Bankruptcy judge sworn in

By Martin Luttrell, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Melvin S. Hoffman was sworn in yesterday as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Massachusetts, an honor that he said is a testament to the values and perseverance of his parents, both of whom were Holocaust survivors.

Judge Hoffman, 59, of Newton, succeeds former judge Joel B. Rosenthal, who retired last week after serving for 10 years. He will be based in Worcester.

During his investiture ceremony in the Harold D. Donohue Federal Building at Federal Square, a former law partner, Stewart F. Grossman of the Boston law firm of Looney & Grossman LLP, said his friend will serve with an even hand.

“One of the things Mel has learned over the years is to be prepared,” Mr. Grossman said. “He’s a very calm person. He doesn’t raise his voice.

“… The word I would use to characterize him is mensch,” he said, referring to the Yiddish word for a man of integrity and honor.

With his wife, son, two daughters and son-in-law standing by, Judge Hoffman repeated the oath as he was sworn in by Sandra L. Lynch, Chief Justice for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

His wife, Eva R. Hoffman, a professor of art history at Tufts University, told the packed courtroom and about 50 who viewed the proceedings on a television monitor in a nearby courtroom that her husband’s achievement is an honor to himself and his family.

Her parents and his were Holocaust survivors and naturalized citizens, she said.

“They lost everything. They came here with nothing. They endured horrible conditions. They made this possible.

“Mel is honest with himself and with others. He is not pedantic. He’s not afraid to do what’s right. He takes himself seriously, but no more seriously than he takes anyone else.

“The honor of the office and the honor of the person could not be more perfectly matched.”

In his remarks after taking the oath, Judge Hoffman joked about the “endless FBI screening process,” and credited some of the lawyers he learned from.

He said his parents enabled him to attain a high measure of success.

Minutes before joining hundreds of guests at a reception at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Judge Hoffman said he will do his best to be fair and impartial.

“The philosophy that I try to express is that one of the attributes of a judge is the necessity not to approach litigants with any bias, either for or against.”

Lindsey Malaney, Judge Hoffman’s legal assistant at Looney & Grossman, said her former boss is devoted to his Jewish faith and likes sports.

“Mel is one of the last true gentlemen you’ll ever meet,” she said.