Inside NACDL: NACDL Embarks on Its 7th Decade with an Infusion of New Talent

At its Annual Meeting on July 28, 2018, NACDL installed one of the largest classes of directors and officers in its history.

by Norman L. Reimer

This article originally appeared in nacdl.org.

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The lifeblood of any dynamic professional association is the active engagement of its members. When those members step up to serve on the Board of Directors or assume an officer’s position, they bring fresh insight, new energy, and unlimited creativity to the Association’s work. For NACDL, which has become increasingly focused on pursuing reform of the criminal justice system even as it maintains its commitment to provide resources and first-rate education to the criminal defense bar, the successful implementation of the leadership’s vision also depends upon the vitality of engaged professional staff.

When NACDL convened its Annual Meeting on July 28, 2018, in Miami Beach, at the dawn of its seventh decade, the Association installed one of the largest classes of newly elected directors and officers in its history. When combined with several members who were elected in special elections to fill vacant seats during the past year, more than 40 percent of the Board is comprised of new members. These members come from across the nation, representing myriad practice settings and bringing tremendous talent and diversity to NACDL leadership ranks. Additionally, two existing Board members have now assumed officer positions, and a former Board member has been designated as NACDL’s parliamentarian. On the staff side, during the past year NACDL filled 11 key slots with individuals of exceptional talent and dedication.

These newly installed leaders and staff members join a team that is thoroughly dedicated to serving NACDL’s mission to support the criminal defense bar and pursue the vision of a fairer, more rational and humane criminal justice system. Led by President Drew Findling and the other officers who have moved up the leadership ladder, this infusion of new talent coincides with adoption of a new strategic plan, and in many ways embodies the fulfillment of key objectives set forth in that plan. The remarkable men and women profiled in this article represent the future of NACDL. Given the breadth of experience and talent embodied by this group, that future is indeed bright.

Treasurer

Andrew Birrell, a member of the Board of Directors for the past several years, has been elected to the position of treasurer. Andy is a member of the firm of Gaskins, Bennett & Birrell LLP in Minneapolis, where he handles a wide range of criminal matters on the trial and appellate levels. Andy is chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association Criminal Law Certification Board, and he was the first lawyer in Minnesota to be certified by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist. For more than 25 years, he has been a Board Certified Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is secretary of NACDL’s Minnesota affiliate, the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Andy Birrell also serves NACDL as the Eighth Circuit Coordinator for the Lawyers’ Assistance Strike Force, and as treasurer will now chair NACDL’s Budget Committee. He earned a B.S. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his J.D. from Antioch School of Law. He is an NACDL Life Member.

Secretary

Nellie L. King practices criminal defense in West Palm Beach, Florida. Nellie has served NACDL in countless ways. She has served two terms on NACDL’s Board of Directors, served as a liaison to the Executive Committee for one year and as Board Representative on that committee for an additional two years. Nellie currently serves as NACDL’s Membership Committee chair, where she is spearheading an ambitious campaign to promote membership recruitment and retention, and has previously served on the Bylaws Committee (chair), Nominating Committee, Budget Committee, CLE co-chair, Kaley Response Task Force, Women in Criminal Defense Committee, and on the FCJ Gala Committee. Nellie is also a past president of both the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Palm Beach Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In addition to her criminal defense practice and bar activities, Nellie devotes considerable time and energy to pro bono activities. She recently developed a social justice education curriculum centered on wrongful convictions for Palm Beach County eighth graders. Nellie has been recognized for her pro bono work on a number of occasions, including the 2012 University of Mary Washington Distinguished Alumnus Award for service to the legal profession and the 2017 Women in Leadership Award, Private Sector, from the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches for her work in soliciting volunteers to work on Clemency Project 2014. Nellie King earned her undergraduate degree from Mary Washington College and her law degree from Nova Southeastern University Law School. She is an NACDL Life Member.

Parliamentarian

Brian H. Bieber serves as NACDL’s parliamentarian, appointed by Drew Findling in one of Drew’s first acts as president of NACDL. Brian is a shareholder with the Miami law firm of GrayRobinson, P.A. Working with foreign and domestic clients at all levels of the corporate structure, Brian is engaged in criminal and civil white collar defense litigation in state and federal courts in trial and appellate venues. He is admitted to practice in Florida, New York, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and numerous circuit courts of appeal. Brian has served multiple terms on NACDL’s Board of Directors and has served on numerous committees. He has received awards and recognition from numerous legal entities and is a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. Brian earned a B.S. from Rutgers University and his J.D. from the University of Miami Law School. He is an NACDL Life Member.

