Hon. John D. Casey is chief justice of the Probate and Family Court in Massachusetts. He was appointed to the five-year term by Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey in 2018.
At the time of his appointment, Casey was first justice of the Norfolk County Probate and Family Court. He first joined the judiciary in 2006 after receiving an appointment by former Governor Mitt Romney to serve as an associate justice of the Essex County Probate and Family Court. He then moved to Norfolk County in 2008.
Prior to joining the bench, Casey was a partner at Casey & Thompson, P.C., where he practiced alongside his brother, Edward Casey, as well as fellow attorney Bruce Thompson. He joined the firm in 1983 after working for one year as an assistant city solicitor for the City of Attleboro.
Casey also taught as an instructor at New England School of Law and the University of Massachusetts School of Law.
He attended Bates College, where he received a B.S. in political science in 1979. Casey went on to complete a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1982.
During his tenure on the Probate and Family Court, he was co-chair of the 2025 Volunteer Transition Leadership Team that was charged with examining the present and future needs of the court. He also served as a J2J mentor and as a member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
His committee memberships have included the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Southeast Region Probate and Family Court Bench/Bar Committee, the Bristol County Bar Association’s Probate and Family/Bar Committee, the Regional IOLTA Grant Review Committee, and the Board of Bar Overseers Regional Hearing Committee.
Some of his other memberships included the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Bristol County Bar Association (past president), the Attleboro Area Bar Association (past president), the Attleboro District Court Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation (Fellow).
From a civic standpoint, Casey served as a coach for North Attleboro Youth Softball as well as its Soccer Club and was a past president of the Attleboro Scholarship Foundation, Inc. He has also served as a member of the Attleboro Zoning Board of Appeals (past chair), the Board of Directors of VersaCare, Inc. (Officer), and the Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Attleboro Area, Inc.
Casey has served as a panelist for the Massachusetts Bar Association’s CLE Seminar and the New Center for Legal Advocacy Seminar.
In 2014, he was named Person of the Year by the Norfolk County Bar Association.
Casey, who is married and has two children, is a native of Attleboro. His father, the Hon. Edward F. Casey, served as a justice of the Probate and Family Court for thirteen years. He retired from the bench in 1994.