding over matters including delinquencies, youthful-offender cases, and care-and-protection matters. She previously worked as deputy general counsel in the Sex Offender Registry Board and operated her own solo law practice.

Brian Doxtader was First Assistant Clerk Magistrate in the West Roxbury Division of the BMC since April 2024, after nearly a decade as an Assistant Clerk Magistrate. He was responsible for conducting small-claims hearings, civil motor-vehicle hearings, and show-cause hearings, and for reviewing search warrants and criminal complaints for probable cause. Prior to that, he served as an ADA in Middlesex County, where he was the Lowell Regional District Court Supervisor, responsible for overseeing the administration and management of attorneys. He also prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases in the District and Superior Courts. Doxtader has a J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Suzanne McDonough was Deputy Legal Counsel with the Administrative Office of the District Court since 2022, advising the Chief Justice, Justices, and Clerk Magistrates on legal, ethical, and policy issues, and developing curriculum, training materials and legal bulletins to support clerks and judges on best practices. Previously, she defended clients as a solo practitioner in trial and appellate criminal matters after a dozen years as a Plymouth County ADA, where she prosecuted murder, rape, child sexual assault, arson, drug, and other major felony cases in the Superior Court, and later argued before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and SJC as part of the Appeals Unit. She holds a B.A. and J.D. from Boston College.

Liza Williamson was the Clerk Magistrate of the Edgartown District Court for over 20 years, presiding over small-claims trials, issuing search warrants, conducting bail hearings, and serving as the administrative head for the Court. She previously had a private general-law practice that focused on civil and criminal defense matters in the Superior, District, and Juvenile Courts, after serving as an ADA in both Suffolk and Middlesex Counties. She graduated from UMass-Amherst and Suffolk University Law School.

Juvenile Court

Andrew L. Don, Jr., was Trial Panel Director for CPCS’s Children and Family Law (CAFL) Division for the past four years, overseeing 750 private attorneys who represent parents or children in Juvenile Court care-and-protection, child-requiring-assistance, and guardianship proceedings. He previously maintained a solo practice for 18 years in Scituate, where he focused on representing families in care-and-protection and criminal-delinquency matters. He holds both a B.A. and a J.D. from Boston College.

Nibal Raheb was a solo practitioner for 26 years, primarily working as a bar advocate in Worcester County Juvenile Court and Westborough District Court. She has significant experience in the Juvenile Court handling care-and-protection, delinquency, and child-requiring-assistance cases, and tried many cases there. She was also the supervising attorney for the Worcester County Bar Advocates, managing the Juvenile private counsel panel and mentoring and overseeing attorneys representing indigent clients in complex and sensitive juvenile matters. She graduated from Clark University and Southern New England School of Law.

New Nominations

Superior Court

Thomas H. Townsend has been the chief of the Appellate Division of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office since 2011. Over a 28-year career, he has argued before the SJC 46 times, handled over 250 cases in the Appeals Court, and tried 22 cases to verdict in the Superior Court. He has also been an adjunct professor of law at the University of Connecticut. Townsend graduated from UMass-Amherst and then received his law degree from Indiana University.

District Court

William Powers has been a solo practitioner in Hampden County as well as a Bar Advocate for indigent clients, and he serves as the General Counsel and District Director for the First Congressional District, creating strategies for legislation, and spearheading the office’s regulatory reform efforts. His solo practice in Springfield focuses on criminal defense and immigration work. Powers previously served as a Hampden County ADA, prosecuting criminal matters.

Hector Zumbado runs a solo practice in Boston focused on criminal-defense and personal-injury cases. He also regularly serves as a mediator and arbitrator for civil matters and is an Adjunct Professor of Trial Practice at New England Law | Boston. Prior to opening his solo practice, Zumbado spent more than 25 years in private practice at law firms in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, litigating a wide range of civil matters in both state and federal court. A native Spanish speaker, he has a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Hampshire, an MBA from Suffolk University, and a J.D. from New England Law | Boston.

Lauren Greene is currently Clerk Magistrate of the Stoughton District Court, responsible for the Court’s ministerial and magisterial administration. In this role, she presides over small-claims matters and show-cause hearings, conducts administrative and motor-vehicle appeals, and reviews search warrants and arrest reports. The Clerk Magistrate formerly served as a Deputy Legal Counsel to Governor Charlie Baker and as the Executive Director of Governor Baker’s Judicial Nominating Commission. Prior to that, she served as an ADA in Suffolk County, handling cases in both the Boston Municipal and Superior Courts, as well as supervising teams in both the West Roxbury and Dorchester Divisions of the Boston Municipal Court. She graduated from Boston University and Suffolk University School of Law.

News from the Courts

Payal Salsburg Joins JNC, Speaks to GBH

BBA Council member Payal Salsburg, of Laredo, Smith & Kane, has been named by Governor Healey to the Judicial Nominating Commission, which vets applicants for judicial office. She told us she’s excited by the opportunity. “As lawyers, we all have a stake in the continued excellence of the Massachusetts bench,” she said, “whether we practice in the courts on a regular basis or not. I’m happy to be able to help ensure that our judicial officers remains the gold standard.” She also spoke on the radio with GBH News about the bar-advocate crisis as it unfolded (see above), explaining to listeners how the Lavallee protocol was expected to play out in state courts, in the absence of available bar advocates.

BBA Council Endorses Proposal for Family Law Arbitration
At the urging of the BBA’s Family Law section, the BBA Council endorsed legislation to create a Family Law Arbitration Act (FLAA), based on the model code, but with some proposed improvements to the bill as filed. These amendments were worked out by a group from both the Family Law and Delivery of Legal Services sections, and they are intended to provide more clarity and strengthen protections in arbitration for low-income parties and victims of intimate-partner violence. As the Family Law section’s Maureen McBrien, of Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey LLP, explained to the Council, codifying an FLAA would provide a more suitable alternative to the existing statute on commercial arbitration, which is a poor fit in the family-law context.

With the start of August, the Legislature has gone on recess until after Labor Day, the SJC won’t be hearing cases until then either, and it’s grown (relatively) quiet here at 16 Beacon Street. But I’m confident I’ll have more to update you on by next time. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of your summer!