Scott Kafker

With more than three decades of legal experience behind him, Scott Kafker has been a justice with the Massachusetts Appeals Court since 2001. In 2015, he assumed his current position as Chief Justice, seeking to guide the court in ways designed to produce “fair and impartial” decisions and the efficient administation of Justice. Scott Kafker heads a court consisting of 25 associate justices who together rule on as many as 1,700 civil and criminal cases each year.

Chief Justice Kafker’s past experience includes private practice service in Boston and work as Governor William F. Weld’s deputy chief legal counsel in the early 1990s. In this position, he was the point person on significant Supreme Judicial Court litigation and drafted and negotiated legislation forwarded by the governor, such as the Chelsea Receivership Statute and reforms related to unemployment and workers’ compensation statutes.

Chief Justice Kafker served as an adjunct faculty member at Boston College Law School from 2009 to 2015 and taught a state constitutional law course. He also has authored a wide range of journal articles on constitutional topics. Community involved, Scott Kafker serves on the board of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and chairs the health nonprofit’s Governance Committee.