For over two decades, attorney Timothy E. Zerillo has stood at the intersection of law and humanity — defending not just clients, but the ideals that define American justice. The Portland-based lawyer, author, and national lecturer has built a reputation for seeing beyond the statutes, searching instead for the stories and principles that shape them.
Zerillo, the founder of Zerillo Law, LLC in Portland, Maine, has tried some of the state’s most complex criminal cases. His work has often landed him in the public eye — from high-profile trials to legal education platforms — yet his focus remains on the quiet discipline of advocacy. “The defense of liberty,” he often tells colleagues, “isn’t just a profession. It’s a duty.”
Born in Portland in 1972, Zerillo’s path to the courtroom began not in law, but in literature. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire in 1995 before pursuing his Juris Doctor at New England Law in Boston. That literary foundation, he says, continues to inform his approach: “Every case is a story, and how you tell it determines whether justice is heard.” It’s a philosophy that blends narrative and logic — one that he now shares with younger lawyers through lectures across the United States.
Over the years, that philosophy has guided him through several defining moments in Maine’s legal history. In 2010, Zerillo secured the dismissal of federal drug trafficking charges for Matthew Meineke, a veteran who served in Afghanistan. The Portland Press Herald reported that the judge’s decision acknowledged Meineke’s rehabilitation and service record — a rare outcome in federal court.
Two years later, his role in the Kennebunk Zumba case — one of Maine’s most publicized criminal scandals — placed him under a national spotlight. Zerillo represented multiple defendants accused in connection with a local prostitution investigation that captured media attention across the country. Outlets like The Guardian and Vanity Fair covered his criticism of how the case blurred the line between justice and sensationalism. For Zerillo, it became an enduring lesson in how public curiosity can collide with constitutional fairness.
But perhaps no case more clearly reflects his persistence than the Anthony Sanborn post-conviction review in 2017. Sanborn, convicted in 1992 for the murder of Jessica Briggs, had served more than 25 years before key witnesses recanted their testimony. As reported by the Press Herald and Maine Public, Zerillo’s cross-examinations helped reveal inconsistencies in the original prosecution — leading to Sanborn’s release and a broader discussion on witness reliability and prosecutorial conduct.
His advocacy has also extended into civil rights. In 2018, Zerillo and co-counsel John M. Burke filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Kennebec County Jail following the death of inmate Dana A. Kitchin, who died from internal injuries while in custody. The Press Herald reported that the case, which alleged inadequate medical care and deliberate indifference, was later settled — a small but meaningful measure of accountability within the system.
Zerillo’s career is as much about reform as it is about defense. He is a Life Member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), where he lectures nationally on topics ranging from digital evidence and the Fourth Amendment to storytelling at sentencing. His seminars — often among NACDL’s “Best of the Best” sessions — focus on the evolving relationship between technology and privacy in modern prosecutions.
That focus on the digital frontier has become a defining part of his message. “Technology has changed what it means to investigate and to be investigated,” he told a recent NACDL audience. His book, Defending Specific Crimes, published by James Publishing, distills years of courtroom experience into practical strategies for defense attorneys navigating these changes.
In 2023, Zerillo was elected as a member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, an invitation-only society recognizing veteran criminal trial attorneys who have demonstrated excellence in the courtroom. It’s a milestone that underscores his standing within the national defense community — but Zerillo prefers to see it as a reminder rather than a reward. “Every time you walk into court,” he says, “you’re reminded that the stakes are real people.”
Through all his achievements, Zerillo continues to speak with humility about the practice of law — not as a conquest, but as a calling. “Justice,” he says, “isn’t a finish line. It’s a process — and the process is where we find our humanity.”
In an era when the courtroom is increasingly shaped by data, media, and public opinion, Timothy Zerillo stands as a reminder that behind every case lies a person, and behind every defense, a principle. His career — spanning wrongful convictions, constitutional battles, and legal education — reflects an evolving justice system that still depends on conscience as much as on code. For Zerillo, the law’s greatest strength has never been its power, but its promise.
Written in partnership with Tom White
