YAD Administration
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Erica E. Cushna, Esq., Trial Panel Director
Joshua M. Dohan, Esq., Director
Priscilla Duffy, Esq., Assistant Director
Jessica Edwards, MSW, Director of Social Work
Theresa Flaherty, Administrative Assistant
Helen Fremont, Esq., Trial Panel Oversight
Brian Gutman, Juvenile Justice Policy Advocate
Barbara Kaban, Esq., Director of Juvenile Appeals
Rachel Rosenberg, Esq., Skadden Fellow
Michele Scavongelli, Esq., Equal Justice Works Fellow
Holly Smith, Esq., Training Attorney
Marlies Spanjaard, Esq., Director of Education Advocacy
Bryna Williams, Esq., EdLaw Project Staff Attorney
Wendy Wolf, Esq., Director of Training
Mara Voukydis, Esq., Revocation Advocacy Coordinator
Fall River Office Staff
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Heather Beninati, MSW., Social Service Advocate
Courtney Bradley, Esq., Senior Attorney
Virginia Carter, Esq., Staff Attorney
James Ladino, Esq., Staff Attorney
Filipa Melendez, Administrative Assistant
Joe Mulhern, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Hyannis Office Staff
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Judie Flynn, Administrative Assistant
Mary Kirwin, Esq., Staff Attorney
Nancy McLean, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Paige Rawlins, MSW., Social Service Advocate
Lowell Office Staff
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Scott Hulgan, Esq., Senior Attorney
Mona Igram, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Amy Kelso, MSW., Social Service Advocate
Peter Lee, Esq., Staff Attorney
Cynthia Mousseau, Esq., Staff Attorney
Petra Veras-Rizwan, Administrative Assistant
Quincy Office Staff
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Laura Alfring, Esq., Staff Attorney
Jim Corbo, Esq., Senior Attorney
Dulcinea Goncalves, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Celiana Guante, Administrative Assistant
Melanie Roberts, Esq., Staff Attorney
Peter Uzoma, MSW., Social Service Advocate
Roxbury Office Staff
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Jessie Brito, Administrative AssistantZiyad Hopkins, Esq., Staff Attorney
Rose King, Esq., Staff Attorney
Kathryn Ratey, Social Service Advocate
Cecely Reardon, Esq., Attorney In Charge
Brian Wiseman, Esq., Staff Attorney
Salem Office Staff
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Hannah Angel, MSW., Social Service Advocate
Harris Krinsky, Esq., Staff Attorney
Susan Oker, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Lidia Reyes, Administrative Assistant
Lauren Russell, Esq., Staff Attorney
Tinia Snow, Esq., Staff Attorney
Somerville Office Staff
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Allyn Carey, MSW., Social Service Advocate
Dean Douglas, Esq., Staff Attorney
Vanessa Hernandez, Esq., Staff Attorney
Maria Perrone , Administrative Assistant
Scott Rankin, Esq., Senior Attorney
Jeff Richards, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Springfield Office Staff
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Charity Dore, Esq., Staff Attorney
Naretha Griffin , Administrative Assistant
Audrey Harrington , Esq., Staff Attorney
Lauren Honigman , MSW., Social Services Advocate
Ami Jackson, Criminal Defense Investigator
Elizabeth LaFrance, Esq., Staff Attorney
Susan Lyman, Esq., Staff Attorney
Stephanie Stolk Ormsby, Esq., Senior Attorney
Patrick Sparks, Esq., Attorney in Charge
Worcester Office Staff
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Melissa A. Dineen, Esq, Attorney In Charge
Lisa Ferigno, Administrative Assistant
Lisa Gigliotti, Social Services Advocate
Bri Lacy, Esq., Staff Attorney
Josh Reuling, Esq., Staff Attorney
Brendan Moran, Esq, Staff Attorney
YAD Administration
Erica E. Cushna, Esq., Trial Panel Director
(617) 988-8349
ecushna@publiccounsel.net
Erica E. Cushna is the YAD Trial Panel Director. Prior to her employment at YAD Erica was a Bar Advocate in Hampden County for over 17 years. Erica has successfully defended numerous cases before juries in the Massachusetts superior, district, and juvenile courts and has been a dedicated advocate for hundreds of other indigent clients. She has also appeared before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court, successfully arguing for the expansion of the right of a juvenile to a hearing prior to detention. Erica was the 2008 Massachusetts Bar Association Access to Justice Defender Award recipient. A regular lecturer at bar association training seminars and panelist at statewide defense trainings, Erica was chosen as the Regional Coordinator for Juvenile Delinquency and Youthful Offender cases in Hampden County in 2002. Since 2003, her role expanded to Juvenile Supervisory Attorney for the private bar in Hampden County. Erica also serves as a Massachusetts team member of the Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network.
