Janis M. Berry is an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Appeals Court The Massachusetts Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court of Massachusetts. It was created in 1972 as a court of general appellate jurisdiction. The court is located at the John Adams Courthouse at Pemberton Square in Boston, the ...

from 2001 to 2016.

Early life

Berry was born and raised in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Everett was the last city in the ...

. Her father was a dump truck driver and her mother worked as a factory meat packer. In the 1960s she moved to

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron work ...

. She graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

Attorney

In the mid-1970s she served as law clerk to Edward F. Hennessey, an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously fu ...

. She later served for six years as a federal prosecutor, which included working as Chief of the

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

's New England Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. In 1986 she was named a partner at

Ropes & Gray Ropes & Gray LLP is an American multinational law firm with 14 U.S., Asia, and Europe offices. The firm has over 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide, its clients include corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, universitie ...

. From 1986 to 1991 she was also a board member of the Supreme Judicial Court's Committee on Public Counsel Services. She served on the Governor's Judicial Nominating Council and the Board of Bar Overseers as well. From 1997 to 2000 she was a partner at Rubin and Rudman LLC.

Politics

In 1994, Berry resigned from Ropes & Gray to run for

Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts attorney general is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder ...

. She won the convention nomination and defeated

Guy Carbone Guy A. Carbone is an American attorney and Perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on t ...

71% to 29% in the Republican Primary. She lost the general election to

Scott Harshbarger Luther Scott Harshbarger (born December 1, 1941) is an American attorney and Democratic politician. He served as the 56th Massachusetts Attorney General from 1991 to 1999. In 1998, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts but ...

70% to 30%.

Judicial career

In December 2000 she was nominated by Governor

Paul Cellucci Argeo Paul Cellucci (; April 24, 1948 – June 8, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 69th governor of Massachusetts from 1997 to 2001 and as the United States Ambassador to ...

to serve on the Massachusetts Appeals Court. She was confirmed by the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...

and sworn in on February 28, 2001. In addition to serving on the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Berry has also served as chairperson of a U.S. Magistrate Selection Panel and worked as an adjunct professor at Boston University School of Law,

Northeastern University School of Law The Northeastern University School of Law is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. History Northeastern University School of Law was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in 1898 as the f ...

, and

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

. She also has been an instructor at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

and the U.S. Department of Justice Advocacy Institute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Janis M. Boston University alumni Boston University School of Law alumni Boston University School of Law faculty Massachusetts Republicans Northeastern University faculty Politicians from Everett, Massachusetts People from Saugus, Massachusetts Suffolk University Law School faculty Living people Judges of the Massachusetts Appeals Court Ropes & Gray partners Year of birth missing (living people)