PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
CONTACT:
Jennifer Donahue/Erika Gully-Santiago
PublicInfo@sjc.state.ma.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2025
2025 Edition of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence Now Available
BOSTON, MA -- The Supreme Judicial Court and its Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law today announced the release of the 2025 edition of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence.
The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court recommend use of the Guide by the bench, bar, and public.
“On behalf of the Justices, I want to thank the members of the Advisory Committee for the time and effort they dedicated over the past year to produce the 2025 edition of the Guide,” said Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd. “The updates in this seventeenth edition cover a great deal of ground, with new content concerning evidence of prior interactions with police officers, time limits on presenting evidence, and many other topics. We have no doubt that attorneys, judges, and self-represented litigants will find it to be an invaluable resource.”
“The Justices also want to thank retired Appeals Court Justice Peter W. Agnes, who has been an immense contributor to the Guide at virtually every stage of its existence. Most recently, Justice Agnes provided support for this project through his role as Chief Executive Officer of the Flaschner Judicial Institute, which puts out the official print edition of the Guide every year. His successor in that role, retired District Court Justice Julie J. Bernard, has penned a fitting tribute to Justice Agnes in her foreword for the new edition.”
The Massachusetts Guide to Evidence assembles existing Massachusetts evidence law in an easy-to-use document organized similarly to the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Guide includes extensive explanatory notes and citations to pertinent authorities.
An electronic version of the Guide is available without charge on the court's website, where it can be searched and downloaded. The Official Print Edition is published by the Flaschner Judicial Institute, which is again providing a complimentary copy to every sitting judge in the Commonwealth. The 2025 Guide will be available for purchase from the Flaschner Judicial Institute and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
The 2025 edition of the Guide incorporates thirty-four opinions issued by the Supreme Judicial Court and the Appeals Court between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, and a number of additional appellate court decisions that did not appear in prior editions.
In 2006, the Supreme Judicial Court established the Advisory Committee to prepare a Massachusetts Guide to Evidence at the request of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. Since 2008, the Supreme Judicial Court has appointed a standing Committee to monitor and incorporate new legal developments and produce annual new editions of the Guide.
Appeals Court Justice Gregory I. Massing chairs the Advisory Committee and serves as editor-in-chief of the Guide. The other members of the Advisory Committee are Hon. Mark S. Coven (editor), of the District Court; attorney Elizabeth N. Mulvey (editor); Hon. David A Lowy (ret.); Hon. Sarah Ellis and Hon. Hélène Kazanjian of the Superior Court; Hon. Barbara M. Hyland of the Probate and Family Court; Chief Justice Dana Gershengorn of the Juvenile Court; Hon. Lisa Ann Grant of the Boston Municipal Court; Hon. Marguerite Grant and Hon. Sookyoung Shin of the Appeals Court; Supreme Judicial Court Executive Director and General Counsel Timothy E. Maguire; Boston College Law School Professor R. Michael Cassidy; attorney Edmund P. Daley III; New England Law | Boston Professor Benjamin K. Golden; Boston University School of Law Professor Jasmine Gonzales Rose; Appeals Court law clerks George E. Clarke and Sara Levien; and Hon. R. Marc Kantrowitz and Hon. Peter W. Agnes (editors-in-chief emeritus).
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