The Hon. J. Thomas Kirkman (Ret.) served as First Justice of the Edgartown District Court in Massachusetts. Kirkman was appointed to the bench by former Governor Deval Patrick in 2009. He retired in 2019.
Over the course of his judicial career, Kirkman held assignments as an associate justice of the Orleans District Court (2009 to 2014).
Kirkman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1975. He then completed a J.D. at Rutgers Law School in 1978.
After graduating from law school, Kirkman worked as a staff attorney for the Legal Services of Cape Cod & the Islands and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago as well as an attorney in private practice. Then, in 1993, he became an assistant district attorney with the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, sitting as the Director of the Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit until his appointment to the bench.
His memberships have included the Faith Community Task Force of the Governor’s Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence. He also sat on the Board of Safe Havens Boston, an interfaith partnership against domestic violence and elder abuse.
He is a recipient of the Prosecutor Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association (2008).
Kirkman was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force.