Tara I. Allen is the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Prior to this role, she was an Associate Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island where she taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Criminal Trial Practice.

Prior to academia, Tara was a trial lawyer in Federal Public Defenders Offices in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and California. She was a supervising staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and a judicial intern in the Federal District of Massachusetts.

Currently, Tara is a member of NCDC’s Board of Regents. She is a frequent panelist, presenter, and instructor for legal skills workshops nationally. Tara regularly provides expertise to trial lawyers on various subjects, including evidence law, trial strategy and addressing race in federal courts. She received her JD from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, MA and her BA from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.