The Honorable Paul A. Chernoff (Ret.)

Had the good fortune to serve on the Parole Board on which Paul served as chairman and to have a 50 year friendship.

Had the benefit for having my perspective and skills shaped by a personal and professional relationship with a wonderful human being. Over the years his counsel and perspective were invaluable.

As he was on his way to a Red Sox game, he married my wife Lyn and I at his home. He arranged for me to receive a special part-time fellowship at Harvard Law School. And when I made a mistake, and I made a few, he clearly let me know it in a way that promoted growth. He was ethical and caring and brought honor to the legal profession.

Paul referred me to his wife Lynn-an oral hygienist- during her studies. If I had listened more to her advise , I´d have more teeth today. He was very proud of his son Steven who is a lawyer today with his own immediate family.

One of the best. Gordon Oppenheim

Paul was a mensch and a wonderful
lawyer, Judge and human. RIP

Justice Chernoff was a terrific judge and a wonderful person. Intelligent, witty, humble and compassionate, he will be greatly missed by the legal community. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

I had the honor of appearing in front of Judge Chernoff on multiple occasions. His skill, poise, equanimity, and humility always shone from the bench. The Massachusetts bar has lost a luminary, and a friend.

Paul was a lifelong friend from early childhood in New Haven to his later years in Massachusetts and visits in Northern Virginia. He will remain an inspiration to me for his dedication to family, friends, and human values. May God bless his memory. Joe Annunziata

I met Paul through "RAROLC," the Russian-American Rule of Law Consortium. For than a decade, he had chaired the Massachusetts-Tomsk Rule of Law Partnership under RAROLC's auspices, while I chaired the Connecticut-Pskov Partnership. Thanks to a shared heritage, shared ideals and Connecticut roots, we became good friends, so that even after RAROLC's demise, we stayed in touch, and along with Lynn, took annual Day-After-Thanksgiving walks along the Connecticut shoreline for several years when they came here to visit family.

Paul's passing, while we were still sharing emails about a possible reunion this summer in Vermont with RAROLC's founder, Justice John Dooley, was a huge shock. I will miss him. I DO miss him.

Judge Chernoff was my trial practice professor at BC law in 2000. We had come to find out that we were both from New Haven and in fact he went to school with one of my uncles. I got them to reconnect later in life and was happy to know him a little bit. My take on Judge Chernoff is that he was a great judge, a zealous advocate and lawyer, a wonderful mediator and a terrific professor. But to be candid, I think all those accolades pale in comparison to how incredible this man was as a human being. My best recollection about him was so profound. Going into my third year as a law student , I was a mediocre student at best. I walked into his class and I thought I would do pretty well but because my grades were average I had lost some of my confidence. This wonderful man pulled me aside after a few weeks of class and told me I was one of the best students in the class and gave me pep talk that I will never forget. We subsequently bonded over our New Haven connection including our love of New Haven pizza and his reconnection with my family. I don't remember much detail about Law School but I will never forget Professor Chernoff. May he Rest in PEACE.

Paul befriended me and my wife after I spoke to a group of judges about Sacco and Vanzetti. He was extremely kind, curious about us, and even had us over to dinner at his house. We will always remember him.

I just happened today to learn about Judge Paul Chernoff's passing. when researching oral history projects and discovered his name in the Newton Oral History project. I was fortunate to meet him and his wife Lynn when he invited my husband to present his book about Saco and Vanzetti to the MA Judges Association. We struck up a friendship that continued through email and a warm welcome to their home. Judge Paul Chernoff was kind, whip smart, curious, and I'll be ever grateful for his humanity. To hear more about his life in his own words, in his lively voice, listen to his interview here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL4lAuIlmh0

Rest in peace.

He was a thoughtful, fair and patient judge and a kind and generous man. I will remember his impish sense of humor and the presentations he gave annually to our new ADAs on the "human side of the law." I will miss him terribly.

It would be virtually impossible to write an adequate tribute to Judge Paul Chernoff. What you can say is that if one looked at all the things he did, all the causes he helped, all of his work, professional and otherwise, they would be hard-pressed to find another human being who left such an extensive list of accomplishments. From serving his country as a naval officer, working as a public defender, serving as Chair of the Parole Board (and working as a Special Board member in retirement), sitting as both a District and Superior Court judge, as a teacher, mentor, volunteer, and advocate, he would always strive to make things better for everyone he worked with.