Directors

Benjamin B. Au is a partner in the California firm Durie Tangri, LLP, where he litigates complex matters in a wide array of subjects, including trade secrets, breach of contract, and corporate control disputes. He has represented individuals in SEC and DOJ enforcement actions. Ben is a founding partner of the Los Angeles office of his firm and serves on the firm’s Management, Finance, and Hiring Committees. Previously Ben was a law clerk to the Hon. M. Margaret McKeown in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and later served as an associate at Keker & Van Nest, LLP and a shareholder at Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, PC. Ben has been an active member of NACDL’s White Collar Committee and has lectured at numerous NACDL seminars. His various pro bono activities include serving as lead counsel in a habeas proceeding on behalf of a Guantanamo detainee and representing the ACLU of Northern and Southern California in a privacy and Fourth Amendment challenge to the California Department of Justice’s maintenance of a database of drug prescriptions. Ben Au earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University, where he graduated summa cum laude with Highest Honor in Public Policy, and earned his law degree from Yale Law School, where he received the Chesterfield Smith Public Interest Fellowship Award.

Jonathan Brayman was elected by the Council of Affiliates to serve as an affiliate representative on the Board of Directors. Jonathan is a partner at Breen & Pugh in Chicago, where he focuses on criminal defense, Section 1983 civil rights actions, class actions, and asset forfeiture defense. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Prior to joining Breen & Pugh, Jonathan Brayman worked with the Law Offices of Thomas Peters, where he litigated Section 1983 civil rights cases. He served as class counsel to tens of thousands of class members in numerous civil rights class actions successfully challenging the unconstitutional policies and practices of the city of Chicago and winning settlements that included wide-ranging injunctive and monetary relief. Jonathan obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and his law degree at the University of Iowa School of Law, earning the Willard L. Boyd Public Service Award (Highest Honors). He was named the 2009-2010 Ramza-Fester “Rainbow Rights” Scholar, an award given to a student with exemplary service in helping to advance the rights of individuals in the LGBT community through community outreach, legal advocacy, and scholarship.

Robert Butler was also elected to serve as an affiliate representative on the NACDL Board by the Affiliate Council. Bob practices law in Bellingham, Washington, at Butler Beschen Law PLLC, where he focuses on criminal defense and civil rights litigation. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, where he currently holds the position of president-elect. Before embarking upon a career in criminal law, Bob was an elementary school teacher. In addition to his work on numerous bar committees, he frequently lectures on a wide range of topics related to criminal defense, and has served for five years on the judicial candidate evaluation committee. Bob Butler earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Portland and his law degree at the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now the University of Seattle School of Law).

Kobie A. Flowers is a partner in the firm of Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP, with offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Kobie is an experienced trial lawyer who represents individuals in complex criminal and civil matters. His broad experience includes service in the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, where he conducted complex grand jury investigations enforcing federal civil rights statutes and specialized in the prosecution of police brutality cases. For his efforts in prosecuting corrections officers, he earned the Civil Rights Division’s Special Commendation for Outstanding Service. After that, Kobie Flowers served with distinction as an assistant federal public defender in Baltimore. Kobie has served NACDL in numerous capacities, including as a member of the Body Camera Task Force, the Task Force on Sousveillance, and as chair of the Diversity Committee. In other activities, Kobie teaches at the National Criminal Defense College and serves on the Board of Directors for the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. Before starting his legal career, he served in the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Ivory Coast. Kobie earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford and his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Huda Ajlani Macri is a solo practitioner based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Huda entered private practice after having served as an assistant public defender with the Broward County Public Defender’s Office. Huda is a board certified criminal defense attorney in Florida, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of both the Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL). At FACDL, Huda serves as the chair of the Criminal Rules and Jury Instructions Analysis Committee, which submits recommendations to the Florida Bar Committee that writes the rules and amendments to jury instructions submitted to the Florida Supreme Court. She also serves on the Grievance Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Florida Bar. Huda was recently appointed to serve as a co-chair of NACDL’s Immigration Committee. She received a certificate from the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, and earned her undergraduate degree at the University of South Florida and her law degree from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center.

