MBF to Honor Judge David G. Sacks (Ret.) with 2025 President’s Award at Western MA Reception
The Massachusetts Bar Foundation (MBF) President’s Award honors those who exemplify the Foundation’s commitment to advancing equal access to justice. 2025 award recipient Hon. David G. Sacks will be recognized this fall for his career-long dedication to fairness and equity in the justice system and his devoted service as an MBF grant review volunteer. Judge Sacks will receive the award at the MBF’s Western MA Grantee Reception on October 23 at Western New England University School of Law.
A graduate of American University and Suffolk University Law School, Judge Sacks served as a Probate and Family Court judge for 33 years, including more than a decade as Hampden Division First Justice. When asked what inspired him throughout his judicial career, he pointed to the children at the heart of family law cases.
“It was as though there was a curtain behind the parties and counsel in Courtroom Two,” said Judge Sacks. “I imagined that behind that imaginary curtain were the parties’ children. No matter how challenging a case might be and no matter how difficult the day, I would visualize the children as a reminder of why I was in the courtroom.”
That perspective kept him grounded in the real-life impact of the court system and sharpened his awareness of its inequities. He witnessed the barriers faced by unrepresented litigants and low-income families navigating the courts, noting especially high numbers of both in the Hampden and Suffolk Divisions.
“It is difficult enough for individuals of means to navigate a courthouse; not having financial means and often being a person of color and/or from a different culture makes litigation so much harder,” Judge Sacks reflected. “That is what I saw each week while on the Bench for 33 years.”
Judge Sacks has long been committed to improving access to justice beyond the courtroom. “I don’t remember a time since I was a new lawyer that I had not been actively involved in organized bar and/or court committees… When I learned about the work of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and its benefits to so many litigants in need, it was an easy call to become a Life Fellow and a review volunteer.”
An MBF Fellow since 1984, Judge Sacks has participated in the Foundation’s grant review process numerous times. He most recently served on the Western Massachusetts Regional Committee this past June, helping to allocate nearly $1 million in grant awards. Volunteers like Judge Sacks are essential to ensuring MBF funds reach the communities where they will be most impactful.
Today, Judge Sacks continues both private and pro bono work. He serves as a Continuing Access to Justice Fellow with Senior Partners for Justice (SPJ) and works as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Affiliate at Boston Law Collaborative, crediting founder Attorney David Hoffman as a “premier mediator and arbitrator” who has enriched his practice.
SPJ Access to Justice Fellows are senior lawyers and retired judges who provide pro bono service to public interest entities across Massachusetts. Judge Sacks became involved in 2010 when the late Associate Justice Edward M. Ginsburg and retired Judge Mark D Mason established Senior Partners – West and asked him to participate.
“It was important for the pro bono attorneys to see that their taking family law cases mattered to the judges,” said Judge Sacks.
“On my retirement, Judge Ginsburg asked if I would take over hosting the Springfield luncheons to which I said “yes,” he continued. “When Judge Ginsburg died, I knew I should continue the SPJ meetings which are a vehicle to recruit and retain pro bono lawyers.”
Though he retired from the bench in 2020, Judge Sacks’s ongoing service is evident in the recognition he continues to receive. In 2021, he was presented with the SPJ/Volunteer Lawyers Project Gideon’s Trumpet Award for helping to create a partnership between SPJ, the Hampden Probate and Family Court, and the Hampden County Bar Association — now known as the Hampden Conciliation Project. In 2023, he was appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court to the Board of Bar Examiners.
“And now there is the pleasure of this very special MBF recognition,” said Judge Sacks. “What it all means to me is that my prior legal and judicial careers gave me skills and motivation to carry forward and pay back in the best traditions of our legal profession.”
The MBF is proud to honor Judge Sacks as a dedicated public servant and partner in the vital work of expanding access to justice. Join us on October 23 to celebrate Judge Sacks and his accomplishments as a valued member of our philanthropic community.