--- title: "Douglas Preston Woodlock | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/douglas-preston-woodlock" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Douglas Preston Woodlock U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts - State: Massachusetts - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, D. Massachusetts, 1986-present - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, having assumed senior status on June 1, 2015 - Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Massachusetts, 1979-1983 - Law clerk, Hon. Frank J. Murray, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, 1975-1976 ### Education - He then attended Georgetown University Law Center, graduating with a — J.D. (1975) - Yale University — B.A. (1969) - Yale College in, where he was a member of Skull and Bones and vice chairman of the Yale Daily News — B.A. (1969) - Woodlock was born in Hartford, CT, and spent early childhood in La Grange, Illinois, before finishing high school at Phillips Academy in Andover — M.A. ### Additional information - Instructor, Harvard Law School, 1981-present - Instructor, Harvard Law School, 1980-present - Chairman, Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services, 1984-1986 - Private practice, Boston, MA, 1983-1986 - Chairman, Hamilton Massachusetts Board of Appeals, 1978-1979 - Private practice, Boston, MA, 1976-1979 - Born February 27, 1947, Hartford, Connecticut. - Date of birth: 1947-01-01 - Birth place: Hartford, CT ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390071) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390071) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390071) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3544/douglas-preston-woodlock/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3544/douglas-preston-woodlock/) - [Wikidata: Douglas Preston Woodlock](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5301897) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/douglas-preston-woodlock", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/douglas-preston-woodlock", "name": "Douglas Preston Woodlock | KnowJudges", "description": "Douglas Preston Woodlock, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.