JaneAnne Murray is a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, where she specializes in criminal law and government investigations and teaches criminal procedure and sentencing. JaneAnne also maintains a private practice in which she devotes considerable efforts to pro bono representation. She is a former federal and state public defender. JaneAnne has served as co-chair of NACDL’s Sentencing Committee, and she served as both a member of the Steering Committee of Clemency Project 2014 and a member of the Attorney Advisory Board for the NACDL/FAMM State Clemency Project. While working with Clemency Project 2014, JaneAnne established a clemency project at her law school and, with the assistance of a colleague, supervised 15 law students who helped prepare 35 clemency petitions of which 14 were granted and a 15th received compassionate release. JaneAnne also served as a member of the Trial Penalty Task Force, where she assisted in drafting the principles and recommendations and contributed significantly to the introductory portion of the final report. JaneAnne Murray earned her law degree from University College Cork and her master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, both with first class honors.

Shahzad Naseem is a partner at Berkowitz Oliver LLP, a mid-sized litigation boutique in Kansas City, Missouri. Shazzie Naseem’s practice focuses on federal criminal defense, including white collar criminal defense and internal investigations. He also serves on several Criminal Justice Act panels. Shazzie also serves as one of three Coordinating Discovery Attorneys (CDA) for the federal Defender Services Office for complex multidefendant cases prosecuted in U.S. district courts across the country. This position was established to help CJA attorneys cope with voluminous electronic discovery. Shazzie has lectured on this topic at numerous NACDL conferences. Prior to entering private practice, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where he served as defense counsel for officers and enlisted personnel in both administrative separation board proceedings and court-martial trials. Shazzie earned his undergraduate degree at Truman State University, where he was a Robert E. McNair Scholar, and his law degree at Notre Dame University, where he was an American College of Trial Lawyers Moot Court National Champion and received the Arthur A. May Award for Commitment to Professional Ethical Standards and Excellence in Trial Advocacy.

Melissa Owen is a founding partner of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, a mid-sized North Carolina law firm with offices in Charlotte, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh. Missy Owen’s personal practice areas include state and federal criminal defense, with a focus on white collar matters, financial crime, sex offense prosecutions, and Title IX representation. Missy has served NACDL in numerous capacities, including as a program co-chair in the CLE Institute and a member of the Women in Criminal Defense Committee, the White Collar Committee, the Title IX Committee, and the Bylaws Committee. She is also active on numerous bar associations and community groups, including service on the Board of Governors of North Carolina Attorneys for Justice and the Ethics Committee at the North Carolina State Bar, which publishes Advisory Ethics Opinions for North Carolina attorneys. Missy Owen earned her undergraduate degree from Miami University in Ohio and her law degree at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh.

Robert Patillo is the principal attorney in The Patillo Law Group, LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. Robert has a broad civil litigation and criminal defense practice. He has been a life-long legal, community, and human rights activist. Prior to establishing his law firm, Robert served as a research and legal consultant for the Rainbow/Push Coalition, served as a law clerk at the City of Chicago, Department of Law, Employment and Policy Litigations, a legal intern for the Center for American Progress, and has been active in many political campaigns. He is a talk radio host on CBS Radio/ENTERCOM, where he hosts “People, Passion, Politics,” which serves as a platform to provide information and education to the community. Robert Patillo received his undergraduate degree from Clark University and his law degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he served as president/founder of the Civil Rights Law Society and president of the Black Law Students Association.

Sonya Pfeiffer is a partner at Rudolf Widenhouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she represents clients in complex white collar investigations and prosecutions in federal and state courts, and also handles wrongful conviction civil cases. Prior to that, Sonya was an associate at Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, and served as an assistant public defender at the Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office in the Felony Unit. Prior to her legal career, Sonya Pfeiffer had a 12-year career as a television journalist, during the latter part of which she engaged in investigative reporting, covering court cases and criminal justice issues. Sonya has been active on NACDL’s White Collar Committee, Heath Care Fraud Subcommittee, and provided advisory assistance to Clemency Project 2014. She serves on numerous bar groups, including in a leadership capacity on the executive committee of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and has received numerous awards for her service to the legal community and beyond. Sonya Pfeiffer received her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and her law degree, cum laude, from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Gabriel Reyes operates a law firm in Dallas, Texas, where he has a state and federal criminal defense practice. Gabriel is admitted to practice in Texas and New York, as well as in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit and several district courts. He serves on the CJA panels for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas, as well as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Dallas County Appointment Wheel. Prior to establishing his firm, Gabriel served stints as an assistant federal defender in the Northern and Western Districts of Texas. He began his legal career as a tax associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP in New York. Gabriel has been a frequent attendee at NACDL programs, and he has capitalized on his skills as a native Spanish speaker to participate in a training program for trial lawyers in Argentina through his work with the Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales y Socialies (INECIP). Gabriel Reyes received his undergraduate degree from Colby College and his law degree from Columbia Law School.

