Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 12, § 3 (2026)

Appearances for commonwealth, prosecution or defense; rendering of legal services; payment of expenses for representation of department of transportation

✓ current as of July 2026 Cite as: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 12, § 3 (2026)

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 3. The attorney general shall appear for the commonwealth and for state departments, officers and commissions in all suits and other civil proceedings in which the commonwealth is a party or interested, or in which the official acts and doings of said departments, officers and commissions are called in question, in all the courts of the commonwealth, except upon criminal recognizances and bail bonds, and in such suits and proceedings before any other tribunal, including the prosecution of claims of the commonwealth against the United States, when requested by the governor or by the general court or either branch thereof. All such suits and proceedings shall be prosecuted or defended by him or under his direction. Writs, summonses or other processes served upon such officers shall be forthwith transmitted by them to him. All legal services required by such departments, officers, commissions and commissioners of pilots for districts 1 to 4, inclusive, in matters relating to their official duties shall, except as otherwise provided, be rendered by the attorney general or under his direction.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, or any successor in interest, shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the attorney general through which the authority shall provide payment to the attorney general of all direct and indirect costs of the attorney general's representation of the authority, and the attorney general may retain and expend such funds without further appropriation for the purpose of defraying such costs.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 43 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1927–2023 · leading case: Secretary of Administration & Finance v. Attorney General

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Secretary of Administration & Finance v. Attorney General (1975) mass · cites it 14× “Although a technical reading of G.L.c. 12, § 3, and its legislative history indicate that only the Attorney General is authorized to appear for State agencies and officers, adherence to this rule in the instant case would effectively prevent review by this court where the powers…”

Feeney v. Commonwealth (1977) mass · cites it 6× “The powers and duties of the Attorney General are in part derived from G. L. c. 12, § 3, as amended through St. 1943, c.”

Ex Parte Weaver (1990) ala · cites it 4× “Not only does the Attorney General represent the Commonwealth as well as the members of the Commission and the Personnel Administrator in accordance with G.L. c. 12, § 3, `[h]e also has a common law duty to represent the public interest.”

Sullivan v. Chief Justice for Administration & Management of the Trial Court (2006) mass “12 See G. L. c. 12, § 3. See also Attorney Gen. v.”

Commonwealth v. Twitchell (1993) mass · cites it 2× “See G.L.c. 12, § 3 (1992 ed.); Feeney v. Commonwealth, 373 Mass.”

Torres v. Attorney General (1984) mass · cites it 2× “acting in furtherance of their official duties" (emphasis added).”

Commonwealth v. Mass. Crinc (1984) mass “359, 363-366 (1977); G. L. c. 12, § 3. He is given a specific mandate by G.”

Trustees of the Stigmatine Fathers, Inc. v. Secretary of Administration & Finance (1976) mass “G. L. c. 12, § 3. He is empowered “to set a unified and consistent legal policy for the Commonwealth.”

Lally v. Dorchester Division of the District Court Department (1988) massappct · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 12, § 3, as appearing in St. 1943 c.”

Commonwealth v. Boe (2010) mass “See G. L. c. 12, § 3. That the district attorney assented to expungement in the joint pretrial motion does not judicially estop the commissioner from arguing, in a separate and subsequent proceeding, that expungement is not an appropriate remedy.”

Grace v. Town of Brookline (1979) mass “See G. L. c. 12, § 3; Mass.R.Civ.P. 24 (d), 365 Mass.”

Commonwealth v. Lucas (2015) mass “” 4 The Commonwealth is represented in this proceeding by the Attorney General pursuant to G. L. c. 12, § 3. The district attorney handling the prosecution of Lucas declined to file a brief, but submitted a letter requesting that the court determine the constitutionality of § 42.”

Show all 43 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.