Allison S. Cartwright begins role as SJC clerk, first Black woman in the position

When Allison S. Cartwright was sworn in as clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County on New Year’s Day, she was surrounded by living history makers.

SJC Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd, the first Black woman to serve in the position, swore Cartwright in. Also present at the ceremony in the John Adams Courthouse downtown was Roderick L. Ireland, the first Black Chief Justice of Massachusetts, who is now retired.

Cartwright’s election to the post was significant in its own right. She joined these household names when she made history as the second woman and first Black person to hold the clerk post since 1693, which Cartwright said was “mind-blowing.”

“I’m very excited to be here, to be in this role, to have the opportunity to be of service,” she said in an interview, adding “I am just fortunate to be a part of that history now.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, Supreme Judicial Court clerk for Suffolk County Allison Cartwright, Suffolk Register of Probate Stephanie Everett, and Sen. Lydia Edwards at Cartwright’s swearing-in ceremony. PHOTO: LEE HOLLENBECK

Cartwright, 62, a longtime attorney and public defender, succeeded Maura Sweeney Doyle, who was elected in 1998 and retired in December 2024.

“For nearly three decades, we have been fortunate to have Maura Doyle serving in this position, and she has done so with professionalism, passion, and dedication,” Budd said in a statement. “Today, we are equally fortunate to have Allison Cartwright stepping into this role. As an experienced lawyer and manager, she is well prepared to lead the county clerk’s office, and my colleagues and I look forward to working with her.”

Cartwright didn’t set out to make history. In fact, for a long time, she didn’t even know she wanted to be in the legal field. Growing up, the Okemos, Michigan native aspired to be a physician, but in college, she realized she wasn’t fond of science. So, she settled on an English and psychology double major, before later pursuing a law degree at Boston College.

She didn’t set out to work in criminal law either. But, during an internship with Joyce London Alexander, the first Black woman to serve as a district court magistrate judge, Cartwright “felt something whenever we had criminal cases and criminal defendants before the court.” Many of the defendants couldn’t afford attorneys and had to be appointed one, which “spoke to me,” Cartwright said.

After participating in BC’s law school clinical program called the BC Defenders, Cartwright “was hooked.”

She landed a job as a trial attorney at the Roxbury office of the state’s public defender agency Committee for Public Council Services, where she would later be promoted to managing director, responsible for the offices in Suffolk and Norfolk Counties.

“I was able to make an impact on an individual level, and oftentimes that has a domino effect with families and communities,” she said.

Her previous professional experience also includes working as assistant corporation counsel for the city of Boston, starting the civil and criminal litigation firm Cartwright & Coleman, establishing Cartwright Law Office, and mentoring attorneys for the Suffolk Lawyers for Justice.

Looking back, she can see how she ended up where she did.

“I was that kid who was always butting in and taking up for someone else. … So I guess law was in the cards for me without me knowing it,” she said. “But I just always had a strong sense of justice.”

And, as an Army brat, she learned to acclimate herself to different situations.

When Cartwright heard of Doyle’s retirement, she considered pursuing the position and she conferred with peers. This affirmed her instinct that the clerkship would be the next step in her goal of “protecting constitutional rights.”

She wanted to serve as clerk “to ensure that our courts maintain their independence from our other branches of government, and that’s critically important,” Cartwright said. “It should not matter which party, whether it’s the party I belong to or not. It should not matter which party is in power as to what the courts are going to do to protect our rights. Courts simply must remain independent, fair, impartial, and accessible to everyone.”

The clerk for the SJC of Suffolk County manages single-justice caseloads, including requests for reviews and emergency appeals. The clerk also handles issues involving bar admission and the practice of law in the state.

Cartwright’s run for the position involved a lot of “on-the-ground work” and grassroots efforts, she said. She worked on her campaign before and after work, “a sacrifice to my family.”

“You roll up your sleeves and you just get to it and do the job. … It was hard, but it was something I believed in with my whole heart,” she said.

In September 2024, Cartwright, a first-time candidate, beat out Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy in the Democratic primary and was subsequently elected in November 2024.

As she reflected on the journey to where she is now, Cartwright repeated a refrain about how “God’s plans” always differed from hers. Though she never envisioned a career in the legal field, she wound up in an important administrative position in the Massachusetts court system. With six years ahead of her, she has no plans for what comes next. For now, she’s focusing on where she’s at.

“I will see where it takes me,” she said.