The Hon. Judd J. Carhart (Ret.) was an associate justice of the Appeals Court in Massachusetts. He was appointed to the Appeals Court by former Governor Deval Patrick in 2010. Carhart retired in 2017.
Previously, Carhart had served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, a position he had held since being appointed by former Governor Bill Weld in 1993.
After his service and honorable discharge from the United States Army (1965 to 1967), Carhart attended the University of Massachusetts, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1971. He then completed a J.D. at Suffolk University Law School in 1974.
Upon graduating from law school, Carhart joined the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney. He then left his position there in 1977 to join the faculty at Suffolk University Law School as director of the student prosecutor program. In 1978, Carhart joined the United States Attorney’s Office, where he worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney until 1982. It was at that time, he began a tenure in private practice.
Carhart first practiced at Carhart, Bonistalli & McCarthy until joining Matrord, DiMauro, Liebel, Fitzgerald & Carhart. He remained in private practice until 1988 when former Governor Michael Dukakis appointed Carhart to serve as district attorney of the Northern District. He was later elected to the position. He continued to serve as district attorney until his appointment to the Superior Court bench in 1993.
Carhart also taught as an adjunct professor in the Legal Studies Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
His memberships included the Bar of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Carhart was born in Montgomery, Alabama.