Paul Dawley

Biography

Chief Justice Paul C. Dawley was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Brockton District Court in 2001. In 2005, Chief Justice Dawley was appointed as Regional Administrative Justice of Region 2 in the District Court Department. In 2009, he was appointed as First Justice of the Brockton District Court. In September 2013, Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey appointed him as Chief Justice of the District Court, the largest Trial Court Department with 158 judges and 62 courts throughout the Commonwealth. In September of 2018, he was reappointed to an additional term as Chief Justice.  

Chief Justice Dawley formerly served as a member of the Administrative Committee for the District Court Department, as the Chair of the District Court Committee on Probation and as a Justice of the Civil Appellate Division. During his term as Chief Justice, he has served as a member of the Probation Advisory Committee, the Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Judicial Performance Evaluations, the Council of State Governments Justice Reinvestment Working Group, chaired the Trial Court Committee on Fees and Fines and co-chaired the Trial Court Pre-Trial Services Working Group. 

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Chief Justice Dawley worked as Deputy First Assistant District Attorney in Plymouth County. In 2000, he received the William C. O’Malley Prosecutor of the Year award by the Massachusetts District Attorney’s Association. He is a past recipient of the 2017 St. Thomas More Award from the Diocese of Fall River; the Peter J. Muse Award from the Quincy Bar Association; and the 2018 Haskell Cohn Distinguished Judicial Service Award from the Boston Bar Association.  

Education

• B.A. Tufts University
• J.D. Suffolk University Law School

Courses Taught

• Procedural Criminal Law
• Seminar: Punishment & Public Policy
• Substantive Criminal Law
• The Jury System