There are so many people he touched who would credit him with being an influence on their lives and careers. I am one. He got me involved in legal and judicial education programs and in a rule-of-law exchange program with Russia where we traveled to Siberia to try to find common ground in the pursuit of justice. I was not continually in contact with him throughout my career but when we crossed paths, he had a deep interest in what I was doing. Countless people can say that about him.

He was exemplary in everything I saw him do. His infectious positivity, compassion, and boundless energy always came through.

Few people leave us with a legacy that is as tremendous as this. He lives on through both his and the accomplishments of all the people he touched.

I had the great opportunity to try and otherwise resolve many criminal cases in Middlesex County as an ADA and later DA before Judge Chernoff. His patience, kindness, and firm grip of the law as well as fairness never wavered in all his years on the bench. He was a model public servant and I learned a great deal from him. He truly made the world, and ours in Middlesex County, a better place. Our memory of him will always be a blessing.

I was greatly saddened to learn of Paul´s passing. Our time working together was while he was Chairman of the Parole Board and I was Chief Counsel of the Dept. of Correction. Back then and knowing all Paul´s extraordinary work and contributions to the community since and love for his family, one thing for me is foundational to anyone knowing, being touched by Paul Chernoff - his humanity and kindness. In Yiddish, the word that describes this is "mensch" - a person of integrity and honor. As is written, a high compliment speaking to the rarity and value of a person´s character. For me, at his core that was Paul. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing.

Judge Chernoff and his wife Lynn were friends of my parents Ena and Charles Lorant. I believe they met at Temple Shalom probably doing social activism and community building activities. He graciously agreed to officiate our wedding which was something he said he did only under special circumstances. The meaningful prose that he had written for a previous interfaith wedding ceremony suited us perfectly. Thirty years later, he still holds a special place in our hearts.
Lisa (and Don Sampson)

Judge Chernoff was an amazing jurist. He really listened with an open mind to all lawyers. He was very creative in sentencing criminal defendants, and tailored probation terms in a manner that would address the underlying problems of a defendant. For years, he taught generations of attorneys who wanted to learn to be trial lawyers.

I will always remember him for his dry wit, which he used with a mischievous grin. Off the bench, his humanity was always in evidence. He was a truly a great man.

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Judge Paul Chernoff. I have known Judge Chernoff for the nine years he so diligently and faithfully helped countless veterans in our legal clinic. Judge Chernoff would take the time to talk and try to help anyone no matter who it was and always in his kind and highly knowledgeable way. I feel we had developed a friendship and I am proud of that. I learned from this kind soul in the humble way he went about his business, he will truly be missed, I know I will miss him. Thank you Judge Chernoff and well-done kind Sir.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Judge Paul Chernoff. I have known him for the 9yrs he diligently gave his time and his expertise to countless veterans for our legal clinic. He was truly a gentle soul and I will miss him. He was so kind and always had time for anyone no matter who you were. Thank you Judge Chernoff well done kind sir.

I will always cherrish his warm smile and helping attitude towards the Veterans we presented for support at Bedford VA. Beyond dedicated and kind, it was a treasure to call him a fellow Newtonian. Rest easy Judge Chernoff.
Joanne Russo Polci

It was a pleasure to have Judge Chernoff be here at Bedford VA Legal Clinic to assist our veteran with their CORI, and legal issues. Judge Chernoff worked diligently with the VLS staff for the past 9 years. he has helped so many veterans get their lives back on track. We will miss you Judge Chernoff. Thanks for your service.

My last memory was when he was seeking my help for a veteran. He had called on 30 lawyers before me, some who owed him favors but not gotten a yes answer. During the process he claimed to be my paralegal on the matter, doing all the work and giving me most of the credit. Best paralegal I ever had or will have. Wonderful guy.

Thank you for your service to our country, and our veterans Sir. Job well done and it´s now time to Rest In Peace. May God Bless You and your family.
~Salute~
VFW Post 1012, Medford, MA

I have only been in Paul´s company a few times, but was continually impressed. Knowing only a small part of Paul´s accomplishments, it was no surprise to read and discover just how wonderfully accomplished he was. We need more Paul´s! Great guy!