Joshua M. Dohan, Esq., Director
(617) 988-8361
jdohan@publiccounsel.net
Joshua Dohan became a public defender in 1988 and joined the Youth Advocacy Division at its inception, as its first staff attorney in 1992 and assumed the role of Director in 1999. Josh is a returned Peace Corps volunteer, Ghana (1982-84). He is a graduate of Harvard College (1980) and Northeastern University School of Law (1988). He was also the 1998 recipient of the Access to Justice Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association. Josh is on the Board of Directors of Citizens for Juvenile Justice and is President of the Board for the Youth Advocacy Foundation. He is a founding Member of the Equal Justice Partnership, a member of the LeadBoston class of 2001, a member of the Institutional Review Board of both Children's Hospital and Tufts University, and a member of the Community Advisory Board of the Institute on Race and Justice. In 2001, the Youth Advocacy Department became the first Juvenile Defender organization to win the Clara Shortridge Foltz award for outstanding achievement from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
Priscilla Duffy, Esq., Assistant Director
(617) 988-8397
pduffy@publiccounsel.net
Priscilla joined YAD in 2003 as Program Manager, became Director of Communications in 2008, and Assistant Director in 2010. In 2008, Priscilla was recognized by Lawyers Weekly as one of its inaugural "Women of Justice." Previously, she was a trial attorney for seven years in the Brockton Office of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. While there, she specialized in Youthful Offender cases. In addition, Priscilla has marketing and development experience at both a nonprofit company and a major corporation. Priscilla graduated from Brown University in 1983 and received her J.D., with honors, from Boston College Law School in 1992.
Jessica Edwards, MSW, Director of Social Work
(617) 988-8458
jedwards@publiccounsel.net
Jessica joined YAD as the first Director of Social Work in April of 2011. A Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Licensed School Adjustment Counselor, Jessica has practiced as a social worker in a variety of community-based settings, including Early Intervention agencies, school- based counseling programs, teen-parenting programs, and outpatient mental health clinics. Jessica’s social work practice focusing specifically on advocating for court-involved youth began with her experiences as an independent trauma evaluator and forensic clinician, a social worker in CPCS’s Children and Family Law program, and as a juvenile court clinician with Middlesex County Juvenile Court Clinic. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and her Masters of Social Work from Salem State University.
Theresa Flaherty, Administrative Assistant
(617) 988-8339
tflaherty@publiccounsel.net
Theresa joined YAD in 2007. Prior to working at YAD, Theresa worked for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office as a support to the Framingham and Cambridge District Court teams. There she provided administrative and paralegal support to the ADA’s and Regional and Juvenile Court Supervisors. She graduated with a B.A. from Boston University majoring in Sociology.
Helen Fremont, Esq., Trial Panel Oversight
(617) 988-8342
hfremont@publiccounsel.net
Helen Fremont is the YAD Trial Panel Oversight Attorney with CPCS. A Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho from 1982-1983, she became a CPCS trial attorney in 1985. Since 1987, she has worked in the Private Counsel Division of CPCS in various capacities, including Acting Deputy Chief Counsel and Director of the Audit and Oversight Department. Prior to her work at CPCS, she was a Staff Attorney with the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. Fremont is a 1978 graduate of Wellesley College, a 1982 graduate of Boston University School of Law, and a 1991 graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
Brian Gutman, Juvenile Justice Policy Advocate
(617) 988-8374
bgutman@publiccounsel.net
Brian joined CPCS in October 2011. He graduated from Western Michigan University (2008) with a B.A. in Political Science: American Public Policy and received his J.D. from New York Law School (2011). While in law school, Brian represented indigent clients in special education, school discipline and employment discrimination proceedings as a member of the Urban Law Clinic. Prior to joining CPCS, Brian was the Legislative and Budget Director for a member of the New York City Council. Brian was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in November 2011 and his admission to the New York State Bar is pending.
