Ernest Stone

I have been been defending people in the criminal courts of Massachusetts for almost 30 years. I've helped people in the District and Superior Courts, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals and Supreme Judicial Court, in the Federal Court, and in the Federal First Circuit Court of Appeals.

There are a few things that I believe in that guide me in representing people.  You can read about what I believe here.

The people I defend are going through the hardest, most painful time in their lives. They are scared, and feel like they have lost control of their lives. I try always to remember that, and to remember what that is like. Because I’ve had similar feelings and fears. I know what it is like to feel like you’ve lost control, that your future is in jeopardy, that your whole life is threatened.

In 2001, I thought my life was over, that I had lost control, and that everything I had worked for and dreamed of was going to be destroyed. Alcohol had taken me to depths I never thought I would go. My soul was dead and I had lost hope. I had that feeling of dread and helplessness that many of my clients have when I first meet them. I was so lucky that some great people helped me in my darkest times, and on September 1, 2001, I got sober, and began to heal. 

So when I'm working with good people whose lives are in turmoil, who are in the midst of the worst storm they can imagine, I remember that I’ve been there, too. It was a long time ago, but sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday. Now I understand my time of struggles and fear as a gift that lets me help others get safely through their own storms. 

Some are surprised that I would talk about my struggles and my recovery publicly.  Years ago I was told by a man much wiser than me that, “we recover loudly so that others may not die in silence.” I firmly believe that, and I try to live up to that ideal. So, I try to bring empathy and understanding to the people I have the great privilege of helping through their darkest days. I call our clients “our people”, because we see them as people, and treat them that way. Another wise person I know says, “We all matter, or none of us do.” All of our people matter.  

For those that care, I graduated from Middlebury College, and I got my law degree at Washington and Lee University School of Law, in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. I enjoyed living in Virginia, but was glad to come back home to Massachusetts after school. Virginia is beautiful, but I missed New England. This is home.

Finally, some defense lawyers advertise the fact that they are former prosecutors. I have never been a prosecutor. Since the beginning, I have wanted to represent and defend people, not the government.  The government has enough power, enough agents ready to do its bidding. I have never been one of them.

I want to help people get safely through the storm.

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