Bessie Dewar
Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Designate
Assuming office
TBD
Appointed byMaura Healey
SucceedingElspeth B. Cypher
Acting Attorney General of Massachusetts
In office
January 5, 2023 – January 18, 2023
GovernorMaura Healey
Preceded byKate R. Cook (acting)
Succeeded byAndrea Campbell
Personal details
Born (1980-07-04) July 4, 1980[1]
Political partyDemocratic
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Pembroke College, Cambridge (MPhil)
Yale University (JD)

Elizabeth Napier "Bessie" Dewar (born July 4, 1980) is an American lawyer and government official serving as the state solicitor of Massachusetts since January 2016. Prior to serving as the state solicitor, she had served as the assistant state solicitor under former state solicitor Peter Sacks, who is now a judge on the Massachusetts Appeals Court.[2] She is the designate to serve as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Education

Dewar graduated from Harvard University earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Master of Philosophy degree from Pembroke College, Cambridge and earned her Juris Doctor from Yale University. After law school, Dewar served as a law clerk at all three levels of the federal judiciary, starting with Louis H. Pollak of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, then William A. Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and finally Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States.[2]

Career

Dewar joined Ropes & Gray LLP working as an appellate and trial-level lawyer. She then became a civil rights advocate at the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia.[2]

Dewar served as the acting attorney general of Massachusetts after Maura Healey was sworn in as the Governor of Massachusetts at noon on January 5, 2023, taking the helm of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office from Kate R. Cook, until Andrea Campbell was sworn in on January 18, 2023.[3]

In December 2023 Dewar was nominated by Governor Maura Healey to a seat on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to replace retiring justice Elspeth B. Cypher.[4] A hearing on her nomination was held later that month and she was confirmed unanimously by the Massachusetts Governor's Council on January 10, 2024.[5]

Notable cases

While working in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Dewar secured a $3.5 Million settlement from Aspen Dental, who was accused of deceptive advertising claims.[6]

Personal life

Dewar is the mother of two children.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Council confirms Dewar to SJC". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. January 10, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "AG Healey Appoints New State Solicitor". November 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "State solicitor in line to be acting AG". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. December 13, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Governor Healey Nominates State Solicitor Elizabeth N. Dewar to Supreme Judicial Court". Office of the Massachusetts Governor. December 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ Medsger, Matthew (January 10, 2024). "On the job training: 43-year-old State Solicitor unanimously confirmed to SJC". Boston Herald.
  6. ↑ Peterson, Stephen (January 6, 2023). "State AG's office reaches $3.5M settlement with Aspen Dental". The Sun Chronicle.
  7. ↑ Gavin, Christopher. "Here's who will be the acting Mass. attorney general for 13 days". www.boston.com.
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