New Bedford Bar President Picked for Judgeship

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday sent the name of the New Bedford Bar Association president to the Governor's Council for a Probate and Family Court judgeship, and the council signed off on Baker's choice of a high-profile former Suffolk County prosecutor for a Superior Court seat.

Kimberly Moses Smith, managing partner of the New Bedford firm Moses Smith, Markey & Walsh LLC, would replace Whaling City native Judge Peter Smola in the Probate and Family Court if she is confirmed by the Governor's Council.

Moses Smith started her legal career in practice with her father Richard Moses, according to the NBBA website, before the elder Moses was tapped by Acting Gov. Jane Swift in 2002 for a Superior Court judgeship.

A Providence College and New England Law-Boston grad, Moses Smith is a past president of the Bristol County Bar Association and past chair of the Dartmouth Zoning Board of Appeals. She is active with the Dartmouth youth lacrosse and soccer leagues, according to NBBA, and she and her family "open their home yearly to host a child from the Fresh Air Fund during the summer."

South Coast Councilor Joseph Ferreira will preside over Moses Smith's public interview, though no date had been scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.

Also Wednesday, the Governor's Council unanimously confirmed former Suffolk County lead courtroom prosecutor Patrick Haggan to a seat on the Superior Court.

Members of the public may recognize Haggan from his high-profile prosecution of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez and his role in the resulting Netflix documentary.

After expressing displeasure with past nominees she said had little trial experience, Councilor Marilyn Devaney praised Haggan Wednesday for his work in the courtroom and said it will aid him on the bench.

"If a judge has had no criminal cases as a lawyer, he or she will be timid to give the correct sentence. This nominee will have no problem in sentencing," Devaney said.

Haggan was most recently an attorney with the medical malpractice and personal injury firm Lubin & Meyer.