Retired Superior Court Judge C. Judson Hamlin held leadership roles in the Middlesex Vicinage as part of his distinguished legal career. But the practice of law was something he said he “stumbled upon.”

“And it became the best thing that I stumbled on,” said Hamlin, also a former county prosecutor and deputy public defender who turns a “young” 82 next month. He has practiced as a mediator and arbitrator since his retirement from the bench.