Barbara Kaban, Esq., Director of Juvenile Appeals
(617) 988-8351
bkaban@publiccounsel.net
Rachel Rosenberg, Esq., Skadden Fellow
(617) 988-8461
rrosenberg@publiccounsel.net
Rachel joined the EdLaw Project as a Skadden Fellow in September 2012. Rachel graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2012. During law school, Rachel gained valuable education advocacy experience as a student clinician in the Special Education Clinic/Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, collaboration between Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children. Rachel also interned at Citizens for Juvenile Justice for a semester while participating in her school’s Child Advocacy Clinic. She additionally spent one summer as an intern at the San Francisco Juvenile Public Defender and another at the Children’s Law Center of Washington, D.C. Rachel earned her B.A. at Emory University. She is an experienced bluegrass and old-time fiddler.
Michele Scavongelli, Esq., Equal Justice Works Fellow
(617) 988-8462
mscavongelli@publiccounsel.net
Michele Scavongelli joined the EdLaw Project as an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Bingham McCutchen, LLP in September 2012. Michele graduated Northeastern University School of Law in 2012. During law school, Ms. Scavongelli was a recipient of a Rappaport Fellowship at the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate and a recipient of a Hennessey Fellowship at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee. She interned at the Lowell Juvenile Court as well as at the law firm of Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, LLP with a particular focus on special education law. Ms. Scavongelli also assisted victims of domestic violence at the Dorchester and Roxbury Municipal Courts and at Boston Medical Center and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. She has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and as a Special Education Surrogate Parent. Prior to attending law school she spent 29 years as an executive in the life insurance industry. She is on the board of Bottom Line, an organization that is dedicated to helping disadvantaged students get in to college, graduate from college, and go far in life, and on the board of Boston CASA, an organization that recruits, trains, and supports volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children before the Suffolk County. She earned her S.B. in Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979.
Holly Smith, Esq., Training Attorney
(617) 988-8344
hsmith@publiccounsel.net
Marlies Spanjaard, Esq., Director of Education
Advocacy
(617) 988-8347
mspanjaard@publiccounsel.net
Marlies Spanjaard is the Director of Education Advocacy for The Edlaw Project, an initiative of the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts and the Youth Advocacy Division. EdLaw advocates for the education rights of Massachusetts’ highest risk children. As the Director of Education Advocacy, Ms. Spanjaard is responsible for supervising staff attorneys and interns, making program-wide policy decisions, and conducting state-wide trainings on education-related issues with a specific focus on representing court-involved youth. Prior to serving as coordinator Ms. Spanjaard was a staff attorney at the Edlaw Project and, in that role, represented students in school disciplinary hearings, special education team meetings, and administrative hearings before the Bureau of Special Education Appeals. Ms. Spanjaard has trained a wide variety of audiences including parents, youth workers, students, and lawyers. Ms. Spanjaard as an adjunct instructor at Wheelock College in the Juvenile Justice and Youth Advocacy Department. She earned her J.D. and her M.S.W. at Washington University Law School and George Warren Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis, Missouri.
Bryna G. Williams, Esq., EdLaw Attorney
(617) 988-8363
bwilliams@publiccounsel.net
Bryna joined the EdLaw Project in August, 2006. As a staff attorney, she represents students in the areas of school discipline, special education rights and access to school. Additionally, she regularly attends community meetings and forums focused on public education and leads trainings about education rights to community groups, child advocates and students throughout the region. During law school, she gained valuable experience in client advocacy through internships with the Public Guardian of Cook County in Chicago and the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, Illinois, and as a student clinician at the Loyola Civitas ChildLaw Clinic. Additionally, she served as the managing editor of the Children's Legal Rights Journal, as the president of her law school's Public Interest Law Society and as a volunteer teaching students about their legal rights in the Chicago Public Schools and at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. She earned her A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1998 and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2005.
Wendy Wolf, Esq., Director of Training
(617) 988-8451
wwolf@publiccounsel.net
Wendy Wolf, Esq. has been a trial attorney with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) since 1985. She began her practice representing adults accused of felonies and was also a Supervising Attorney in the Cambridge office of CPCS. In 1996 Wendy joined the Youth Advocacy Division (YAD) of CPCS as the Supervising Attorney. In 2002 Wendy started the Juvenile Defense Network, an initiative of YAD and CPCS which provides training and support to attorneys in delinquency and youthful offender cases. She is currently the co-chair of the Juvenile and Child Welfare Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association, a board member of the Massachusetts Juvenile Bar Association and the New England Juvenile Defender Center, and on the Juvenile Justice Center Advisory Board of Barry University Law School. She is the 2007 recipient of the Massachusetts Bar Association Defender Award. Ms. Wolf earned her B.S in Social Work from the University of Vermont and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
Mara Voukydis , Esq., Revocation Advocacy Coordinator
(617) 988-8354
mvoukydis@publiccounsel.net
Mara joined YAD staff in March of 2011 after representing youth in DYS revocation cases as a solo practitioner. Mara graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 2008, where she was a recipient of the school’s Public Interest Law Scholarship. During school she worked as a student attorney and clinical teaching assistant for the Prisoners’ Rights Clinic. She also served as a team leader with the Domestic Violence Institute, providing social and legal services to survivors. In addition to her legal focus on post-conviction representation, she worked for four years as a social services advocate. In that role she coordinated services for people living with HIV, addiction, and homelessness, and trained staff on advocating for people with criminal records. Mara is a member of the Juvenile Defense Advisory Committee. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2001 with a B.A. in Government.
