2018 Annual Dinner & Award Ceremony
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New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Foundation 2018 Annual Dinner & Award Ceremony January 25, 2018 Grand Hyatt New York Honorees The Hon. Thurgood S. Marshall Award for Outstanding Criminal Practitioner Gerry Spence, Esq. Trial Lawyers College Lifetime Achievement Award Seymour W. James, Jr., Esq., Attorney-in-Chief The Legal Aid Society Special Recognition for Pro Bono Work Susan J. Walsh, Esq. Vladek, Raskin & Clark, P.C. Volunteers Needed! New York State Clemency Project A partnership with New York State, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) NYSACDL has committed to taking 200 cases in this project. Can you help us reach this number? The NACDL/FAMM State Clemency Project is seeking volun- teer New York attorneys for state clemency work. The proj- ect, designed to help recruit, train, and provide resource support to pro bono attorneys who will assist state prison- ers in submitting petitions to have their sentences com- muted, has begun assigning cases in New York. The project has developed procedures to provide an initial packet of records for each applicant and to facilitate quick access to records and easy communication with applicants. NACDL is also seeking experienced criminal defense attor- neys to serve as Advisory Attorneys in the New York State Clemency Initiative, part of the NACDL/FAMM State Clem- ency Project. Advisory Attorneys will provide operational support to the project by giving legal advice and reviewing case documents. Many volunteer attorneys working on cases are not criminal practitioners, so the experience and perspectives of Advising Attorneys are invaluable. To learn more, email Project Manager Steven Logan at [email protected]. Take a case and take a second chance at changing a life. 3 NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS 2018 Board of Directors President Robert G. Wells, Syracuse President-Elect Lori Cohen, Manhattan First Vice President Timothy Hoover, Buffalo Vice Presidents Michael T. Baker, Binghamton James W. Grable, Jr., Buffalo Jessica Horani, Manhattan Arnold J. Levine, Manhattan Kenneth Moynihan, Syracuse Secretary Mark S. Williams, Olean Treasurer Alan S. Lewis, New York NYSACDL Directors Stephanie Batcheller, Albany Greg D. Lubow, Tannersville (NYSDA Designee) Elizabeth E. Macedonio, Steven B. Epstein, Garden City Manhattan Edgar De Leon, Manhattan Allison M. McGahay, Lake Placid Mitchell J. Dinnerstein, Brian Melber, Buffalo Manhattan Cheryl Meyers-Buth, Buffalo Peter A. Dumas, Malone Timothy P. Murphy, Buffalo Renee Hill, Bronx Grainne E. O’Neill, Brooklyn Alice Fontier, Manhattan Russell A. Schindler, Kingston John Ingrassia, Newburgh Tucker C. Stanclift, Glens Falls Anthony M. La Pinta, Donald Thompson, Rochester Hauppauge Claudia Trupp, Manhattan Yung-Mi Lee, Brooklyn Susan J. Walsh, Manhattan 4 NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS FOUNDATION 2018 ANNUAL DINNER JANUARY 25, 2018 Welcome ................................................. President John S. Wallenstein Oath of Office Administered to President Robert G. Wells .................... President John S. Wallenstein Presentation of Award to President John S. Wallenstein .....................President Robert G. Wells Remarks .........................................................President Robert G. Wells Presentation of Hon. Thurgood S. Marshall Award for Outstanding Criminal Practitioner to Gerry Spence .......................Robert G. Wells Remarks and Recognition of Susan J. Walsh .........Norman L. Reimer and John S. Wallenstein Remarks ...........................................................................Susan J. Walsh Presentation of Lifetime Achievement Award to Seymour W. James, Jr. ...........................................Mark S. Williams Remarks ................................................................Seymour W. James, Jr. Closing Remarks ...........................................President Robert G. Wells 5 NYSACDL Past Presidents John S. Wallenstein, Immediate Past President Martin B. Adelman William I. Aronwald Daniel N. Arshack Richard J. Barbuto Wayne C. Bodden Paul Cambria Gerard M. Damiani Joshua L. Dratel Russell M. Gioiella Lawrence S. Goldman George R. Goltzer James P. Harrington Kathryn M. Kase Ray Kelly Andrew Kossover David L. Lewis Thomas F. Liotti Jack T. Litman Ira D. London Mark J. Mahoney Jeanne E. Mettler Aaron Mysliwiec Kevin O’Connell Benjamin Ostrer Murray Richman Marvin E. Schechter Craig P. Schlanger Lisa Schreibersdorf Richard D. Willstatter Executive Director Jennifer L. Ciulla Van Ort 6 NYSACDL Foundation Board of Directors Officers President Andrew Kossover, New Paltz Vice-President Claudia Trupp, New York Treasurer Alan Lewis, New York