Coakley, Martha, 1953-

Martha Mary Coakley (born July 14, 1953) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and former politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1999 to 2007 and as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. She was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the 2010 special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy for over four and a half decades and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in 2014.

Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and raised in North Adams, Massachusetts, she attended St. Joseph's School and Drury High School before earning a B.A. from Williams College and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. While a law student, Coakley clerked for the law firm of Donovan and O'Connor of Adams, Massachusetts. After graduating from law school, Coakley began work as an associate at the law firm of Parker, Coulter, Daley & White and later practiced at Goodwin Procter—both in Boston, Massachusetts. She joined the DA's office in 1986 as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lowell, Massachusetts, District Court office. A year later, she was invited by the U.S. Justice Department to join its Boston Organized Crime Strike Force as a Special Attorney. Coakley returned to the District Attorney's office in 1989 and was appointed the Chief of the Child Abuse Prosecution Unit two years later. In December 1997, Coakley resigned her position in order to campaign for District Attorney in Middlesex County. Coakley would go on to be elected in November 1998 and would serve eight years in the role.

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