Judith Nelson Dilday

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Judith Nelson Dilday (born 1943 [1] ) is an American lawyer and the first person of color appointed as a judge of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court. [2] [3] [1]

Contents

Education and personal life

Dilday grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [3] Her grandparents were originally from Alabama but traveled north during the Great Migration. [3]

Dilday studied French at the University of Pittsburgh and was graduated in 1966. [3] [4] [1] She earned several graduate credits in French at Millersville State College. [1] After graduation, Dilday was a public school French teacher in Pittsburgh for four years before moving to Boston. [3] [1] She went on to the Boston University School of Law and was graduated with the class of 1972. [2] [4] [1] While in law school, she met her husband, James Dilday. [3] The couple went on to have children. [3]

Dilday began her career in private practice and in government service. [5] She rose to become the first black president of the Women's Bar Association in 1990 to 1991. [5] [1] She also worked in the law firm of Stern and Shapiro and then the Department of the Interior's solicitor's office. [1] Dilday was a founding partner of Burnham, Hines & Dilday, the first law firm in New England owned by African American women. [6] [3] [1] She was also the first black woman to work in the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. [3] [1]

Dilday was appointed to the Probate and Family Court in 1993 as a circuit judge. [5] At the time, she was one of only four black women on the Massachusetts bench. [1] In 1998, she was appointed as an associate justice in the Middlesex Probate and Family Court. [5] Dilday retired in June 2009. [7]

She has run mock trials for Chinese law students and taught English in Qiqihar, China. [3]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Smith, Jessie Carney (December 1, 2012). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. p. 593. ISBN   978-1-57859-425-2 . Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "A History of Diversity at BU Law | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Williams, Jacquinn (November 2, 2011). "Icing on the cake". Bay State Banner. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Judith Nelson Dilday". Martindale-Hubbell. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "A Tribute to Judge Judith Nelson Dilday and Probation Officer Joseph O'Connor". Boston Bar Association. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Dilday, Judith Nelson". Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  7. ↑ Bantz, Phillip (May 18, 2011). "Probate Court gets new judge". Massachusetts Lawyer's Weekly. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
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