The Hon. Judith C. Cutler (Ret.) served as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Land Court. Cutler was appointed to the bench by former Governor Deval Patrick in April 2009, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Leon J. Lombardi. She retired from the bench in 2019.
Cutler earned a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1974) and a master’s degree in community planning from the University of Rhode Island (1977). She spent the next several years working as the town planner for the Town of Concord before completing a J.D. at Suffolk University Law School in 1989.
After graduating from law school, Cutler entered into private practice, specializing in land use law for the next twenty years. She started as an associate at Kopelman and Paige, rising through the ranks to become a principal in 1999. During this time, she was chair of the Land Use Practice Group, advising clients and supervising litigation and appellate work in the areas of zoning, subdivision, comprehensive permits, historic districts, earth removal, and other land use related matters.
Her memberships have included the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Municipal Coalition for Affordable Housing, the Real Estate Bar Association, the Abstract Club, and the American Law Institute.