--- title: "James Budreau | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/james-budreau" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-07-26" --- # James Budreau Massachusetts Superior Court ยท Associate Justice ## Profile - Court: Massachusetts Superior Court - State: Massachusetts - Role: Associate Justice - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## 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 ### remote hearings Scope: courtwide Massachusetts Superior Court Standing Order 1-26 identifies which criminal and civil proceedings are presumptively remote or in person, while allowing the presiding judge to change the format under the order's standards. Evidence excerpt: certain criminal and civil proceedings may be conducted remotely (e.g., by computer, videoconference, or telephone) pursuant to this Standing Order [Superior Court Standing Order 1-26: Remote hearings](https://www.mass.gov/superior-court-rules/superior-court-standing-order-1-26-remote-hearings) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### remote recording Scope: courtwide Photographing, recording, or electronically transmitting a Massachusetts Superior Court remote or hybrid hearing requires prior authorization from the supervising judge or clerk-magistrate. Evidence excerpt: No person shall take any photographs, or make any recording or transmission by electronic means, of a remote or hybrid court hearing, without prior authorization from the judge or clerk magistrate [Superior Court Standing Order 1-26: Remote hearings](https://www.mass.gov/superior-court-rules/superior-court-standing-order-1-26-remote-hearings) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### recording and photography Scope: statewide In Massachusetts courts, photography, recording, or electronic transmission in a courtroom or related judicial space requires prior authorization from the judge or magistrate supervising that place, subject to Rule 1:19's separate provisions for registered news media. Evidence excerpt: No person shall take any photographs, or make any recording or transmission by electronic means, in any courtroom, hearing room, office, chambers or lobby of a judge or magistrate without prior authorization [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/superior-court-justices) - [Official roster](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/superior-court-justices) - [Massachusetts Court System official judicial roster](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/superior-court-justices) - [Superior Court Standing Order 1-26: Remote hearings](https://www.mass.gov/superior-court-rules/superior-court-standing-order-1-26-remote-hearings) - [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/james-budreau", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/james-budreau", "name": "James Budreau | KnowJudges", "description": "James Budreau, Massachusetts Superior Court. 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Budreau is an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, appointed by Governor Charlie Baker on June 24, 2021, to the Norfolk County bench - Earlier, he was an associate at the Law Offices of Blake Godbout (1989โ€“1990) and began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for the Massachusetts Superior Court (1988โ€“1989) ### Education ### Additional information - representing clients in criminal, appellate, employment, Title IX, and tort matters From 1994 to 2013, he practiced as a sole practitioner - focusing on juvenile homicide defense cases. - Budreau has been active in the Boston Bar Association and the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and has served on boards for Jamaica Plain Regan League and Jamaica Plain Centre-South. - He is also a former youth baseball coach ## 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) โ€” 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.