Afton Templin, Esq., Director of Juvenile Appeals

Fall River YAD Office
1822 North Main Street, Suite 205
Fall River, MA 02760
(508) 484-5785 (p)
(508) 484-5603 (f)
[hide]atemplin@publiccounsel.net[/hide]

Afton joined the Youth Advocacy Division as Director of Juvenile Appeals in June 2018.  From 2007-2018, she was a sole practitioner focused on juvenile delinquency/youthful offender, criminal defense, family law and child welfare appeals. Previously she served as Deputy General Counsel to the Massachusetts Parole Board and as an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.  Afton has briefed and argued numerous criminal and civil appeals, including homicides, sexual assaults and grand jury matters, before the Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court.

She has filed numerous amicus briefs with the Supreme Judicial Court, including Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District, which created the right to counsel for juvenile lifers before the Parole Board.  While at the Parole Board and Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Afton presented trainings on search and seizure, grand jury practice, community parole supervision for life and executive clemency. She served as Law Clerk to the Justices of the Superior Court and to the Hon. Francis X. Spina (ret.), then of the Appeals Court.   Afton is a proud single mom of 2 boys and competes in ironman triathlons and marathons.

Achievements

Faculty member at numerous MCLE seminars and has taught legal skills sections in Appellate Advocacy and Criminal Law at the University of Massachusetts School of Law at Dartmouth.

Associations

Member of the Women’s Bar Association
Served as co-chair of the Amicus Committee
Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network

Education

J.D., Northeastern University School of Law
B.A., Mount Holyoke College