Fernande R. V. Duffly (born December 10, 1949) is an American lawyer and jurist from
. She was appointed by Governor
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...
in December 2010 to serve as an associate justice of the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...
. Patrick nominated her following the elevation of
Roderick L. Ireland as Chief Justice on the court. Her nomination was confirmed 4-3 (with one recusal) by the
Governor's Council on January 26, 2011. She was sworn in on February 1, 2011. She is the first
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
to serve on the court. She retired on July 12, 2016.
Duffly received her
B.A. from the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
in 1973 (with Highest Honors,
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
,
Phi Kappa Phi
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education ...
) and her
J.D. degree from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
, where she was executive director of the
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau ("HLAB") is the oldest student-run legal services office in the United States, founded in 1913. The bureau is one of three honors societies at the law school, along with the ''Harvard Law Review'' and the Board of Stu ...
in 1977–1978.
Official Profile from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
/ref> After law school, she joined the Boston law firm Warner and Stackpole. She continued to work as an attorney until her nomination to the Probate and Family Court division of the Massachusetts trial Court in December 1991; she was later appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
See also
* List of Asian American jurists
References
External links
Official Profile
from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1949 births
Living people
American women judges
Harvard Law School alumni
Indonesian emigrants to the United States
Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
University of Connecticut alumni
21st-century American women
Judges of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court
Judges of the Massachusetts Appeals Court
{{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub
Members of Phi Kappa Phi