Fall River Office Staff
Heather Beninati, MSW., Social Service Advocate
(508) 484-5785
hbeninati@publiccounsel.net
Heather joined YAD as a Social Service Advocate in October of 2011. Heather has practiced in the field of social work in a variety of settings, including an alternative high school placement, public middle school, DYS secure treatment facility, and an outreach mental health clinic. Heather received her Bachelors in Social Work from Westfield State College and her Masters of Social Work from Boston College with a concentration in clinical studies with children and family.
Courtney Bradley, Esq., Senior Attorney
(508) 484-5781
cbradley@publiccounsel.net
Courtney graduated from the University of Georgia in 2003 with a B.S. in Psychology and then attended Suffolk University Law School where she graduated with a J.D. in 2006. While at Suffolk, Courtney participated in the Suffolk Juvenile Justice Program where she represented juveniles in criminal matters under the third year practice rule in Boston Juvenile Court. After graduating from Suffolk, she returned to Georgia and was a Public Defender for both adults and juveniles in the Enotah Judicial Circuit. After spending four and a half years as a Public Defender in Georgia, Courtney joined YAD in March of 2011.
Virginia Carter, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 484-5782
vcarter@publiccounsel.net
Virginia joined YAD as a staff attorney in March 2011. She graduated from Converse College in 2007 with a B.A. in Religious Studies. She received her J.D. from New England School of Law in 2010. While in law school, Virginia was a student attorney in Providence and Lowell representing clients in criminal matters. She also held internships at the New Hampshire Public Defender’s Office and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. She was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in November 2010.
James Ladino, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 484-5783
jladino@publiccounsel.net
James joined YAD in March 2011 as a staff attorney. James graduated cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA in 2006 and from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, NY in 2009. In his final year of law school, James served as Managing Editor to the Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender, one of the nation’s leading publishers of gender-related legal scholarship. His note, Ianfu: No Comfort Yet for Korean Comfort Women and the Impact of House Resolution 121, was published in 2009. James has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 2009 and has been a resident of the Greater New Bedford-Fall River area his entire life.
Filipa Melendez, Administrative Assistant
(508)484-5777
fmelendez@publiccounsel.net
Joe Mulhern, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(508) 484-5784
jmulhern@publiccounsel.net
Joe has been working with youth involved in the juvenile justice system since 1999, first as a line staff with the Department of Youth Services, and then as a DYS Caseworker and supervisor of clinicians on a secured treatment unit. Joe is a graduate of Bridgewater State College (1997) and Southern New England School of Law (2003). Prior to joining YAD in January of 2011 as the Attorney In Charge of the Fall River Area office Joe had been a solo practitioner focusing on juvenile and adult criminal defense, care and protection, and family law since 2004. This year he has also been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth School of Law.
Hyannis Office Staff
Judie Flynn, Administrative Assistant
(508) 815-5711
jflynn@publiccounsel.net
Mary Kirwin, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 815-5721
mkirwin@publiccounsel.net
Nancy McLean, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(508) 815-5720
nmclean@publiccounsel.net
Paige Rawlins, MSW., Social Service Advocate
(508) 815-5714
prawlins@publiccounsel.net
Lowell Office Staff
Scott Hulgan, Esq., Senior Attorney
(978) 856-6158
shulgan@publiccounsel.net
Scott joined YAD in March 2011. Prior to his employment at YAD, Scott served as a Public Defender in Virginia, from 2007 to 2011. There, Scott represented both juveniles and adults accused of a diverse array of charges. He defended his clients in bench trials, juries, and worked on numerous petitions for appeal. Additionally, Scott argued before panels of the Virginia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Virginia. He also served as the Public Defender representative on the Richmond and Fairfax Juvenile Drug Courts and worked with two attorneys to start and coach a mock trial team at a Richmond City High School. Before joining YAD, Scott successfully challenged a specific component of a juvenile detention statute and advocated to change the local court atmosphere concerning issues related to Juvenile Competency. He graduated from the University of Richmond School of Law in 2006.
