Mediator Resume

Retired First Justice of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court, Middlesex Division with 50 years of judicial, public defense, teaching, consulting, and systems leadership experience. Founder and first director of the Roxbury Youth Advocacy Project, co-founder of Massachusetts Citizens for Juvenile Justice. Work has focused on criminal and youth justice, education and mental health, restorative justice and alternative dispute resolution. Former Executive Director and current Emeritus Policy Advisor of the Massachusetts Advocates for Children. Current teaching positions: Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College, New England Boston, Law Schools, William James College of Psychology, and the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior (M.G.H.-Harvard Medical).

Retired Judge; Attorney; Educator; Consultant

Interim Executive Director, Massachusetts Advocates for Children, 2023-2024; Co-Founder/Judicial Mentor/ Legal Mentor and Consultant, Juvenile Court Restorative Justice Program and Our RJ, 2020-2026; Juvenile Court Judge, Middlesex Division of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court, 1996- 2019; Co-Founder, Massachusetts Citizens for Juvenile Justice, 1994; Founder and First Director, Committee for Public Counsel Services, 1976-1996.

Co-founder of court restorative justice diversions program, experience as judicial mentor and supervisor. Background includes directing non-profit program where HR function was assumed. Current Teaching Positions: Harvard Law School - Trial Advocacy; Northeastern University School of Law- Juvenile Courts; Boston College Law School (Cradle to Prison Pipeline); New England Law Boston- Children & The Law; William James College of Psychology- Children, Families & The Law, Mental Health & The Law; Center for Law, Brain & Behavior (CLBB- Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical Center- Late Teens and Emerging Adults. Former Teaching Positions: Boston University School of Law-Community Courts; Suffolk Law School- Trial Advocacy and Criminal Procedure; University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Criminology and Justice- Youth Violence. Consultant and instructor on communication and acting for lawyer trainings: Member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. Experience has included acting as the writer's consultant on The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (CBS), and Judging Amy (Fox). Awards Include: Humanitarian of The Year-Massachusetts Psychological Association 2024; Youth Justice Icon: Presented by Massachusetts Citizens for Juvenile Justice 2023; Boston College Law School Daniel Holland Lifetime Achievement Award 2023; Livingston Hall Juvenile Justice Award-American Bar Association 2019; Hon. Paul Chernoff Servant of Justice Award-Lowell Bar Association 2019; Rebecca Pries Indispensable Friend Award-Middlesex J. Court Clinic 2019; Massachusetts Bar Association Juvenile Justice & Child Welfare Award- First Recipient 2019; Lowell 100 Honoree-International Institute of New England- 2019; Multi-Systemic Services (M.S.T.) Whatever It Takes All Star- 2018. The Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services annually presents the Jay D. Blitzman Award for Youth Advocacy.

Mediated personnel issues as judicial administrator and supervisor and personnel issues as executive director of a non-profit organization which did not have a Human Resources Department. Background also includes playing lead role in developing, implementation, and training memoranda of understanding between courts and other actors in the legal system.

School based conduct and development of memoranda of understanding between the court, law enforcement, and legal advocates. This work included winning technical assistance grant from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court judges to develop a memorandum of understanding between the Middlesex County Juvenile Court, the Lowell Police Department and attorneys. Has presented at national conferences sponsored by the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges and the Annie Case Foundation on collaborative programs regarding school-based behavior. Has also presented at the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston and for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division at the Harvard School of Education. Has participated in mediation training hosted at Harvard Law School, judicial mentoring training conducted by the Massachusetts Trial Court, and restorative justice training at Northeastern University School of Law.

I have been trained in circle engagement and group conferencing techniques. Circle engagement entails reflective listening to get to yes and is adapted from restorative justice. This model is non-hierarchal and entails listening to participants in turn without interrupting. As the First Justice of Middlesex County Juvenile Court, I found this approach to be very effective in managing the judges I supervised. This model has been used in overseeing management meetings in the private and public sectors.

Boston College Law School (J.D. - 1974); Union College (B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa - 1971).

Admitted to the Bar: Massachusetts, New York.

American Bar Association; Massachusetts Bar Association; Boston Bar Association; National Council of Family and Juvenile Court Board Member; Massachusetts Children Justice Act Board; Discovering Justice- Board Member; Mental Health and Legal Advisory Committee Board Member, appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; Massachusetts Advocates for Children- Emeritus Policy Advisor; Advisory Boards: United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) Lowell, Massachusetts; More Than Words, Boston, MA, One Can Help, MA, Northeastern University School of Law Salus Populi Social Determinants of Health Program.

PUBLICATIONS Can Kids Go to Prison?, The Conversation, June 2026. The State of Youth Justice, American Bar Association State of Criminal Justice 2026, July 2026; Juvenile Justice Update, Civic Research Institute, March 2026. The Case for Raising the Age, Commonwealth Beacon, 2025. Cheating the Evidence to Get to Best Interest and the Presumption of Parental Unfitness, Family Court Review, October 2024. Representing Youth, Chapter 12 in Representing People with a Mental Disability, American Bar Association, 2024. Let the Sunshine In: Open the Doors to Closed Juvenile Sessions, American Bar Association Criminal Justice, May 2024. Open the Doors to Closed Juvenile Sessions, Commonwealth Beacon, October 2023. Let's Follow the Science on Late Adolescence, American Bar Association Criminal Justice, October 2022. Shutting Down the School-to-Prison Pipeline, American Bar Association Human Rights, Civil Rights and Social Justice, 2022. Gault’s Promise Revisited: The Search for Due Process, National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges Journal 2018. RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS: Competency in Juvenile Cases, Massachusetts Bar Association Juvenile and Child Welfare Conference, June 2026. Fourth Annual Southeast Massachusetts Re-Entry Conference-Keynote Speaker, April 2026 Confidentiality in Youth Courts, Administrative Office of Courts Conference, Jackson, Mississippi, 2026. Fairness for Youth and Families, Northeastern University School of Law Salus Populi, February 2026. Prosecuting and Defending Homicide Cases, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 2025 and 2026. Fairness for Youth and Families, National Association of Counsel for Children, April 2025. Brain Breakthrough Discoveries and the Law, Fordham Law School, February 2025. Civil Gideon, Boston College Law School Rappaport Center, September 2024. Brown at 70: Is the Fight Over? American Bar Association Judicial Division, May 2024.

Hourly Rate: Not provided Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: Not provided Cancellation: Not provided Cancellation Period: Not provided Comment: Compensation rates, established by the AAA, are set forth in the applicable Consumer Mediation Procedures.

English

United States of America

Watertown, Massachusetts