Gov. Baker Nominates McDonough, Jr. as Associate Justice To Massachusetts Superior Court

The following is a press release submitted to SOURCE media from the Governor’s office.

***

BOSTON — Today, June 10, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced the nomination of the Honorable Edward J. McDonough of Longmeadow as Associate Justice of the Superior Court.

Justice McDonough currently serves on the Appeals Court, and served previously as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court.

“Justice McDonough’s decades of experience and prior term as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court makes him qualified to return to this role,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am pleased to submit this candidate to the Governor’s Council for their advice and consent.”

“The many cases that Justice McDonough has tried as an attorney and presided over as a Justice have prepared him well to serve again on the Superior Court,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “If confirmed, I am confident that Justice McDonough will continue to serve the Commonwealth fairly.”

The Superior Court, the trial court of general jurisdiction for Massachusetts, is committed to delivering high quality justice in a timely and fair manner in accordance with the rule of law. The Court’s 82 justices sit in 20 courthouses in all 14 counties of the Commonwealth. The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in civil actions over $25,000 and in matters where equitable relief is sought.

It also has original jurisdiction in actions including labor disputes where injunctive relief is sought, exclusive authority to convene medical malpractice tribunals, appellate jurisdiction over certain administrative proceedings, and may hold sittings for naturalization in any city or town. The Superior Court also has exclusive original jurisdiction of first-degree murder cases and original jurisdiction of all other crimes.

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.

Edward J. McDonough, Jr. currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Justice McDonough began his career as a student law clerk, becoming an Associate Attorney in 1981 and later Managing Partner at the Springfield firm of Egan, Flanagan & Cohen, P.C. until his appointment to the Superior Court in 2013. His trial practice in the Superior and Federal Courts focused primarily on civil rights law, product liability and medical malpractice. 

During his time in private practice, Justice McDonough represented clients in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts Appeals Court, First Circuit Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court of the United States. Beginning in 2013 until his appointment to the Appeals Court in 2017, he served as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court, presiding over serious criminal felony and major civil actions while serving as Regional Administrative Justice for Western Massachusetts and as a member of Committees on subjects including Implicit Racial Bias, Civil Rules and Technology. Justice McDonough has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Bay Path University and Elms College, as well as on the board of Interfaith Homes of Longmeadow and his parish council.

He earned his Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, from Western New England College School of Law and his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Justice McDonough was born in Worcester, raised in Springfield, and currently resides in Longmeadow with his family.