Mona Igram, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(978) 856-6159
migram@publiccounsel.net
Amy Kelso, MSW., Social Service Advocate
(978) 856-6160
akelso@publiccounsel.net
Peter Lee, Esq., Staff Attorney
(978) 856-6161
plee@publiccounsel.net
Cythina Mousseau, Esq., Staff Attorney
(978) 856-6162
cmousseau@publiccounsel.net
Cynthia joined YAD as a staff attorney in March 2011. She graduated from University of Rochester in 2005 and University of New Hampshire School of Law in 2008. Following law school, Cynthia clerked for two years at the New Hampshire Superior Court, spending the second year with Judge David Garfunkel. After her clerkship, she represented juveniles in grant of conditional liberty violation hearings as part of the Revocation Advocacy Project.
Petra Veras-Rizwan, Administrative Assistant
(978) 856-6157
pveras-rizwan@publiccounsel.net
Quincy Office Staff
Laura Alfring, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 484-5934
lalfring@publiccounsel.net
Laura joined YAD in September 2010. Prior to joining YAD, she worked as an associate attorney in private practice, and as a Clinical Fellow at Suffolk University Law School’s Juvenile Defender Clinic. She graduated from Suffolk Law School in 2007. She grew up in Colorado and attended college at University of Colorado, Boulder. She has written and published articles on juvenile justice, human trafficking, and the death penalty. She has also served on the Board of Directors at the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild since 2008.
Jim Corbo, Esq., Senior Attorney
(508) 484-5932
jcorbo@publiccounsel.net
Jim joined YAD in February 2011. He graduated from Suffolk University Law School in 1997, where he was the co-founder and co-president of the Suffolk Public Interest Law Group. Before coming to YAD, Jim practiced juvenile and criminal defense for nine years as a solo practice attorney. During that time he served as the juvenile supervising attorney for the Norfolk and Suffolk County bar advocate programs. Jim has also worked as an associate at a small criminal defense firm and as a federal probation officer at the U.S. District Court in Boston. From 1997 to 1998, he clerked statewide for the Massachusetts Juvenile Court. In addition to his trial work, Jim has argued juvenile cases before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. Jim has presented at several criminal and juvenile law trainings and in 2010 he served as a Guberman Fellow and Lecturer in the Legal Studies program at Brandeis University, his alma mater (B.A. in Sociology, 1993). Jim served full-time as a City Year Boston corps member from 1990 to 1991. In 2010, YAD presented Jim with the Judge Jay D. Blitzman Award for Youth Advocacy.
Duci Goncalves, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(508) 484-5931
dgoncalves@publiccounsel.net
Duci first joined YAD (Roxbury Office) in 2005 where she represented juveniles in delinquency and youthful offender matters in the Dorchester, West Roxbury, and Boston Juvenile Courts. From 2010-2011, while on a leave of absence from YAD, Ms. Goncalves worked as a staff attorney at Suffolk University School of Law’s Juvenile Justice Center (JJC). As a staff attorney with the JJC, Ms. Goncalves supervised law students representing juveniles in the Boston Juvenile Court, assisted in the teaching of the Juvenile Defender Clinical Class, and maintained a small caseload of juvenile delinquency and youthful offender cases. In 2008, Ms. Goncalves was selected as one of fifteen lawyers by the Boston Bar Association to participate in its 2008-2009 Public Interest Leadership Program, a program designed for lawyers who have demonstrated leadership in public service, pro bono and organized bar activities. Ms. Goncalves has participated in numerous CPCS and MCLE trainings as a panelist lecturing in the areas of arraignment/bail, alternatives to detention, and probation. Ms. Goncalves earned her B.S. in Rehabilitation and Human Services from Boston University and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.
Celiana Guante , Administrative Assistant
(508) 484-5930
cguante@publiccounsel.net
Melanie Roberts, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 484-5933
mroberts@publiccounsel.net
Melanie joined YAD as a staff attorney in March 2011. She graduated from magna cum laude from Connecticut College in 2007, with a double major in History and Classics. She graduated from Suffolk University Law School in May of 2010. During her third year of law school, she represented indigent juvenile clients in the Boston Juvenile Court as a certified student attorney with the law school’s Juvenile Defender Clinic. She has interned with Attorney Nan Evans, the law firm of Stern, Shapiro, Weissberg, and Garin, LLP, and with Neighborhood Legal Services in Lawrence. Melanie was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2010.
