Governor Baker Nominates Gregory White as Associate Justice of the Superior Court and Matthew King to the Industrial Accident Board

BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 20 -- Gov. Charlie Baker, R-Massachusetts, issued the following news release:

Today, Governor Charlie Baker nominated Gregory J. White of Boylston to the position of Associate Justice of the Superior Court and Matthew F. King of West Roxbury to a six-year term as an administrative judge on the Industrial Accident Board at the Department of Industrial Accidents. Both Attorneys White and King bring over three decades of legal experience, White in the private and public sectors and King has extensive workers compensation experience.

"Attorney White's experience and service to the Commonwealth coupled with his courtroom experience will serve as an asset to the Superior Court. Attorney King's extensive understanding of the Massachusetts Workers Compensation System makes him well qualified for the Department of Industrial Accident's Board," said Governor Charlie Baker. "I am pleased to submit these qualified nominees to the Governor's Council for their advice and consent."

"Both Attorney White's and Attorney King's legal experiences and credentials will serve the people of the Commonwealth with fairness and distinction, if confirmed," said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito.

The Massachusetts Superior Court is a statewide court of general jurisdiction - handling both criminal and civil actions. The court's 82 justices sit in 20 courthouses in all 14 counties of the Commonwealth. The court has exclusive original jurisdiction of first degree murder cases and original jurisdiction of all other crimes. For more information about the Superior Court, visit their homepage (https://www.mass.gov/orgs/superior-court).

The Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) oversees the Massachusetts workers' compensation system, serving injured workers, employers, attorneys, and insurers. The Industrial Accident Board consists of twenty-one administrative judges who preside over disputed workers' compensation cases. For more information about the Division of Industrial Accidents, please visit their homepage (https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-industrial-accidents).

Judicial nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the Governor's Council. Applicants for judicial openings are reviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and recommended to the governor. Governor Baker established the JNC in February 2015 pursuant to Executive Order 558, a non-partisan, non-political Commission composed of volunteers from a cross-section of the Commonwealth's diverse population to screen judicial applications. Twenty-one members were later appointed to the JNC in April 2015.

About Gregory J. White:

Attorney Gregory J. White began his 31 year legal career in 1998 as Assistant District Attorney in the Worcester County District Attorney's Office prosecuting cases in the District and Superior Courts. He served in that role until 1997 when he became Assistant District Attorney in the Norfolk District Attorney's Office. In the Norfolk District Attorney's Office, Attorney White was Chief of the Motor Vehicle Homicide Unit and a homicide team prosecutor assigned to prosecute First and Second Degree Murder cases in the Dedham Superior Court. From 1999 to 2001, Attorney White served as Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. White served as Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel at the Department of Industrial Accidents from 2003 to 2007 enforcing workers compensation laws. From 2007 to 2009, Attorney White served as Senior Attorney Advisor to the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. In 2009, Attorney White opened his private practice in Worcester and Quincy where he represented clients before the Massachusetts District and Superior Court. Since 2015, Attorney White has served as Chief of Staff and General Counsel in the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, overseeing legal departments in the Division of Banks, Division of Insurance, Division of Professional Licensure and the Department of Telecommunications. Attorney White earned his Bachelor of Science in Political Science from St. Michael's College in 1981 and his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1987, where he was awarded membership to the Phi Delta Phi Honorary Academic Legal Society. Since 1990, Attorney White has served as an Adjunct Professor at Clark University in Worcester teaching criminal justice courses to undergraduate students.

About Matthew F. King:

Since 2008, Attorney Matthew King has practiced law at the firm Tentindo, Kendall, Canniff, and Keefe, LLP, where he concentrates on insurance defense. Attorney King began his legal career in 1984 in the Suffolk District Attorney's Office. Between 1984 and 1990, he served as Trial Assistant in the Suffolk Superior Court, Dorchester District Court and Boston Municipal Court; Supervising Attorney in the Dorchester and East Boston District Courts and Investigative Attorney in the Suffolk County Homicide Unit. In 1990, King moved to the litigation department at Kemper National Insurance Company in Braintree, where he defended worker's compensation claims until 2000. From 2000 to 2008, King served as staff attorney for the private practice law office of Keches & Mallen in Taunton. Attorney King earned his B.A. from Boston College in 1979 and his juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1983.