The Hon. Robert J. McKenna, Jr. (Ret.) was an associate justice of the Boston Municipal Court in Massachusetts. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Paul Cellucci in 1997. McKenna retired in 2016 having reached the mandatory age of retirement.
During his tenure on the Municipal Court, he served as first justice of the Concord Division (2002 to 2007) and as an associate justice of the South Boston (1997 to 2002) and Central Divisions.
McKenna received a B.S. in English from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1969. He went on to complete a J.D. at Suffolk University Law School in 1974.
After law school, McKenna became an assistant district attorney with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, where he had worked as a legal assistant since 1971. He was later named director of the Appellate Division, chief of the Economic Crime and Public Corruption Trial Team, and chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit. McKenna remained with the District Attorney’s Office until his appointment to the Municipal Court in 1997.
In addition, he was an adjunct faculty member of the Institute of Paralegal Studies at Bentley College.
His memberships included the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild, and the Suffolk Law School Alumni Association.
McKenna was born in Boston, Massachusetts.