Peter Uzoma, MSW., Social Service Advocate
(508) 484-5935
puzoma@publiccounsel.net
Roxbury Office Staff
Jessie Brito, Administrative Assistant
(617) 445-7581 Ext 26
jbrito@publiccounsel.net
Ziyad Hopkins, Esq., Staff Attorney
(617) 445-7581 Ext 15
zhopkins@publiccounsel.net
Ziyad has been with CPCS since graduating from Northeastern University School of Law in 1998. Before joining YAD in 2003 he was a trial attorney in the Boston Trial Unit, where he represented adults accused of committing felonies. Ziyad grew up in Cairo, Egypt and is an alumnus of Oberlin College (1992). During college he spent six months in occupied Palestine working with the Mandela Institute, a prisoner's rights group advocating for Palestinians held in Israeli detention. He also lived in India for two years on a post-graduate fellowship, and lived there for much of 2006-2007 as well.
Rose King, Esq., Staff Attorney
(617) 445-7581 Ext 20
rking@publiccounsel.net
Rose joined YAD in September of 2012 and has been a practicing attorney for seventeen years with both trial and appellate experience as a bar advocate and as a private attorney. She has appeared before all departments of the Massachusetts Trial Court and the United States District Court and has argued cases before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. Prior to entering private practice Rose worked for a number of years at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department where she developed an expertise in sentencing and corrections law and in prisoners’ civil rights law. Rose is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, where she received a B.A. in Sociology, and of New England School of Law. Rose was born and raised in Dorchester and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative (DYC) for many years.
Kathryn Ratey, Social Service Advocate
(617) 445-7581 Ext 19
kratey@publiccounsel.net
Cecely Reardon, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(617) 445-7581 Ext 16
creardon@publiccounsel.net
Cecely Reardon is the Attorney in Charge of the YAD. Cecely first joined the Brockton Superior Court Office of the Committee in1997, after receiving her Juris Doctor and a Masters in Social Work from Boston College. Cecely then joined the Youth Advocacy Department in the fall of 2000, and currently represents juveniles in delinquency and youthful offender matters in the Boston Juvenile Courts. Cecely also serves as the Vice Chair of Massachusetts’ Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (JJAC) and is the Massachusetts delegate to the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice. Cecely was the 2007 recipient of the Boston Bar Association’s Brooks’ Award for outstanding public service and is a frequent lecturer and participant in a variety of training programs statewide.
Brian Wiseman, Esq., Senior Attorney
(617) 445-7581 Ext 13
bwiseman@publiccounsel.net
Brian joined YAD in March of 2011. After graduating from Northeastern University School of Law in 1988, Brian worked as a bar advocate, accepting court appointments in both the district and juvenile courts, as well as in care and protection proceedings. Once the Youthful Offender statute became law in 1996, Brian’s practice focused almost exclusively on delinquency and youthful offender representation. Each fall Brian teaches “Representing Juveniles and Youthful Offenders” at the Massachusetts School of Law.
Salem Office Staff
Hannah Angel, MSW., Social Service Advocate
(978) 825-2093
hangel@publiccounsel.net
Hannah joined YAD in July of 2011 as a Social Service Advocate. She Attended University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she studied History and Criminal Justice as a division I scholar athlete. After completing her undergraduate studies, She attended Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work where she received my MSW. During her graduate studies she obtained significant experience as an intern working as a medical social worker at Lahey Clinic particularly with neurological disorders and oncology outpatients. She also interned as a mental health clinician with adolescents at the Center for Family Development of Health and Education Services where she would routinely conducted assessments, developed treatment plans, and provided ongoing individual and family therapy.
Harris Krinsky, Esq., Staff Attorney
(978) 825-2089
hkrinsky@publiccounsel.net
Harris Krinsky is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges (1981) and Franklin Pierce Law Center (1984). Harris has been a practicing attorney for over 27 years and has extensive criminal experience, both as a bar advocate and a private attorney, in Essex and Suffolk Counties. Harris has appeared before all departments of the Massachusetts Trial Court, the Federal District Court and has argued cases before the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. In addition, Harris is one of the original members of the Revocation Advocacy Panel.
