Brookline Native Awarded Brand New Postion in Attorney General's Office

On July 30, Attorney General Martha Coakley created the Office of State Solicitor within her office and appointed Brookline native Peter Sacks as the first State Solicitor.

“I'm honored that Attorney General Coakley has appointed me as the state’s first State Solicitor, and I'm excited about this new opportunity to advance the public interest in the appellate courts,” Sacks said.

”We already have a very talented and diverse group of attorneys in the AG's Office, but we're always pushing ourselves to do more to benefit the people of the Commonwealth. I hope that my 25 years in the office and my experience in appeals work will help us achieve those goals.”

According to the Attorney General’s press officer, over 35 states have a State Solicitor or a Solicitor General Office, which help focus on appellate advocacy.  

Sacks, and State Solicitors to come, will help develop appellate strategies and prepare oral arguments in selected cases handled by the Assistant Attorney General. State Solicitors also track the office’s appeals to ensure legal positions and advise the Attorney General in multi-state amicus briefs.

“Establishing the Office of the State Solicitor has long been a goal of mine and I am honored today to announce that Peter Sacks will be taking on this new role,” Attorney General Coakley said in a press release sent to Brookline Patch.

“Peter is an outstanding attorney and dedicated public servant with over 25 years of experience in this office. He has argued over 60 appeals and has the leadership abilities needed to take our already well-regarded appellate advocacy to even greater heights.”

Sacks most recently served as the Deputy Chief of the Attorney General’s Government Bureau, which represents the Commonwealth, its agencies and officials in civil litigation.

Sack has worked primarily on election law and cases involving separation of powers, appropriations, and other state constitutional laws, handling civil elections, ballot questions and campaign finance matters.

Sacks first joined the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in 1988 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Administrative Law Division. He later served as the Opinions Coordinator and as Elections Counsel within the Government Bureau. In 1995, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Government Bureau. He served as Chief of the Government Bureau from 1998-99 and again from 2009-2010. 

Sacks is a graduate of Harvard College, and Harvard Law School where he was a member of the Law Review. Following law school, Sacks clerked for the Honorable Frank Coffin, U.S. Circuit Judge for the First Circuit, and the Honorable Edward Gignoux, U.S. District Judge, both in Portland, Maine. Sacks is a member of the Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure and a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.