Alaska Court System names new Chief Justice

WASILLA — Alaska Supreme Court members recently selected Justice Peter J. Maassen to serve as Chief Justice

According to a recent press release, Maassen will start his new role February 7, 2023, following Chief Justice Daniel E. Winfree, whose term as Chief Justice expires with his retirement on February 6, 2023.

The Chief Justice is selected from among the justices of the Supreme Court by a majority vote of other justices, serving as the administrative head of the judicial branch of government, presiding over Supreme Court arguments and conferences, appointing presiding judges for Alaska’s four judicial districts, and serving as the chair of the Alaska Judicial Council.

Maassen was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2012.

According to the press release, Maassen was born and raised in west Michigan, the son of a minister and an elementary school teacher, attending Hope College, Wayne State University Law School, and the University of Michigan Law School, where he received his J.D. in 1980.

He permanently moved to Alaska with his wife, Kay Gouwens in 1981. He spent most of his legal career in private practice in Anchorage, and his civil litigation work was varied and included many appeals.

Maassen served many roles over the years, including the editor-in-chief of the Alaska Bar Rag, the official publication of the Alaska Bar Association from 1994-2000; treasurer, president-elect, and discipline liaison for the Board of Governors from 2009-2012, and board member of the Anchorage Youth Court for ten years. He was also a long-time member of the Supreme Court’s Civil Pattern Jury Instruction Committee.

Maassen received the Professionalism Award from the Alaska Bar Association’s Board of Governors in 2006.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com