Susan Oker, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(978) 825-2052
soker@publiccounsel.net
Susan Oker joined YAD in February of 2011 as the Attorney In Charge of the Salem office. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College (1978) and Northeastern University School of Law (1984), she has been a public defender since 1985. Susan previously worked as the Director of the Salem District Court Office, as the Special Litigation Unit staff attorney, and as a superior court trial attorney, all at the Committee for Public Counsel Services. She also served as Director of the Harvard Disability Law Clinic for the Center for Public Representation from 1990 until 1993. Susan is the recipient of the 2010 Edward Duggan Award and the 2009 North Shore Women’s Law Association Lawyer of the Year Award. In her distant past she was a community organizer as a VISTA volunteer and an advocate for individuals with mental disabilities.
Lidia Reyes, Administrative Assistant
(978) 825-2081
lreyes@publiccounsel.net
Lidia Reyes joined YAD in June 2011, prior to that she worked as the Administrative Assistant for the Salem District Court Office. Before joining the Salem District Court Office, Lidia came from the Cambridge Superior Court office where she worked as a receptionist in her first position at CPCS.
Lauren Russell, Esq., Staff Attorney
(978) 825-2091
lrussell@publiccounsel.net
Lauren joined YAD as a staff attorney in September 2011, after graduating from Northeastern University School of Law in May. During law school, she completed internships at the EdLaw Project, the Federal Public Defender and the Boston District and Municipal Court Office of CPCS. She also participated in the Prisoners’ Rights Clinic as a student attorney and a teaching assistant. Prior to law school, Lauren worked as a Guardian ad Litem investigator at the Children’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006, after completing a year of national service in Boston through Americorps’ City Year. Lauren has volunteered as an educational surrogate parent for children in the custody of the Department of Children and Families since 2009.
Tinia Snow, Esq., Staff Attorney
(978) 825-2094
tsnow@publiccounsel.net
Tinia joined YAD in March of 2011. She received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 2009. Tinia had decided prior to law school that she wanted to pursue a career in public interest law. She graduated cum laude from Northeastern University with a B.S. in criminal justice in 2005. Tinia did outreach work with various nonprofits in Boston, working with youth committed to the Department of Youth Services and the Department of Children and Families while an undergraduate student. During her time in law school, Tinia participated in the Frederick Douglas Moot Court Competition and the Marshall Brennan Teaching Fellowship program. As a Marshall Brennan fellow, Tinia taught First Amendment law to high school students at the Parkway Academy of Technology and Health in West Roxbury, MA. Tinia also received a Massachusetts Bar Association fellowship, in recognition of her interest in pursuing a public interest law career, enabling her to work at the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts.
Somerville Office Staff
Allyn Carey, MSW., Social Service Advocate
acarey@publiccounsel.net
Dean Douglas, Esq., Staff Attorney
(617) 863-5187
ddouglas@publiccounsel.net
Dean joined YAD as a staff attorney in March 2011. Prior to joining YAD, he worked both as an associate attorney in private practice and as a case manager for a non for profit organization. Dean graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2002, where he received his B.A. in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Political Science and History. He later obtained his J.D. from the Massachusetts School of Law in 2008, where he was also a member of the Thurgood Marshall Trial Advocacy team. While at MSL, he completed a three month juvenile law internship primarily out of the Lowell Juvenile Court where he assisted bar advocates with juvenile law matters. Dean was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2008.
Vanessa Hernandez, Esq., Staff Attorney
(617) 863-5188
vhernandez@publiccounsel.net
Vanessa joined YAD as a staff attorney in March 2011. She graduated from Union College in 2007 with a B.A. in Modern Languages and Classics. She received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2010. While in law school, she was a certified student attorney at the Family Advocacy Clinic and represented indigent clients in family matters, including a successful bench trial. Vanessa was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in November 2010 and her admission to the New York State Bar is pending. Vanessa is also fluent in Spanish.
Maria Perrone , Administrative Assistant
(617) 863-5179
mperrone@publiccounsel.net
Maria Perrone joined YAD in June 2011. Originally from Commack, New York, she first came to Boston in 2001 to attend Boston University. In 2005, she received a B.A. in Criminology. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Applied Sociology at UMass Boston. Prior to joining YAD, she worked at Harvard Clinical Research Institute and Baring Asset Management. For the past 3.5 years she has been at the Attorney General’s Office in the Victim Compensation and Assistance Division. Maria is also fluent in Italian
Scott Rankin, Esq., Senior Attorney
(617) 863-5184
srankin@publiccounsel.net
Scott joined YAD as a staff attorney in April 2007. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 2000 where he participated in a year long Juvenile Rights Clinic. Before coming to YAD, Scott was a staff attorney with the New Hampshire Public Defender handling adult and juvenile cases and providing program wide juvenile litigation support. Before law school, Scott worked as a paralegal with the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn focusing on housing and public benefits matters. He received a B.A. in English from Swarthmore College in 1994.
