Governor announces the nomination of six attorney to MA courts including replacement for Welsh in Orleans

J. Thomas Kirkman nominated as replacement for Robert A. Welsh Jr. in Orleans

BOSTON – Monday, January 12, 2009 – Governor Patrick today announced the nomination of six well-respected attorneys to the Superior Court; the Malden, Orleans and Palmer District Courts; and the Hampden and Plymouth Juvenile Courts.

“Each of these individuals is fair-minded, compassionate, and highly respectful of the law,” said Governor Patrick. “These qualities and their commitment to public service and justice will serve us all well on the bench.”

Garry V. Inge, a Boston trial attorney with nearly three decades of experience, is Governor Patrick’s nomination for the Superior Court. Inge, a Boston resident and graduate of Boston University and Suffolk University Law School, specializes in liability defense work and is associated with the Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation. Throughout his career, Inge has represented plaintiffs and defendants in complex tort actions including products and premises liability, personal injury, automobile, and medical malpractice. Inge is slated to fill the vacancy on the Superior Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Charles M. Grabau.

“Each of these individuals is fair-minded, compassionate, and highly respectful of the law.” - Governor Patrick

Benjamin C. Barnes, Governor Patrick’s nominee to the Malden District Court, currently serves as the Clerk Magistrate of the Palmer District Court.  A graduate of Fisk University and Suffolk University Law School, Barnes began his career in the Los Angeles office of Mallory, Brown-Curtis where he focused on insurance defense and family law. He returned to Massachusetts to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and then spent nine years as Chair of the City of Cambridge License Commission before being appointed Clerk Magistrate in 2004. Barnes is slated to fill the vacancy on the Malden District Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Paul F. Mahoney.

J. Thomas Kirkman, a resident of North Falmouth and a graduate of the University of Illinois and Rutgers University School of Law, is a 16-year veteran of the District Attorney’s Office for Cape Cod and the Islands.  Prior to his tenure with the DA’s Office, Kirkman spent years representing low income persons and small businesses in a variety of civil matters. Kirkman is slated to fill the vacancy on the Orleans District Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Robert A. Welsh, Jr.

Laurie MacLeod, a Greenfield resident and a graduate of Hampshire College and Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, is a trial attorney, currently focusing on a combination of civil litigation and representation of indigent defendants in criminal and delinquency matters.  She began her legal career in New York, where she focused on real estate litigation and representation of small businesses and artists.  MacLeod then spent 12 years in the Northwestern Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office where she served as Attorney in Charge of the Franklin Office.  MacLeod is nominated to fill the vacancy on the Palmer District Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Robert L. Howarth.

Lois M. Eaton, who is nominated to the Hampden Juvenile Court, has served as the Court’s Assistant Clerk Magistrate since 2001. Eaton, a resident of Wilbraham and graduate of Smith College and Western New England School of Law, began her career as a solo practitioner focusing on juvenile and family law.  She then served as a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services’ Children and Family Law Program and as Assistant Regional Counsel to the Department of Social Services.  Eaton is slated to fill the vacancy on the Hampden Juvenile Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Rebekah Crampton Kamukala.

Dana M. Gershengorn, a graduate of the University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania Law School, currently serves as Deputy Chief of the United States Attorney’s Major Crimes Unit and as the Office’s primary child exploitation prosecutor. She began her career in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office where she focused on the prosecution of crimes against children before joining the Attorney General’s Public Protection Bureau. Immediately prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gershengorn served in Washington as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.  Gershengorn is nominated to fill the vacancy on the Plymouth Juvenile Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Carol G. Smith.

Release courtesy of the Governor's office.