Professional and personal obligations sometimes get in the way of keeping up with our courts. July has been full of appellate law developments that deserve attention. This is the first of several posts that will do that.

Chief Judge Sumners will retire later this summer. Chief Justice Rabner thus announced that, effective September 1, Judge Currier will become the Appellate Division’s new Chief Judge. She is the third person to hold that title, following Judges Messano and Sumners. Judge Currier has served in the Appellate Division for nearly eleven years and has been Presiding Judge of her Part since 2022. She has also held the title of Deptuty Presiding Judge for Administration since 2023. Her elevation is well-deserved.

So, too, is the designation of Judge Mawla, who will succeed Judge Currier as Deputy Presiding Judge for Administration. Judge Mawla has served in the Appellate Division since 2017 and as Presiding Judge of his Part since 2024. These two appointments ensure that there is no drop-off in quality at the top of the Appellate Division, the nation’s busiest undivided appellate court.

Congratulations to Judges Currier and Mawla!