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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2019

Plymouth County Superior Court Judge to Receive National Award from American Bar Association

BOSTON, MA -- Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Angel Kelley has been selected by the American Bar Association Judicial Division Lawyers Conference to receive the Burnham "Hod” Greeley Award for her work to increase public awareness of the need for a fair and impartial judiciary.

Judge Kelley serves as the Superior Court’s Regional Administrative Judge for Plymouth County. She will receive the award on January 25, during the American Bar Association’s midyear meeting in Nevada. 

"I’m honored to be selected by a panel of my peers to receive this award for helping the Massachusetts Trial Court conduct educational outreach to students and community members on the role of the judiciary and the importance of the rule of law,” Judge Kelley said.

Judge Kelley was nominated for the award by Superior Court Judge Paul Wilson, who obtained letters of support from Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey and Superior Court Chief Justice Judith Fabricant.

"As Chair of the Massachusetts Trial Court’s Public Outreach Committee, Judge Kelley leads our participation in the ABA’s National Judicial Outreach Week,” said Chief Justice Carey. “In the program’s first year, approximately 30 Massachusetts judges participated.  In 2018, due to Judge Kelley’s energy and infectious enthusiasm, we had 100 presentations by 114 judges - a number she hopes to double in 2019.  For some this goal would be unimaginable, but not for Judge Kelley, given her commitment and selfless dedication to public service.”

Prior to her appointment to the Superior Court bench in 2013, Judge Kelley served on the District Court for three and a half years. Before her judicial career, Judge Kelley spent 17 years as a trial attorney and teacher.  She was an Assistant United States Attorney in Boston and a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School.  Previously, she spent much of her legal career in New York as a trial attorney engaged in public interest work in the practice areas of civil and criminal defense.  She was Assistant Chief of the New York Litigation division and senior trial attorney for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  She also served as trial attorney for the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York. 

Judge Kelley has taught part-time at institutions including Columbia University, New York University, the Port Authority Police Academy, the New York Civil Rights Coalition, Boston University School of Law, and Suffolk University Law School.  She regularly serves as guest faculty at Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, Emory Law’s Trial Techniques Program, and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA).  Judge Kelley has participated in the China Judicial Exchange teaching the American Jury System, offered an American perspective in Turkey at an international symposium on judicial ethics, and taught police officers, attorneys and judges in Liberia and Tanzania on human trafficking, trial advocacy skills and judicial ethics.

Judge Kelley received her bachelor’s degree from Colgate University, law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, and an LL.M. degree from Temple University School of Law.

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