Edwin (Ned) Chester, has been practicing law since 1977. For the last 35 years, Ned’s practice has focused almost exclusively on juvenile clients, representing adolescents in all Maine courts and in school disciplinary hearings. 

Ned represents children in a variety of circumstances, including children who have been charged with juvenile offenses, children who are facing suspension or expulsion from school, and as a guardian ad litem for children who have been taken into the custody of the State of Maine as a result of child maltreatment. In many cases, Ned is privately retained by parents seeking experienced representation for their child. In other cases, Ned is retained by the Department of Health and Human Services to represent a child in its custody, or is appointed by a court to represent a child of an indigent family or to represent a child whose parent is the victim of the alleged offense. Ned regularly appears in courts in Springvale, Biddeford, York, Portland, Bridgton, Bath, Lewiston and Rockland, but has also appeared in almost all of Maine’s juvenile courts.

Ned graduated from a dual-degree program at the University of North Carolina in 1977, with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and a Master of Regional Planning from the Department of City and Regional Planning. Ned was a member of the Law Review, writing on search and seizure issues. Ned was first licensed to practice law in Maine in 1977.

Ned’s community work has included service on many state-wide and national boards, including Maine’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (many years as Vice Chair), Maine’s Juvenile Justice Task Force, Maine’s Juvenile Justice Implementation Council (Education Stakeholders Group, addressing truancy, expulsion and suspension), the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice, and the National Coalition for Juvenile Justice. Ned was a co-founder of the New England Juvenile Defender Center and Kids Legal Aid, an initiative of Pine Tree Legal Assistance.

In 2012, Ned was honored with national recognition from the American Bar Association as that year's recipient of the Livingston-Hall Award for his contributions to the field of juvenile justice at the local, state and federal levels.

Ned, and his wife and law partner, Barbara Vestal, are the parents of two grown sons. Personal interests include friends and family, sailing, music, and traveling.