The Hon. Ellen Flatley (Ret.) was first justice of the Gloucester District Court in Massachusetts. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Michael Dukakis in 1988. Flatley retired from the Gloucester bench in 2018.
Initially, she had presided as the first female associate justice of the District Court in Essex County when she was appointed to the bench in 1988. Flatley had officially retired from the bench in 2013 but returned to judicial service to sit in Gloucester, where she remained until retiring again in 2018.
Flatley received an A.B. from Emmanuel College in 1965. She then completed a J.D. at Boston University School of Law in 1968.
After law school, Flatley entered into private practice. She first joined Ely, Bartlett, Brown & Proctor, where she practiced for two years before becoming legal director of the Mayor’s Office of Human Rights in 1970. Then, in 1973, Flatley briefly practiced as an attorney at Deer Island Legal Services before joining the Law Office of Edward Morley later that same year. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she had practiced as a partner at Flatley & Flatley since 1978.
She also served for several years as a Town Counsel member for the Town of Manchester (1979 to 1983 and 1985).
Flatley was a former director of the National Association of Women Judges and the Essex County Bar Advocates.
Flatley was born in Beverly, Massachusetts.