The Hon. Kathryn E. Hand is an associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. She was appointed to the bench by Governor Charlie Baker on March 11, 2019, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Joseph Trainor.
Hand began her judicial career as an associate justice of the Barnstable District Court, a position to which she was nominated by former Governor Mitt Romney in 2006. During her tenure there, she also sat as First Justice of the Barnstable District Court, Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the District Court (Southern Division), and Regional Administrative Justice for Region One.
Prior to her appointment, Hand began her legal career as an attorney at Esdaile, Barrett & Esdaile in 1994. She worked in that capacity until 1995, eventually leaving to perform a short stint as an assistant district attorney for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office. Then, in 1996, she returned to Esdaile, Barrett & Esdaile, where she practiced complex civil litigation for the next ten years.
Hand earned a bachelor’s degree in English and American literature and language from Harvard University in 1991. She then completed a J.D. at Boston College Law School in 1994. While in law school, Hand was the Managing Editor of the Environmental Affairs Law Review.
Her memberships have included the District Court Civil Proceedings Committee and the Supreme Judicial Court Access to Justice Commission.
Hand was born in New York City and raised in Barnstable, Massachusetts. She is a resident of Osterville. She is the sister-in-law of Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito.