Law Clerk - Probate and Family Court -2026-2027

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

Pay Grade: Grade 16

Starting Pay: $77,452.44

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: http://mass.gov/courts/court-info/trial-court/pfc/

Notes:

This 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 applicant’s last name. Applicants must indicate whether they would like to be considered for a law clerk position in either Metro Boston, Central-West or both. In 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: chris.vogel@jud.state.ma.us.

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 person’s 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:

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school or eligibility to sit for the Massachusetts bar exam, as of the start of the clerkship
• Excellent legal writing and communication skills
• Excellent legal research and analytical skills, using both online and book resources
• High professional and ethical standards
• Access to a reliable car and the willingness and ability to travel to courthouses as assigned
• Experience and knowledge in the use of personal computers, including word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and legal research services such as Lexis and Westlaw
• Demonstrated ability to follow written and oral instructions
• Demonstrated ability to manage, prioritize, and complete simultaneous assignments from various judges
• Demonstrated ability to work well independently while maintaining productivity and demonstrating good judgment
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and otherwise complete assignments in a timely manner
• Demonstrated ability to work well with others in a professional setting, including judges, managers, research attorneys, court staff, and other law clerks
• Genuine commitment to serving the full term of the clerkship

Additional preferred qualifications include:

• Membership in the Massachusetts Bar and intent to practice law in Massachusetts
• Substantial legal research and writing experience, including prior experience as a judicial intern for a Probate and Family Court judge
• Courses in probate and/or family law, research assistant positions, prior work experience in the areas of probate and family law and clinical placements
• Familiarity with legal research resources beyond Westlaw and Lexis
• Demonstrated commitment to government or public service

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: chris.vogel@jud.state.ma.us.

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 Barry’s complaint in Massachusetts.  Julia’s 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 Barry’s 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 Julia’s petition for child support in California, on the grounds of both subject matter and personal jurisdiction.  Julia’s 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 Andrew’s incarceration.  The Massachusetts divorce judgment further required Julia to reimburse Barry the amount that he overpaid between April 2020 and April 2021.  Julia’s 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 Green’s 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:

1. Was it proper for Judge Green to exercise jurisdiction on the issue of child support?  Why or why not?  If Barry consented to having the matter heard in California, how, if at all, could that impact Judge Green’s decision to exercise jurisdiction?   
                  
2. What legal authority supports Judge Green’s decision to reduce Barry’s child support obligation retroactive to the date of Andrew’s incarceration?  Is there support in the record for a different retroactive date?  If so, when?
   
   
3. What options are available to enforce Judge Green’s order requiring Julia to reimburse Barry for overpayments made to support Andrew?