Jeffrey T. Richards, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(617) 863-5186
jrichards@publiccounsel.net
Springfield Office Staff
Charity Dore, Esq., Staff Attorney
(413) 750-1644
cdore@publiccounsel.net
Naretha Griffin, Administrative Assistant
(413) 750-1641
ngriffin@publiccounsel.net
Audrey Harrington , Esq., Staff Attorney
(413) 750-1646
aharrington@publiccounsel.net
Lauren Honigman, MSW., Social Service Advocate
(413) 750-1647
lhonigman@publiccounsel.net
Ami Jackson, Criminal Defense Investigator
(413) 750-1642
ajackson@publiccounsel.net
Ami R. Jackson is the staff Criminal Defense Investigator for the Springfield Office of the Youth Advocacy Department. Ms. Jackson joined YAD in May of 2007. Ms. Jackson received a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College. Previously, she worked as an Academic Advisor for Upward Bound, a college preparation program for low-income, first-generation college-bound youth that is funded by the US Department of Education. Additionally, she has worked as a community activist, event coordinator, and outreach worker with Arise for Social Justice W.I.S.E. Committee (Women In Support of Each Other), a grass roots low-income rights, anti-oppression membership organization in western Massachusetts. It’s focus is to educate and support women and children who were/are homeless, drug addicted, incarcerated, in danger of incarceration, or returning to the community from a term of incarceration.
Elizabeth LaFrance, Esq., Staff Attorney
(413) 750-1645
elafrance@publiccounsel.net
Susan Lyman, Esq., Staff Attorney
(413) 750-1666
slyman@publiccounsel.net
Stephanie Ormsby, Esq., Senior Attorney
(413) 750-1643
sormsby@publiccounsel.net
Patrick Sparks, Esq., Attorney in Charge
(413) 750-1686
psparks@publiccounsel.net
Worcester Office Staff
Melissa Dineen, Attorney in Charge
(508) 368-1873
mdineen@publiccounsel.net
Melissa Dineen began working at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where she remained for nine years, immediately after law school. At the Defender, she successfully represented thousands of clients through all stages of the criminal process. Melissa was assigned to the Juvenile Special Defense Unit for two years where she represented juveniles, charged as adults with first degree felonies, fostering a particular interest in the rights of juveniles. Melissa left the Defender Association in 2007 to run the Pohnpei State Branch of the Federated States of Micronesia Office of the Public Defender. For two years she led the office and consistently fought for the rights of the accused. She also taught in the Legal Studies Program at the College of Micronesia. Most recently, Ms. Dineen was the Deputy Director of the International Legal Foundation-Nepal. Based in Kathmandu, Nepal, Dineen trained local Nepali lawyers day in and day out on how to advocate on behalf of their clients in an adversarial system. Ms. Dineen left Nepal to return to her home state of Massachusetts to work for the Youth Advocacy Department as the Attorney in Charge of the Worcester Office. She is a 1995 graduate of Boston University and a 1998 graduate of Temple University School of Law.
Lisa Ferigno, Administrative Assistant
(508) 368-1870
lferigno@publiccounsel.net
Lisa Joined the Worcester YAD Office in May of 2007. Originally from Worcester, Lisa graduated from Quinsigamond Community College with an Associates Degree in Secretarial Science. Prior to working at YAD, Lisa worked for the TJX Companies Corporate Offices in Framingham, MA for 6 years as an Administrative Assistant to various departments. She also worked for the Worcester Superior Court Probation Department as a Probation Case Coordinator from 1988 to 2000.
Lisa Gigliotti, Social Service Advocate
(508) 368-1875
lgigliotti@publiccounsel.net
Bri Lacy, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 368-1865
blacy@publiccounsel.net
Josh Reuling, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 368-1876
jreuling@publiccounsel.net
Josh joined YAD as a staff attorney in December 2011. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a B.A. in Political Science. He received his J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 2009. While in law school, he was a student-supervisor at the Post-Conviction Justice Clinic and represented inmates serving indeterminate life sentences both at their parole hearings and in their appeals using the habeas process. Josh was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in June 2010 and was also admitted to the California Bar in December 2009.
Brendan Moran, Esq., Staff Attorney
(508) 368-1871
bmoran@publiccounsel.net