Mass. Courts See Influx of BU Law Grads to Judgeships
BU Law alumni Mark Mason confirmed to Mass. Superior Court; David Braithwaite, David Breen, David Frank, and Mike Vitali nominated and appointed to positions in city and state courts.
Four Boston University School of Law alumni were recently appointed to distinguished positions within the Massachusetts court system. David G. Braithwaite (’96), Professor David Breen (’90), David Frank (’97), and Michael Vitali (’98) were nominated and approved for their respective titles within the last few months. Additionally, Mark Mason (’84), a district court judge in Springfield, has been confirmed as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.
Mark D. Mason was nominated by former Governor Deval Patrick to the Massachusetts Superior Court. Previously, Mason was an associate justice of the Springfield District Court since 2009, where he chaired the trial court’s standing committee on dispute resolution. Prior to his judgeship, he practiced law for 24 years in Springfield, including 15 years as a partner at Cooley Shrair, with a focus on business, domestic relations, and probate litigation.
Mason is a former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association and member of BU Law’s Criminal Law Clinic.
David G. Braithwaite was named an administrative judge on the Industrial Accident Board, the main component of the Division of Dispute Resolution. Nominated by former Governor Patrick, Braithwaite’s judgeship was voted upon by the Massachusetts Governor’s Council, comprised of eight councilors. Administrative judges hear unsettled workers’ compensation disputes, and may determine the final outcome for appealed disputes.
Braithwaite was formerly an associate at the Thomas M. Niarchos Law Offices in Boston. He received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College before attending BU Law.
David Breen, an associate clinical professor and director of the Criminal Law Clinic’s prosecutor program at BU Law, was appointed an associate justice of Boston Municipal Court’s Central Division, which handles criminal and civil cases in the downtown area of Boston. Breen replaces Judge Raymond Dougan (’71), a former supervising attorney in the BU Law Criminal Law Clinic’s defender program.
While a student at BU Law, Breen acted as president of the Student Bar Association and editor of the American Journal of Law & Medicine. He has since served as a prosecutor in New York, an assistant attorney general in Boston’s Criminal Bureau, and an assistant on the Corporation Counsel in Boston. Breen has been teaching at BU Law and a special district attorney for Quincy, MA, since 2003.
David Frank was nominated as a judge on the Concord District Court by Governor Patrick, and won the votes to his seat. He is currently the managing editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, a newspaper covering Massachusetts state and federal court decisions among other law news.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Washington University and his law degree from BU Law, Frank went on to serve as a prosecutor in Bristol County, and later as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County from 2002 to 2005.
Michael Vitali was nominated and appointed as an associate justice of Brockton District Court. Vitali graduated from Dartmouth College prior to BU Law. He went on to serve as a public defender in Hampden and Plymouth counties until 2003, when he became a criminal defense attorney in Brockton and Boston. Vitali started his own practice in 2011. He will continue to lecture part time at BU Law and Stonehill College.
BU Law congratulates these alumni who have distinguished themselves among the ranks of fellow Massachusetts attorneys. “It is a joy to see our alumni progress their careers to such heights,” says Dean Maureen O’Rourke. “They continue to make the BU Law community proud.”
Reported by Johanna Gruber (CAS’17)