Secretary Jennifer Ciulla Van Ort, Albany Directors Martin B. Adelman Daniel N. Arshack Wayne C. Bodden Lori Cohen Joshua L. Dratel Aaron Mysliwiec Michael Shapiro Robert G. Wells John S. Wallenstein, NYSACDL President, Ex Officio 7 MESSAGE FROM JOHN S. WALLENSTEIN NYSACDL PRESIDENT 2017 MESSAGE FROM JOHN S. WALLENSTEIN NYSACDL PRESIDENT 2017 Welcome to the 2018 Annual Dinner and Awards Cer- emony of the New York State Association of Criminal De- fense Lawyers. It has been my distinct honor and privilege to have served as the 30th president of NYSACDL during 2017. I thank our Executive Director, Jennifer Van Ort, for all her hard work and dedication this year. Those of us who work closely with Jen know that she is the glue that holds us all together and makes us the successful organization that we are. As we end the year with over 900 members, our highest total ever, I want to thank you, the members, for your support. Our listserv is a vibrant, daily source of information for all. Our magazine Atticus, thanks in large part to Vice-Presi- dent Jessica Horani, is a well received and recognized publication, distributed to lawyers, legislators, and law students all over New York. Tonight, we honor the legendary Gerry Spence, 89 years young and still going strong. We are all looking forward to his wisdom and wit in his keynote address, as we bestow upon him the Hon. Thurgood S. Marshall Award for Outstanding Criminal Practitioner. We are also proud to honor Seymour James, who will retire this year as Attorney-in-Chief of the Legal Aid Society, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Looking back on the year, I want to thank those dedicated Officers, Direc- tors, and Committee Chairs who have all worked so hard to help NYSACDL be the success we are. We welcome our new lobbying firm, Ostroff Associates, which has been instrumental in assisting our Legislative Committee and all our volunteers. Our CLE programs have been very well received, upstate and down, and our members benefit from the experts who give of their time and knowledge to assist us. I look forward to remaining an active member of the Board, and welcome the opportunity to continue to work with my good friend, incoming President Rob Wells, as he takes the reins and leads us through 2018. All the best, JOHN 8 MESSAGE FROM ROBERT G. WELLS NYSACDL PRESIDENT 2018 We as an organization, and I personally as incoming Presi- dent, are honored to welcome you to the 2018 NYSACDL Foundation Dinner. This will be a year filled with blessings and challenges. We will seek to advance Justice in the courtrooms across New York State, from local courts all the way to the Court of Appeals. We will work on behalf of our own clients and we will stand together with others in their own pursuits of Justice through our Amicus Curiae Committee. We will work directly with the legislators of this State, in conjunc- tion with our own able lobbyists, and promote the agendas of fairness, trans- parency, and honesty in the halls, chambers, meeting rooms, and offices of our Assembly Members and Senators. We will work closely with the Governor to accomplish these ends as well. In my lifetime, we have never experienced such an assault upon our state and federal constitutions, practices, and procedures. We will not become fatigued. We will stand strong, and this organization will help us all to stand for what we know in our law, in our procedures, and in our hearts, to be right. We will continue to inform and educate criminal defense practitioners though our CLE Programs and Atticus Magazine. We will come to the aid of our members through our Attorney Strike Force when they are in jeopardy. Tonight, we honor Gerry Spence; likely the most significant and impactive criminal trial lawyer since Clarence Darrow. Gerry has provably spent a lifetime that is exemplary in its pure service to gaining Justice for real people. Now eighty-nine years old, Gerry has never lost a criminal trial anytime, anywhere. He is my mentor, and my friend, and a teacher to so many through the Trial Lawyers College. We also honor tonight Seymour James, Attorney- in-Chief of the Legal Aid Society, as dedicated a defender of the powerless and unheard as has ever lived. Seymour has led so many lawyers into that same cause over decades that it is difficult to recount. It is impossible to describe fairly the impact he has had upon individual lives and the system itself by his presence, his leadership, and his valiant representation. We are proud to present him to you here tonight. From this inspiring evening, we will launch into all that is ahead for us in the coming year. Robert G. Wells, President NYSACDL 9 GERRY SPENCE, ESQ. TRIAL LAWYERS COLLEGE THE HON. THURGOOD S. MARSHALL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CRIMINAL PRACTITIONER Gerry