---
title: "Gloria Tan | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/gloria-tan-ma"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Gloria Tan

Massachusetts Appeals Court · Associate Justice

## Profile

- Court: Massachusetts Appeals Court
- State: Massachusetts
- Role: Associate Justice
- Service status: active

## Summary

Gloria Tan — Massachusetts Appeals Court

## Sources

- [Appeals Court Justices](https://www.mass.gov/lists/appeals-court-justices)

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## 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](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-20acbd9da185f40e1f10b2b2) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim.  Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts). Collected 2026-07-26.