FIDNICK, LINDA S.

Judicial Biography

Personal:

The following article appeared in February 2008 prior to Judge Fidnick’s confirmation:

The state’s top judge in the Probate and Family Court on Wednesday urged the independent panel charged with approving judges to confirm Gov. Deval Patrick’s nominee to the court’s Hampshire County division, lavishing high praise for her work in family matters.

Calling longtime Amherst attorney Linda Fidnick impartial, even-tempered, and humble, Chief Justice Paula Carey said, “This is the kind of judge I want on my court.”

A Newark, New Jersey native, Fidnick has the temperament for a court that needs judges with patience, the ability to sift through information and be mindful of how they comport themselves as representatives of the court system, Carey said.

Carey pointed to Fidnick’s 1999 award for her pro bono work in Hampshire County, which has a growing caseload with few resources.

Fidnick has also participated in the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, a group she has been president of since 2005, Carey told the eight-member Governor’s Council.

She also received high praise from two judges in the Probate Court, including the first justice of the Franklin Probate Court, Geoffrey Wilson. “She is part of the fiber of our legal community,” he said.

She is currently a partner at Burres Fidnick and Booth LLP, with her spouse, Carol Booth. The first in her family to go to college, Fidnick graduated from Smith College and University of Connecticut School of Law.

“I bring a passion for the law, a deep appreciation for family law in particular,” Fidnick said, promising to provide “consistently fair results,” if appointed. She said she would intensify her study of the law and ask her colleagues for advice. She faces a “learning curve, for sure,” she said, in probate law.

If confirmed, Fidnick, 54, would replace Justice Sean Dunphy, who retired in September, and her law firm would be dissolved.

Colleagues praised her for helping set up For the Children, an educational program focusing on communication for non-married parents. “Families are changing and I think we ought to honor that,” Fidnick said.

A Colrain farmer, feeling wronged by Probate and Family Court, spoke out against Fidnick’s nomination, questioning her ethics.

Richard Pascale, whose ex-partner hired Fidnick in the custody battle over their son, said in his first meeting with Fidnick in March 2005, she made a quip about his annual $15,000 income: ” ‘You could make more money working at Wal-Mart.’ I took this as an intentionally inflammatory remark,” he said.

Pascale added that at the end of the trial, the judge in the case ordered him to pay one-third of Fidnick’s $46,000 fee, which he appealed. Pascale said he received a personal letter the following March from Fidnick, noting that if an appeals court upholds the fee, interest will be attached. Pascale called it an “appalling action.”

Asked about the case by councilors, Fidnick said, “I think it’s a very painful case,” noting that she had tried to put the father and his son through counseling.

Fidnick declined to go into the case after the three-hour interview.

Fidnick came under questioning over her views of the state’s laws in allowing a child to move out of state with a parent. Fidnick said when a divorce occurs, the statute makes clear that there has to be a “real advantage” to the child. As an example, a divorcee may not be able to restart their life in Massachusetts, possibly due to difficulties in finding a job here, and then are unable to care for the child, she said.

Councilor Christopher Iannella said he found her answer troubling. “I think both parents should have equal access, if possible,” he said.

Other councilors, including Carole Fiola and Marilyn Devaney, said they were impressed by Fidnick’s qualifications. “You have the demeanor we look for in a judge,” Devaney said.

Several dozen friends and family members from western Massachusetts packed the Council Chambers for Fidnick’s interview.

Marion Copeland, a client of Fidnick’s and a former English teacher at Holyoke Community College, met her when Fidnick was a law student. Copeland called Fidnick “intellectually curious” and said they have worked together for the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society.

Fidnick also serves as a volunteer in the homes of terminally ill people for the Hospice of Franklin County and has served various positions, including president, in the Massachusetts chapter of the American Cancer Society, according to her judicial questionnaire.

Over ten years, Fidnick cared for 29 puppies at her home, Copeland added. “Linda was then and is now an emphatic leader, concerned for the welfare of everyone, human or non-human,” Copeland said.

Asked if she’ll be able to continue her involvement in various programs, Fidnick said, “I’ll definitely keep taking those dogs.”

Year appointed/elected:

2008, by Gov. Deval L. Patrick