Law Clerk Probate and Family Court 2026-2027

Title : Law Clerk - Probate and Family Court 2026-2027

Pay Grade : Grade 16

Starting Pay : $77452.44

Departmental Mission Statement : To deliver timely justice to the public by providing equal access to a fair equitable and efficient forum to resolve family and probate legal matters and to assist and protect all individuals families and children in an impartial and respectful manner.

Organizational Profile : position currently offers a hybrid work schedule.

This clerkship term is from August 31 2026 - August 27 2027

This is a posting to serve as a Probate and Family Court Law Clerk in either Metro Boston or Central-West

Metro Boston may be assigned to Barnstable Bristol Essex Middlesex Norfolk Plymouth and Suffolk.

Central-West may be assigned to Berkshire Hampden Hampshire Franklin and Worcester.

All applicants must upload a resume with the online application. The resume must be in PDF format and its filename must start with the applicants last name. Applicants must indicate whether they would like to be considered for a law clerk position in either Metro Boston Central-West or addition to the submission of their resume and application online at the Trial Court website applicants are also required to submit a current transcript (official or unofficial) and a writing sample in response to the fact pattern as listed in this posting. The transcript and writing sample must be emailed by midnight of December 5 2025 to : .

Letters of recommendation are not requested or required. Applicants selected for interviews may be asked to submit additional materials including a statement of interest an official law school transcript and an additional writing sample.

Position Summary : The law clerk position is responsible for performing legal research and writing assignments to assist the judges of the Probate and Family Court. The term runs until August 27 2027. There may be the opportunity to apply for an additional one-year clerkship term. Law clerks work directly with the judges and under the supervision of the First Justice of the Division to which they are assigned supported by the Research Attorneys in their division the Deputy Legal Counsel and the Chief Justice.

A reliable car and the willingness to travel to courthouses throughout the Commonwealth are requirements of the position. All law clerks must reside in Massachusetts for the duration of the law clerk term.

A judicial clerkship in the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court offers a unique exciting and rewarding environment in which to begin a legal career. The Probate and Family Court hears cases on subjects relating to all aspects of a persons life from birth to death. Law clerks in the Probate and Family Court are exposed to a wide variety of family probate and equity issues; including adoption paternity custody divorce guardianships legal bioethics petitions to partition real estate trust reformations and will contests. The law in these areas is constantly evolving and cases of first impression often confront the court making a clerkship experience in the Probate and Family Court interesting and challenging. Cutting edge issues such as the changing definition of family are not uncommon.

Law clerks apply to serve in either Metro Boston Central-West or both. The majority of opportunities to serve are in Metro Boston. All law clerks are assigned to rotations by the Administrative Office of the Probate and Family Court with the final approval of the Chief Justice. The rotation system gives law clerks the opportunity to work with numerous judges and to gain a broader understanding of the work of the Probate and Family Court.

The Probate and Family Court invites well-rounded and distinguished recent law school graduates and practicing attorneys to apply for the clerkship positions. Solid academic credentials are important however there are no rigid requirements regarding class rank or standing.

Duties :

• Performing careful and accurate legal research and analysis using both online and book resources
• Clearly and concisely conveying results of research and analysis to judges orally and in writing
• Preparing well-written and error-free legal research memoranda and drafting findings of fact conclusions of law rationales judgments and memoranda of decision
• Completing assignments in a timely manner and within deadlines established by judges
• Performing additional legal research and analysis and further review and revision of written work products as appropriate
• Discussing legal issues with judges
• Attending hearings portions of trials and other courtroom proceedings as needed
• Rotating among various Probate and Family Court locations every six months as assigned by the Administrative Office of the Probate and Family Court
• Accurately and timely submitting all required administrative forms
• Maintaining law clerk offices and work areas including updating pocket parts of books as necessary
• Performing related tasks as required

Minimum Requirements : These are the minimum requirements necessary to apply for a position of Law Clerk :

Additional preferred qualifications include :

Writing Sample Instructions :

Please draft a response to the fact pattern listed below in the format of a memorandum of law. The writing sample must be typed double-spaced no more than six pages and submitted in PDF format. Apply only Massachusetts statutory and case law to each question and follow the Supreme Judicial Court Style Manual for citations. The writing sample and the transcript must be emailed by midnight of December 5 2025 to : .

Barry and Julia married in 2000 in Massachusetts. Four children were born of the marriage : Andrew Craig Darren and Josh. Barry and Julia last resided together in Massachusetts in 2018. On July 4 2018 Julia moved to California with the children to reside with her mother Janine. On January 6 2019 Barry filed a complaint for divorce in Massachusetts seeking dissolution of the parties marriage and an equitable division of the marital estate. On February 14 2019 Julia filed an answer and counterclaim to Barrys complaint in Massachusetts. Julias counterclaim included a request for child support.

On March 1 2019 while the divorce in Massachusetts was pending Julia filed a petition for child support in California. On March 7 2019 Julia voluntarily dismissed her counterclaim in Massachusetts. On April 21 2019 Barry filed a motion for temporary child support in Massachusetts and a motion to amend his complaint for divorce seeking to add a request for child support. Julia objected to Barrys motion to amend and requested that the Massachusetts judge decline to exercise jurisdiction over all child-related matters including child support.

On May 1 2019 Judge Green of Massachusetts elected to exercise jurisdiction over child support and issued a temporary order requiring Barry to pay Julia $950 per week in child support through the Department of Revenue. At the time this temporary order entered all the parties children were unemancipated. On April 12 2020 one day after his twentieth birthday Andrew was incarcerated for armed robbery.

Barry filed a motion to dismiss Julias petition for child support in California on the grounds of both subject matter and personal jurisdiction. Julias California petition was dismissed in May of 2020.

After a trial in April of 2021 the Judge Green entered a divorce judgment that ordered Barry to pay Julia $750 per week in child support for Craig Darren and Josh retroactive to the date of Andrews incarceration. The Massachusetts divorce judgment further required Julia to reimburse Barry the amount that he overpaid between April 2020 and April 2021. Julias reimbursement was to be in $100 weekly installments enforced by the Department of Revenue in conjunction with its sister IV-D agency in California.

Disagreeing with Judge Greens orders Barry Julia and the Department of Revenue have each filed a separate motion for reconsideration. Before he addresses the motions Judge Green has come to you seeking advice regarding whether his orders were correct :

Key Skills

Dewatering,Business Objects,Customer Care Service,Export Sales,Flooring,ACCA

Employment Type : Full-Time

Experience : years

Vacancy : 1