Gloria Tan at a glance
- Current role
- Associate Justice
- Jurisdiction
- Massachusetts · State
- Judicial service
- Active
Biography
Professional career
- Governor Deval Patrick appointed Tan as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court in 2013, and she became First Justice of the Middlesex County Juvenile Court in 2019
- Recognized as the first Asian American juvenile court judge in Massachusetts, highlighting her role in enhancing diversity within the judiciary
- Judge Tan emphasizes fairness and justice in her decision-making, drawing on her background in public defense and juvenile advocacy
- Her experience as a public defender and juvenile court judge provides her with a unique perspective on the real-life consequences of appellate decisions, particularly for youth and families
Education
- Yale Law School — J.D.
- Gloria Tan graduated magna cum laude from Rice University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Additional information
- In December 2024, Governor Maura Healey appointed her to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, where she assumed office on December 4, 2024, with her first panel sitting on December 18, 2024
- After law school, she worked as a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Boston
- Her work focused on child welfare, juvenile delinquency, and parental rights, including “Care and Protection” cases and Child Requiring Assistance petitions.
- focusing on youth advocacy, and later held the role of Deputy Director and Clinical Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School
- Judge Tan has been actively involved in judicial education and mentorship.
- She serves on the Flaschner Judicial Institute Board of Trustees, the Massachusetts Trial Court Judge-to-Judge Peer Mentoring Program Advisory Committee, and the Massachusetts Trial Court Standing Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
- She has also contributed to the Supreme Judicial Court Evidence Guide Committee and the Jury Management Advisory Committee
Published courtroom rules
Shared court rules
Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts
Massachusetts Appeals Court
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Appeals Court Justices
Massachusetts Reconciliation source · HTML · Source checked October 6, 2026
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