We represent good people who have had a really bad day. We view each client not as a set of legal problems, but as a whole individual living a unique and valued life.
In addition to providing the highest quality legal defense, we focus on addressing the underlying issues that may have contributed to your legal situation—because we believe in second chances and lasting positive change.
Here's what that means in practice, and why it matters for your case.
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Ernest Stone has practiced criminal defense in Massachusetts exclusively since 1996 —more than 30 years. He has never worked as a prosecutor. That matters: a defense attorney who has spent decades only on this side of the courtroom has built one set of instincts — how to find weaknesses in the Commonwealth's case, not how to build one.
"Never Prosecuted, Always On Your Side" isn't a slogan we picked for marketing. It's the actual shape of the last three decades of this practice.
We handle serious felonies and misdemeanors, like sexual assault and rape cases, domestic violence, assault and battery, OUI and substance-related charges, serious embezzlement cases, motor vehicle homicide charges, and cases with a mental health component. We defend the most complex and highest-stakes matters a person will ever face.
Ernie and Kaitlyn have decades of trial experience between them. They've negotiated successful outcomes, convinced judges to dismiss charges, and won at trial in the District and Superior Courts.
For a few of our representative cases, you can go here.
We don't see clients as a set of legal problems to be resolved and forgotten.
Many of the people we represent are dealing with something underneath the charge — a substance use issue, a mental health crisis, a relationship in crisis, a family crisis, a financial crisis — and the criminal case is one part of a larger, harder moment in their life.
Alongside the strongest possible legal defense, we connect clients with the treatment and support resources that address what'sactually going on, because winning the case and helping someone rebuild their life are not the same project, but they are equally important. We don't think you should have to choose one over the other.
Being accused of a crime is traumatic — even when you did nothing wrong, even when the case gets dismissed. We built our practice on that fact rather than around it.
Ernie has taught other criminal defense lawyers how to implement trauma-informed practices into their defense work. He has written and published on trauma-informed criminal defense, including in publications like the New York Law Journal, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Champion Magazine, and the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice journal, identifying concrete tactics for representing clients who are dealing with trauma. He has also written about why the way a firm handles a case and interacts with a client is as important as what legal steps and tactics the firm employs in it.
This isn't a soft-skills add-on to the legal work — it shapes how we take an intake call, how we prepare a client for what is happening, how we gather information, and how we talk to you about what'scoming next.
Attorney Kaitlyn Duval joined our team after serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Essex County. She has seen how prosecutors build a case from the inside — and now uses that insight to help our people. She brings trial experience and a compassionate approach that fits our firm well.
You'll also have a dedicated case manager as your primary point of contact at the firm, so you always know who to call and never have to start over explaining your situation to someone new. Our staff is built around being genuinely responsive: phone calls get answered, messages get prompt, real responses, and you can expect the kind of emotional support through a difficult case that many firms simply aren't set up to provide.
Arrests don't happen on a schedule, and we're prepared. Our phones — and even the chat feature on this website — are answered around the clock by real people, not an automated system reciting a script.
If you need to reach us at 2 a.m., a human will be on the other end.
We don't bill by the hour. You'll know what your defense is going to cost from the beginning.
Communication is critical to success in a defense, and we don't want you worried that if you call us with a question or new information that the "meter will be running."
We have financing options available so that cost doesn't stand between you and the defense you need.
The nature of our philosophy comes from personal experience. Ernie has been sober since 2001. He has experienced the pain and struggle of addiction, and the work and rewards of recovery. That experience shapes how this firm treats our clients, who we prefer to call "our people": without judgment, with compassion and dignity, and without pretending that a criminal charge exists apart from everything else going on in their life.
Ernie believes that "we should recover loudly so that others don't have to suffer in silence." He doesn't hide his experience with addiction and recovery, because he feels it may help others for him to share it. If part of what's happening in your case involves addiction or mental health, you're not being represented by someone reciting talking points about empathy — you're working with someone who has lived through it.
If you're facing an criminal charge, your first consultation is free — not a sales call, a genuine conversation about what you're facing and what your options are.
We take the time to understand who you are and how this case fits into the rest of your life - not just the facts of the current charge - and we make sure every question you have gets answered.
We take as long as it takes — we don't rush people out the door.
(If you're seeking general legal information without a pending case, we also offer paid consultations for people who want legal guidance without a pending case.)
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Since 1996 — more than 30 years, entirely on the defense side. He has never worked as a prosecutor.
No. We handle the full range of serious criminal matters — sexual assault, domestic violence, OUI and drug-related charges, theft and financial crimes, violent crimes, and other criminal charges. If you don't see your specific charge listed on our practice area pages, call — we very likely handle it.
It means we treat the legal case and the person we are representing as inextricably linked. A criminal case arises from someone's life circumstances, and we seek to address both. Alongside building the strongest possible defense and getting the best possible outcome in court, we help clients access substance use treatment, mental health support, and other resources that address what's underlying the charge — because we think you deserve a good outcome in court and a genuinely better life afterward.
Yes. Our phones and website chat are answered 24/7 by real people — not a script or a bot pretending to be one.
Yes, if you have an actual pending criminal charge or are under active investigation. We also offer paid consultations for people who want legal guidance without a pending case.
No. We work on flat fees, so you know your cost upfront, and we offer financing options so cost doesn't stand between you and the defense you need.
900 Cummings Center, Suite 321-U, Beverly, MA 01915. We serve Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties, and people across Eastern Massachusetts.
Contact our team today for a free consultation. We are available 24/7.
