Prior Experience

Chief Justice, Massachusetts Appeals Court (2000-2006); Associate Justice (1972-1999); Recall Justice (2007-2009)

Education

Yale University Law School, J.D., 1961

Yale University, New Haven, CT, B.A. cum laude, Political and Economic Institutions, 1958

Admissions to Practice

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

United States District Court, District of Massachusetts

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Professional Affiliations

Boston Bar Association, Administration of Justice Steering Committee

Massachusetts Bar Association

Awards and Recognitions

Awarded the Massachusetts Bar Association Chief Justice Edward F. Hennessey Award, given occasionally to a Massachusetts judge who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and dedication to improving the administration of justice and upholding the highest traditions for public service

Boston Bar Association Award for Judicial Excellence

Continuing Education and Commitment to Excellence

Speaker and panelist, Appellate Practice, multiple programs for the Massachusetts Bar Association

Panelist, “End of life decision-making,” series of multi-disciplinary conferences sponsored by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and leading Boston area hospitals

Publications and Press

Author of chapter on end-of-life decision-making in “Critical Care,” a leading critical care textbook first published in 1988

Co-author, “Critical Care Medicine,” published in the Journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine

Pro Bono / Community Service 

Formerly Vice Chairman, Executive Committee Member and Board Member; currently Chairman of Nominating Committee and By-law Committee, Anna Jaques Hospital, Newburyport, MA

Co-chair, Historical Society of Old Newbury and Cushing House Museum, Newburyport, MA

Christopher J. Armstrong

617 371 1209

carmstrong@collorallp.com

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Clients and Industries

In private practice, Judge Armstrong has represented a variety of individuals and institutions in matters involving appellate advocacy. In more than 30 years of public service on the bench, he became acquainted with issues arising out of every possible sector of commerce and industry, hearing thousands of cases and writing more than 1,600 opinions for the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Practice Areas and Experience

The Honorable Christopher J. Armstrong is Of Counsel at Collora LLP, and he focuses his work on appellate advocacy. He also provides to clients special counsel regarding trial strategy and the framing and preservation of objections, issues and rights that are predicates to successful appeal.

He heard (as a Judge) appellate matters involving substantive legal issues related to all legal disciplines within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts courts, including but not limited to:

• Administrative Law
• Banking and Finance
• Civil Rights and Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Corporate/Securities Matters
• Employment Matters
• Evidence and Procedure Issues
• Fair Trade Practices and Chapter 93A Matters
• Governmental Enforcement Matters
• Health Care/Pharmaceutical Matters
• Property Law
• Probate Matters
• Real Estate/Construction Matters
• Subpoena, Search and Seizure Matters
• Torts
• Trial Court Failures to Issue Legally Mandated Orders or Remedies
• Zoning and other land use matters

Professional Experience Outside of Collora LLP

Judge Armstrong is the former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, was appointed to the Appeals Court in 1972 by Gov. Francis W. Sargent, and elevated to Chief Justice in 2000 by Gov. A. Paul Cellucci. Judge Armstrong had previously served the Commonwealth as Under-Secretary of Administration (1971-72); Chief Counsel to Gov. Francis W. Sargent (1969-1971), Assistant Attorney General;  (1967-1969), Assistant Legal Counsel to Gov. John A. Volpe (1965-1967), and Executive Clerk to the Chief Justice of the Superior Court (1964-1965).

Sample of Results in Practice *

• Part of team that successfully represented psychiatrist in proceeding to block a government subpoena of more than 20 patient files, establishing before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, in a case of first impression, that the psychiatrist’s work in pain management was covered by the psychotherapist-patient privilege, and that the privilege cannot be pierced except by legislative enactment or constitutional imperative.
• Participated in amicus brief advocacy on behalf of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys that was cited in opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) abolishing the traditional “accumulation of snow” rule pertinent to liability for sidewalk safety in favor of a general negligence standard tailored to fit municipal practices.
• Part of appellate team, in a case of first impression, that won a victory in the Massachusetts Court of Appeals for a group of synagogues, establishing their right to hire, promote and retain religious teachers with First Amendment protections against certain kinds of employment actions (appeal pending in the SJC).
• As a judge, crafted more than 1,600 appellate opinions covering virtually every area of legal practice in cases involving litigants from almost every possible industry.

* This sampling of cases represents a selected, small portion of this lawyer’s total experience, and past performance is not intended to be a representation of likely future results, which must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Judge Armstrong can provide a substantial list of reported cases in which he was the author of the Appeals Courts’ opinion upon request.

About Judge Armstrong

When Judge Armstrong is not advising an appellate practice, he can often be found on his Newbury farm, which grows corn and hay, and at one time raised cattle. He quips that he got into farming when he literally married “the farmer’s daughter,” but he was acquainted with agrarian life before that, working long hours in the tobacco fields of the Connecticut Valley when he was a boy. He also loves magic, and performed as a local magician at one time.