Hon. Bonnie H. MacLeod (Ret.) joins JAMS after serving on the Massachusetts trial court for over 27 years, first in the District Court from 1989-2002 and then, from 2002-2016, on the Superior Court, where she served as a Regional Administrative Justice for civil business in Suffolk County.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge MacLeod spent 17 years in the public sector, where she served as the Chief of the Appeals Division in the Middlesex District Attorney's Office and thereafter as First Assistant Bar Counsel and Chief of the Litigation Division in the Office of Bar Counsel. She has been a member of the adjunct faculty at Boston College Law School, New England Law/Boston, Northeastern University Law School and Suffolk Law School, where she recently celebrated her 30th year as an adjunct professor.

Known for her expertise and compassion Judge MacLeod has a well-earned reputation within the legal community for her fair and insightful adjudications.

Representative Matters

• Business Commercial
• Successfully mediated dispute involving dissolution of partnership and the division of partnership assets involving joint ownership of a popular Boston restaurant
• Adjudicated unfair competition and trademark infringement claim brought by non-profit against unsuccessful applicant for employment
• Adjudicated breach of contract dispute between commercial supplier and local restaurant chain
• Consumer
• Cases involving claims of unfair and deceptive conduct under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (Chapter 93A)
• Adjudicated and resolved disputes related to home foreclosure actions, including claims of predatory lending practices
• Employment Law
• Numerous cases with employment matters including claims of wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of contract, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and age, race and national origin discrimination asserted against both private and public employers
• Resolved claims under the Wage Act and Whistleblower statute
• Adjudicated class action brought by women employed as entertainers at a well known restaurant/bar
• Financial Institutions
• Several claims by and against financial institutions, mortgage brokers, appraisers and others relating to mortgage foreclosures
• Personal Injury/Product Liability/Torts
• Numerous personal injury claims involving premises liability against private homeowners, local museums, hospitals and universities and construction sites
• Various product liability matters involving serious bodily injuries at work sites including a meat processing plant and a medical facility
• Professional Liability
• Presided over numerous matters involving claims of medical malpractice and assisted in the resolution of a number of these cases prior to or during trial
• Real Property
• Adjudicated claims involving breach of purchase and sales contracts, trespass, boundary disputes, commercial and residential tenancies and interpretation of condominium documents

Available to resolve disputes remotely through a number of videoconferencing options.

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Honors
  • Recipient, Massachusetts Bar Association’s Community Service Award
  • Distinguished Judicial Service Award, Boston Symposium on Law and Psychology, 2016
  • Hellenic Bar Association Award for distinguished judicial service, 2004
  • Honored by the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers for judicial service, 2006
  • Honored by the North Shore Women Lawyers Association as “Judge of the Year,” 2002
  • Honorary Doctor of Laws, Regis College, 2005
  • Community Service Award, Massachusetts Bar Association, 1988
• Memberships & Professional Activities
  • Panelist, “The INs and OUTs of Virtual ADR,” Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Northeast, 2021
  • Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
  • Chair, Education Committee, 2012-present
  • Member, Dispute Resolution Section Council, 2016-present
  • Member, Membership Committee
  • Member, Judicial Administration Section Council, 2013-2016
  • Member, Civil Litigation and Judicial Administration sections
  • Massachusetts Bar Foundation
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes Life Fellow
  • Member, Board of Trustees, 2000-2004
  • Member, Boston Bar Association
  • Member of the BBA Council, 1980-1984
  • Member, Women’s Bar Association    
  • Member, Essex County Bar Association
  • Adjunct Lecturer in Law, Boston College Law School, 2012
  • Adjunct Professor, Suffolk University School of Law, 1986-present
  • Adjunct Professor, New England Law/Boston, 1977-2002
  • Adjunct Professor, Northeastern University Law School, 1982-1986
  • Has presented extensively before legal and professional organizations on a variety of continuing legal education topics including legal ethics (for lawyers and judges), presentation of scientific evidence, trial advocacy, mortgage foreclosures and attorney juror voir dire

Background and Education

• Judge, Massachusetts Superior Court, 2002-2016
• Regional Administrative Justice (RAJ), for Civil Business in Suffolk County, 2012-2015
• Member, Superior Court Civil Committee and Law Clerk Committee
• Chair, Superior Court Committee on Sexually Dangerous Persons and Prisoners
• Judge, Massachusetts District Court
• First Assistant Bar Counsel, Chief of the Litigation Division, 1980-1989
• Assistant Bar Counsel, 1976-1980
• Assistant District Attorney Middlesex County, Chief of the Appeals Division, 1973-1976
• J.D., Suffolk University Law School; Law Review
• B.A., Regis College