Massachusetts Top Court Pick Woos Governor’s Council

Massachusetts’ state solicitor, a former Ropes & Gray appellate and trial lawyer, appears poised for confirmation to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court despite fielding questions about her lack of judicial experience from the panel of elected officials that will soon vote on her nomination.

Elizabeth “Bessie” Dewar, who briefly served as acting attorney general this year, would fill a vacancy on the seven-member court left by retiring Justice Elspeth Cypher, who leaves the bench early next year. Dewar’s appointment is expected to make Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court even more liberal than it already is.

Dewar is just 43 years old ...