The U.S. Senate confirmed Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit this past fall. Gelpí graduated from Suffolk Law in 1991, and he is the first Suffolk Law alumnus and the second judge of Hispanic heritage to serve on the First Circuit. He was nominated by President Joe Biden.
For the prior 15 years, Gelpí had served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, after his nomination by President George W. Bush. Since 2018, he had been that court’s chief judge. He previously served as a federal defender, magistrate judge, and solicitor general.
Gelpí has taught Federal Criminal Procedure at Suffolk Law during the January Intersession since 2012. He was inspired to start teaching the course by the example of his own “crim pro” professor at Suffolk Law, the late Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Joseph Nolan. Nolan had absorbed a wealth of practical courtroom lessons between his time as a practicing lawyer and his appointment as a justice on the Supreme Judicial Court, Gelpí says.
“I wanted to share my experience with Suffolk students in a way that would mimic what I had experienced myself at Suffolk through Judge Nolan,” he says.
“At Suffolk, the professors really cared about teaching, imparting knowledge,” Gelpí says. “I can’t recall any professors who had an ego trip, who felt they were superior to anybody else. Suffolk offered me a great foundation. I owe it to the school and its professors for helping me get to where I am right now.”
Suffolk Law Professor Joseph Glannon, a civil procedure expert, offered critical lessons that Gelpí has turned to time and again, he says. Glannon reminded Gelpí and his classmates regularly that a lawyer’s case needed to meet the jurisdictional requirements of a particular court. “I’ve been in federal practice for over 30 years and that’s the first thing I always look for,” he says. “Still there are attorneys who may have a brilliant case—the best case in the world on the facts—but there’s no federal jurisdiction. They’re in the wrong forum. That was a valuable lesson learned.”
His work as a Suffolk housing clinic student with now-retired Professor Stephen Callahan was also formative. “For the clinic, I had to take the bus every day to Chelsea,” a working-class city outside of Boston, Gelpí says. “We had a lot of impoverished clients being evicted in the middle of winter. I had a client with six kids ages 2 to 10. She had nowhere to go, and I was able to reach a settlement. She was able to stay, at least until spring, and that was a small victory for both of us.”
Suffolk Law Dean Andrew Perlman describes Gelpí as “a first-rate legal mind who has deftly handled extraordinarily complex cases.” For example, Gelpí presided over the nation’s largest police reform consent-decree case, based on a pattern of civil rights violations by police against Puerto Rican citizens.
“Judge Gelpí is a devoted advocate for Suffolk Law students,” Perlman adds, noting that Gelpí’s students have achieved highly selective government positions, including clerkships and internships in the federal judiciary. Gelpí himself regularly hires Suffolk Law students as clerks, viewing it as a way to give talented students a transformational first job after law school.
The First Circuit handles appellate cases for Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.
Image courtesy of Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr.
By Michael Fisch
Law Briefs
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The U.S. Senate confirmed Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit this past fall. Gelpí graduated from Suffolk Law in 1991, and he is the first Suffolk Law alumnus and the second judge of Hispanic heritage to serve on the First Circuit. He was nominated by President Joe Biden.
For the prior 15 years, Gelpí had served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, after his nomination by President George W. Bush. Since 2018, he had been that court’s chief judge. He previously served as a federal defender, magistrate judge, and solicitor general.
Gelpí has taught Federal Criminal Procedure at Suffolk Law during the January Intersession since 2012. He was inspired to start teaching the course by the example of his own “crim pro” professor at Suffolk Law, the late Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Joseph Nolan. Nolan had absorbed a wealth of practical courtroom lessons between his time as a practicing lawyer and his appointment as a justice on the Supreme Judicial Court, Gelpí says.
“I wanted to share my experience with Suffolk students in a way that would mimic what I had experienced myself at Suffolk through Judge Nolan,” he says.
“At Suffolk, the professors really cared about teaching, imparting knowledge,” Gelpí says. “I can’t recall any professors who had an ego trip, who felt they were superior to anybody else. Suffolk offered me a great foundation. I owe it to the school and its professors for helping me get to where I am right now.”
Suffolk Law Professor Joseph Glannon, a civil procedure expert, offered critical lessons that Gelpí has turned to time and again, he says. Glannon reminded Gelpí and his classmates regularly that a lawyer’s case needed to meet the jurisdictional requirements of a particular court. “I’ve been in federal practice for over 30 years and that’s the first thing I always look for,” he says. “Still there are attorneys who may have a brilliant case—the best case in the world on the facts—but there’s no federal jurisdiction. They’re in the wrong forum. That was a valuable lesson learned.”
His work as a Suffolk housing clinic student with now-retired Professor Stephen Callahan was also formative. “For the clinic, I had to take the bus every day to Chelsea,” a working-class city outside of Boston, Gelpí says. “We had a lot of impoverished clients being evicted in the middle of winter. I had a client with six kids ages 2 to 10. She had nowhere to go, and I was able to reach a settlement. She was able to stay, at least until spring, and that was a small victory for both of us.”
Suffolk Law Dean Andrew Perlman describes Gelpí as “a first-rate legal mind who has deftly handled extraordinarily complex cases.” For example, Gelpí presided over the nation’s largest police reform consent-decree case, based on a pattern of civil rights violations by police against Puerto Rican citizens.
“Judge Gelpí is a devoted advocate for Suffolk Law students,” Perlman adds, noting that Gelpí’s students have achieved highly selective government positions, including clerkships and internships in the federal judiciary. Gelpí himself regularly hires Suffolk Law students as clerks, viewing it as a way to give talented students a transformational first job after law school.
The First Circuit handles appellate cases for Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.
Image courtesy of Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr.
By Michael Fisch
LAW BRIEFS
Return to Table of Contents
Above (from left): Suffolk Law Professor Joseph Glannon, Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr., and Dean Andrew Perlman at Gelpí's confirmation