[2] Reardon spent a year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, before entering Harvard College, from which he received a B.A., cum laude, in 1932.
In 1955, Herter appointed Reardon Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, and in 1957 Reardon was instrumental in establishing the National Conference of State Trial Judges, which facilitated communication between judges of different states on strategies for handling the common problem of congested dockets and backlogged cases.
[1] In 1966, the committee issued a lengthy report finding many issues arising from the conduct of law enforcement officers and attorneys,[1] and recommending "rules for lawyers, courts and law enforcement officials to follow in preventing news stories from prejudicing juries in criminal cases".
[2] The report was condemned by news organizations, but endorsed by the American Bar Association and enacted to some degree into the legal codes of ethics of all fifty states.
[1] Reardon died of heart failure at Massachusetts General Hospital at the age of 78,[1] and was interred at Mount Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy.