Kristin Aiello (she/her/hers) represents individuals who have been discriminated against in employment, state and local government and public accommodations. Kristin was selected for inclusion as a New England Super Lawyer in 2023 and 2024, an honor reserved for those lawyers who exhibit excellence in practice. Only 5% of attorneys in New England receive this distinction.

Kristin’s work focuses on litigation, as it has for over twenty five years as a civil rights attorney. Before entering private practice, she was Senior Attorney at Disability Rights Maine, Maine’s designated Protection and Advocacy agency for people with disabilities.

Kristin represented the plaintiffs in Doe v. Rowe, 156 F. Supp. 35 (Me. 2001), a seminal ADA voting rights case which overturned Maine’s constitutional provision prohibiting individuals under guardianship for reason of mental illness from voting, and was later cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Tennessee v. Lane. In 2021, Kristin was lead counsel in another seminal voting rights case filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, Merrill, et al v. Bellows, et al, Case No.1:20-cv-00248-JAW, which resulted in an accessible absentee voting system in Maine for individuals with print disabilities. Kristin has served as a Commissioner on the Maine Human Rights Commission, where she heard and decided discrimination cases.

Kristin represents adults and children at the Maine Human Rights Commission and in state and federal courts, including discrimination on account of sex and sexual harassment, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, age, race, national origin, and religion. In addition to her case work for individual clients, Kristin educates policy makers at the Maine Legislature regarding civil rights laws and she has conducted trainings to many diverse groups over the years, including the National Disability Rights Network, Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, Maine State Bar Association, the State of Maine, individuals, advocacy organizations such as the MS Society and Maine Council on Aging/Wisdom Summit, private employers, police departments, Maine Criminal Justice Academy, educators, social workers and many others. Kristin has also provided discrimination and sexual harassment training for employers.

In 2007, Kristin was appointed by the Maine Legislature as part of a small, select group of experts to participate in redrafting the definition of disability in the Maine Human Rights Act, which led to ground breaking changes that influenced the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008. In 2015, Kristin was appointed to the Task Force to Ensure Integrity in the Use of Service Animals, to serve in the role of attorney with experience in state and federal law governing service animals.

In 2016, Kristin was unanimously elected as co-chair of the Employment Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association for a two year term. She has also been called to serve the federal courts, including the planning committee for the 2018 Judicial Conference for the District of Maine, and she currently serves on the Local Rules Committee for the District of Maine. Kristin formerly served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Maine Unemployment System.

Kristin is a member of the American Bar Association, the Maine State Bar Association, the Maine Employment Lawyers Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association and the Disability Rights Bar Association. She is a graduate of Boston College, magna cum laude, and the University of Maine School of Law where she participated in Moot Court, received honors in trial practice, and thoroughly delighted in trying cases as a law student intern with the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office. She enjoys a challenge and delights in seeing her clients turn pain into power and reach their goals.

Kristin is also active on local and regional boards. Kristin is a Trustee and serves as an officer of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. She is a board member of her local food bank, Hallowell Food Pantry, as well serving as board member on the Steve DeAngelis Community Fund, which provides educational and recreations opportunities to young people and their families in central Maine communities.

Kristin lives in central Maine with her husband, Walter McKee. Walt owns and runs McKee Law, one of Maine’s premiere criminal defense and personal injury law firms. They have two daughters.