Addy R. Schmitt is a member of Miller & Chevalier, Chartered, where she serves as vice chair of the Litigation Department and represents individuals and corporations in all aspects of criminal investigations and prosecutions, including internal investigations, grand jury proceedings, trials, sentencing, and postconviction proceedings. Addy also handles complex civil litigation. Before joining the firm, Addy Schmitt served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she represented various executive agencies and employees at all stages of litigation. She began her legal career as an associate for Dickstein Shapiro, LLP, and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Addy is very active in the D.C. legal community: she has served on numerous prominent committees, including the D.C. Judicial Nominations Committee by appointment of President Obama, and on the selection panels for magistrate judges for both the U.S. District Court and the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law, where she has taught criminal trial advocacy, white collar crime, and taking and defending depositions. Addy has been active on NACDL’s Task Force on Discovery Reform (chair) and the White Collar Crime Committee. In addition, she has served as faculty at several NACDL CLE programs, authored comments in support of NACDL advocacy, and authored amicus curiae briefs. Recently, at the behest of NACDL’s Lawyers’ Assistance Strike Force, she participated in the successful representation of Brig. Gen. John Baker, the head of the Military Commissions Defense Office, in contempt proceedings. Addy Schmitt earned her undergraduate degree at Georgetown University and her law degree, summa cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law.

D’Anthony V. Thedford is a career-long criminal defense attorney who is now at Thedford Garber Law, a Chicago criminal defense and civil rights firm. Tony began his legal career as a Cook County public defender, where he served for eight years before starting his own law practice. He has extensive state and federal criminal defense experience as well as experience representing plaintiffs in civil rights litigation. Tony served as the director of trial advocacy under Dean Andrea Lyon at Valparaiso School of Law and serves on the CJA panel for the Northern District of Illinois. He has been active in numerous bar groups, and is the Immediate Past President of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Tony earned his undergraduate degree from Southern College and his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law.

Ian Wallach practices law in Los Angeles at the Law Office of Ian Wallach, P.C. Ian’s practice is substantially devoted to criminal defense, with much of it involving the representation of indigent accused persons through state and federal court appointment. He also devotes substantial time to providing pro bono representation. Ian has worked in numerous practice settings, including serving as an assistant public defender in Los Angeles County for more than four years. Early in his career he served as a law clerk in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, where he worked in the Office of the Prosecutor and participated in drafting the indictment of Slobodan Milosevic and the opening statement in the Bosanski Samac trial. Ian maintains legal blogs and is a frequent legal commentator. He is admitted to practice in New York and California, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Second and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, and numerous districts courts. Ian has become increasingly active at NACDL, serving as a member of the Corrections Committee, program co-chair for the CLE Institute, and presenter at a recent seminar. Ian Wallach earned his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Oregon, and his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. He is an NACDL Life Member.

Nanzella Whitfield is a career public defender who enjoys a reputation as a brilliant trial lawyer. Nan has served in the office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender for 30 years, during which time she has tried hundreds of cases, including the highest level felonies. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including recognition as Defense Attorney of the Year by the Los Angeles County Bar Association in 2011 and one of the Top 75 Female Litigators in the State of California in 2008. Nan has served as faculty at countless training programs seeking to elevate standards of practice in the criminal defense bar. Nan Whitfield earned her undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law.

 

Staff

Corrine Crisfield recently joined NACDL’s Programs Department as education assistant. Cori is a recent graduate of Hamilton College in New York, where she focused her public policy major on learning about issues of incarceration, homelessness, and environmental injustice for low income communities. Her passion for criminal justice reform and alleviating poverty was fostered early on in college when she interned for Centurion, an organization dedicated to the vindication of the wrongly convicted. Between high school and college Cori took a gap year during which she spent four months in the Dominican Republic, working in an orphanage and in the fields in the countryside, and four months in Spain, where she took Spanish classes and volunteered in a daycare facility.

