Kate A. Frame

Kate Frame was a Senior Trial Prosecutor in the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, where she served for five years, tried to verdict 50 jury trials - including a wide variety of sex crimes - and earned a reputation for winning the most challenging cases. She has a proven record of success in the courtroom, having won convictions in each of the Superior Court cases that she tried as a member of the Middlesex County Child Abuse Unit.

 In 2002 she was appointed by the Governor to serve an eight-year term on the state's seven-member Sex Offender Registry Board, the statewide agency charged with classifying all convicted sex offenders in Massachusetts. She was also appointed Director of the Agency's Hearings Unit and, in that capacity, trained Agency staff, new Board Members and Hearing Examiners. Attorney Frame decided hundreds of petitions to terminate and/or reclassify, and she presided at hundreds of classification hearings, applying the Sex Offender Registry laws and regulations to determine classification levels.

 Since starting her own practice as a criminal defense attorney, Kate Frame has won numerous acquittals and dismissals for clients. In some cases, Attorney Frame has presented the results of her team’s investigation and has convinced the prosecution not to move forward with a case, resulting in a a very rare nolle prosequi/dismissal by the prosecutors. In the SORB arena, Attorney Frame has obtained lowered classification levels and complete termination for numerous clients. She has also won four cases in the Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest appellate court, all of which have resulted in changes to the SORL law which make the system fairer for all.

 With the rare experience that attorney Kate Frame brings, she provides unmatched command of the laws and regulations governing sex offenders, courtroom savvy and critical inside knowledge of how sex offense cases are handled by state prosecutors and the administrative agencies charged with classifying alleged offenders.

 Kate Frame is a graduate of Boston College Law School. She graduated from Holy Cross College Phi Beta Kappa and has been appointed a Visiting Scholar at Boston College, where she has lectured on "Prosecuting Sex Offenses and Classifying Sex Offenders Before the Sex Offender Registry Board.” Kate has lectured and taught other lawyers at numerous continuing legal education seminars. She has been named one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the country by the National Trial Lawyers.

 In 2019, Attorney Frame was awarded the Carol Donovan Exceptional Advocacy Award, an award presented to “the lawyer whose representation of poor people facing the awesome power the state is most reminiscent of Carol’s fierce commitment to their vigorous and effective representation, and the cause of equal justice for all.”

What follows is what Kate Frame’s colleagues said about her at the 2019 Awards Ceremony:

 A seasoned litigator and master at challenging the excesses of the Sex Offender Registry Board, Kate Frame has been leading the charge to protect the vulnerable with extraordinary results. In the past year alone she has prevailed in two cases in the Supreme Judicial Court, Noe v. SORB and Doe No. 76819, in which the Court recognized the right to counsel for indigent individuals who seek to lower their sex offender classification levels, and found that the SORB’s attempt to shift the burden of proof to the petitioner was unconstitutional. Her successes have had wide-ranging impact, affecting not only her clients, but also thousands of individuals burdened by the stigma of sex offender registration. Like Carol Donovan, Kate is both fierce and fearless. Whether she is arguing constitutional issues before the justices of the Supreme Judicial Court or litigating in administrative hearings and the trial courts, she represents clients with strength and conviction.

 Kate began her career as a business litigator before joining the public sector. She started as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex where she rose rapidly in the ranks, Kate was then appointed by the Governor as a board member to the Sex Offender Registry Board, where she also served as the Director of Hearings. Kate’s varied background has prepared her well for the rough and tumble defense world. She is unrelenting when justice is at stake.

 For her tireless work on behalf of her clients who are among the most vulnerable, advancement of the law through litigation, and generous support of colleagues, Kate is eminently deserving of the Carol Donovan Award.

 Outside the courtroom, Attorney Frame is a former collegiate runner who enjoys road cycling, long distance running and yoga.