Hon. Paul Chernoff

The Honorable Paul Chernoff (retired) served on the Massachusetts Superior Court for 28 years where he chaired the Judicial Education Committee. He also served for 8 years on the Newton District Court and chaired the Governor’s Alternative Sentencing Commission. After retirement, he was recalled to sit on the Superior Court as a judge and later as a special magistrate to resolve drug laboratory cases. He serves in an “of counsel” capacity and directs the alternative dispute resolution work at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins, and Kesten where he maintains an active mediation and arbitration practice. He also serves one day each week as the Superior Court’s judicial mediator for pro bono cases in Norfolk and Middlesex Counties. Judge Chernoff teaches Trial Practice at Boston College Law School. He also co-leads the MCLE Trial Advocacy Program each summer.

Judge Chernoff received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University in 1961 after which he completed an officer training program and served almost four years as a naval officer with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey serving on ships in Seattle, Pearl Harbor, and Anchorage. He received his L.L.M. degree from George Washington University in 1967 and worked as a staff attorney with District of Columbia Public Defender Service. He was appointed Chair of the Massachusetts Parole Board by Governor Sargent in 1972 and served for four years.

Judge Chernoff coordinates the judging of essays submitted each year for the “Do The ‘Write’ Thing” essay contest for Boston school students. He has been an officer in the Rule of Law Program (RAROLC) that brought Massachusetts judges and lawyers to Tomsk, Russia and hosted Russian judicial and legal professionals here. He is a member of the Humane Practices Committee at AMEGO, Inc., a program that services disabled persons. He is the author of legal texts and articles and most recently of three “Bench Notes” books that are a judge’s reflections for his grandchildren. He is an election poll inspector in Newton. Judge Chernoff describes himself as a slow and tenacious runner who has completed marathons, half-marathons, and 10K races.  He has run an average of 4 miles per day, 4 days per week, for 40 years with his physician running partner.

Judge Chernoff is a very proud veteran himself who tries to use the goodwill he has built up in the courts over the decades to assist veterans and will continue to do so as an Access to Justice Fellow working with Veterans Legal Services. Last year he recruited the Probation Commission’s legal counsel and the department’s sealing specialist to train personnel at the Bedford VA. He is planning a training video on the subject for volunteer attorneys. He is also working with district attorneys and presiding justices for designation of persons in each court to facilitate veterans’ matters. He also has an interest in legislation that will assist veterans seeking sealing of records.