Projo Politics Blog

On June 16, Sandra L. Lynch will become the first woman to head the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Boston and whose jurisdiction includes Rhode Island.

Lynch, 61, of Boston, will succeed Judge Michael Boudin as chief judge. Boudin, who has headed the court since 2001, will remain on the bench in regular, active service.

The 1st Circuit encompasses Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Puerto Rico. It includes the court of appeals and the federal trial and bankruptcy courts in each of those districts.

Lynch served as a law clerk to the late Judge Raymond J. Pettine of the U.S. District Court in Providence, and was the first female law clerk on that court. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1968 and Boston University Law School in 1971. She served as an assistant attorney general in Massachusetts and as general counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Education. Also, she was a partner in the Boston law firm of Foley, Hoag & Eliot, and was the first woman to chair that firm’s litigation department.

Former President Bill Clinton appointed Lynch to the 1st Circuit in 1995 on the recommendations of Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry. She is the first and only woman judge on the court.

Her elevation comes about 1½ years after Mary M. Lisi became the first female chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Providence.

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