Gov. Charlie Baker made three new judicial nominations Wednesday, recommending District Court Judge Maureen Walsh for an Appeals Court position and tapping attorneys Lisa Lippiello and Andrew Abdella as associate justices for the District Court.
Baker selected Walsh, who since 2008 has served as an associate justice of the Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, to become an associate justice on the Appeals Court, where she would fill a seat vacated by Judge Edward McDonough Jr.
Walsh has also served as regional administrative judge for Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties since 2011 and as presiding justice of the Northampton District Court since 2018. Before she became a judge, Walsh spent a decade as a member and later chair of the Massachusetts Parole Board, and she has also served on the Governor’s Anti-Crime Council and as a commissioner for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision.
“Throughout their careers, Judge Walsh and Attorneys Lippiello and Abdella have demonstrated a strong commitment to serving their communities,” Baker said in a statement.
Lippiello, one of Baker’s two latest nominees for District Court judgeships, has served as a partner at Olin Lippiello LLP in Northampton since 2017, working on sexual harassment, employment discrimination and civil litigation cases. She ran her own solo practice for three years after starting her career as a public defender in Northampton with the Committee for Public Counsel Services.
Abdella spent the past decade as general counsel in the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, serving as a special sheriff and the chief administrative officer for the office since 2017.
All three nominees will need to be confirmed by the Governor’s Council, an eight-member elected panel that vets judicial appointees.