Rick Doyle, Managing Attorney: "What we do is help prevent homicides"

“What we do is help prevent homicides,” said Rick Doyle, NextStep’s managing attorney. When Rick came to this realization many years ago at a conference in Atlanta, it gave him an appreciation for what we really do. Domestic violence accounts for approximately half the total number of homicides in Maine, year in and year out. NextStep’s legal team is in a position to change those numbers. 

Rick heads up the team comprising attorney Sarah Becker, legal services coordinator Lindsay Moon, paralegal Maggie McArthur, and Washington County court advocate Crystal Cushing. Although there is more work than a team twice their size could do, these five staff members work together and use their resources to help the victims whom NextStep serves. All NextStep advocates receive training about legal situations a survivor might face, and they provide support and gather information to pass on to the legal team.

“In my 18 years with NextStep, we’ve always had a really good team of people to work with, but right now we have the best legal team we’ve ever had,” said Rick. “Between us we have the highest level of experience, motivation, knowledge and willingness to be part of a team that I’ve ever seen. We are so lucky – it’s incredible to have a group that works together so effectively.” 

Rick has seen a lot of changes in his time, and he’s gotten to work with a lot of law enforcement officers, child protection professionals and others who work within the legal system. “It’s a small world in rural Maine and we’ve built many well-established relationships. I have to credit Missy Fairfield, Maggie McArthur and other advocates who have been vital in relationship-building within the legal system. We may not always agree on issues with our partners, but there is a level of trust that works both ways that is very well established. We are fortunate to have these relationships. What I’ve seen happen over the years is a more coordinated community response and the evolution of an understanding of domestic violence. We’ve come a long way. 

“People are thinking more about survivor safety and perpetrators – how to help them and deal with them. The message is getting through, both nationally and locally. We are speaking the same language more often now than we used to.” 

However, there is still more work to be done. With gaps in resources such as supervised visitation facilities and safe exchange facilities, the judge who agrees that it’s appropriate may not be able to provide for supervised visits in an order.  

“PFA (protection from abuse) orders can help pretty well,” Rick said, “but when there are unresolved issues related to child custody or property and finances, enhancing victim safety can become very challenging. We can get a protection order as a buffer for a survivor, but the safety of the survivor and the children can be compromised when abusers use children as a way to continue to exercise power and control over the survivor.” 

Rick emphasized that the legal team couldn’t do what they do without a culture at NextStep that recognizes the importance of what they do. “The culture came as a result of a series of extraordinary executive directors and tremendous board members, along with a community of people who see what we do as significant – that we are an important piece to the community’s sense of well-being.” 

“I never take what we do here for granted,” Rick said. “Often times I will hear one of our advocates on the phone and I will think to myself that if I was ever in a really bad situation, that’s who I would want to hear. They are all very skilled and very caring and having the opportunity to work with people who are doing such an incredible thing – it’s humbling.”  

Rick, who started at NextStep right out of law school after working as a college level English teacher and as a therapeutic foster parent, remembers once talking with someone about what he does. He was asked how he handled doing such depressing work. Thinking about the positive difference his work has made in the lives of so many who were in desperate need of help, he replied, “It’s not depressing at all -- quite the opposite.”