Joseph L. Tauro

Who is Joseph L. Tauro?

Joseph Louis Tauro is a Senior United States District Judge. He is the son of the late Massachusetts Chief Justice G. Joseph Tauro.

Born in Winchester, Massachusetts, Tauro received an A.B. from Brown University in 1953 and an LL.B. from Cornell Law School in 1956. He was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army from 1956 to 1958, and was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1959 to 1960. He was in private practice in Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, from 1960 to 1971. He was a chief legal counsel to the Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Volpe, from 1965 to 1968. He was the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts in 1972.

On September 12, 1972, Tauro was nominated by President Richard M. Nixon to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated by Francis J. W. Ford. Tauro was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 12, 1972, and received his commission on October 17, 1972. He served as chief judge from 1992 to 1999. Tauro remains the longest-serving active judge appointed by Nixon. Tauro took senior status effective September 26, 2013, retaining approximately a 60% caseload with a focus on criminal cases.