Jessica DaSilva has been appointed resource counsel. Jessie will work with NACDL Senior Resource Counsel Vanessa Antoun to support NACDL’s work in the postconviction area. This will include training in the representation of the wrongfully convicted, a wrongful conviction grant review assessment, and new joint initiatives with law enforcement to minimize wrongful conviction. Jessie served as senior legal editor at Bloomberg Law, where she covered criminal cases and criminal justice and reform issues. She has worked on many of the issues that are important to NACDL, including use of forensic science in criminal cases. Prior to her work as a legal editor, Jessie handled criminal appeals as an assistant attorney general at the Florida Office of the Attorney General in Tallahassee (nonhomicide cases). That experience led to her desire to change the system. Jessie earned her Juris Doctor at Florida Coastal School of Law, where she was a 2012 Moot Court National Champion and received other awards, and she earned a B.S. in Online Journalism from the University of Florida where she was the recipient of the H.G. “Buddy” Davis Award for Most Promising Journalist.

Julian M. Giles joined the NACDL staff several months ago as a graphic designer in the Art Department, where he works directly with Art Director Cathy Zlomek. Julian came to NACDL after several years as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2007, with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts/Digital Media. Julian is truly part of the NACDL “family” as he is also the stepson of Angelyn Frazer-Giles, who served for many years as NACDL’s legislative affairs director and senior advisor for special projects.

Wendy K. Lee recently joined NACDL as Fourth Amendment Center education and research associate. Wendy will provide critical research assistance to support the Center, working closely with the Fourth Amendment Center Director Jumana Musa and other members of the team. Wendy Lee recently graduated from the University of Chicago where she earned a B.A., with concentrated areas of study in Gender Studies, Public Policy, and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies. Among the many positions she held while earning her undergraduate degree, Wendy worked as a research intern at the Invisible Institute, which works to foster accountability and transparency of public institutions, and she co-founded a mentorship program designed to help Woodlawn High School students achieve their postgraduate goals through career counseling, standardized test workshops, and weekend programming. Wendy also served as a Shriver Fellow at the Sargent Shriver Program for Leadership in Public Service, a program of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. In this program she worked with community stakeholders and local residents to address youth violence and educational enrichment.

Ian Nawalinski assumed the position of public affairs and communications assistant in September 2017. In this capacity, Ian is responsible for myriad communications responsibilities, including, as is well known to hundreds of NACDL subscribers, the preparation of the Daily Criminal Justice Briefing. Ian works closely with Ivan Dominguez, NACDL’s senior director of public affairs and communications. Ian studied communications and journalism and obtained his undergraduate degree in communications from West Chester University. Prior to that, while studying at the University of Hawaii, Ian served as a senior staff writer for the university’s Kaleo Weekly. From 2014 to 2016, Ian worked as the membership coordinator and event planner at the Marijuana Policy Project, where he was involved in several marijuana legalization campaigns during the 2016 election season. Since late 2016 until his current appointment, Ian worked as a temporary employee supporting NACDL’s Membership Department.

Jason Hawthorne Petty has joined NACDL as sales and marketing manager. Jason assumes a major position in the newly created Strategic Marketing Department under the leadership of Associate Executive Director for Strategic Marketing Jessica Stepan. Jason will be responsible for selling advertisements in The Champion, securing exhibitors and sponsorships for seminars, attracting and managing Affinity Partners, and marketing web banner ads and email blasts.

Jason has nearly 20 years of experience in exhibit, sponsorship, and advertisement sales for nonprofit organizations. He worked as the business development manager for the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy in Falls Church, Virginia. Prior to that, Jason was the exhibits and advertising sales manager at the Gerontological Society of America in the District of Columbia, and before that he was director of exhibits and sponsorships and meetings manager for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. Jason earned his B.A. in American Studies at Wheaton College and holds certifications in Event and Exhibition Management.

Michael W. Price has returned to NACDL as senior litigation counsel for the NACDL Fourth Amendment Center. Michael will work closely with Fourth Amendment Center Director Jumana Musa. Mike Price began his legal career a decade ago as NACDL’s first national security counsel. In that position he supported NACDL’s work in the John Adams Project and pioneered NACDL’s National Security and Fourth Amendment staff position in these key areas. Mike left NACDL in 2011, and for the past seven years he has been at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, where he most recently served as senior counsel in the Liberty & National Security Program. Michael is a recognized expert in litigating First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations, including cases involving digital privacy rights, unconstitutional police surveillance, and the “Muslim ban.” He has had extensive involvement in amicus work related to privacy rights in the digital age as well as timely national security issues, including the “third party doctrine,” electronic border searches, NSA eavesdropping, and discriminatory surveillance practices.

Mike Price earned his J.D. at New York University School of Law, where he was symposium editor for the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, and he earned his B.A. from Columbia University, where he majored in Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures and Political Science.

Saira Rivera has joined NACDL as a part-time graphic design assistant in the Art Department, working with Art Director Cathy Zlomek. Saira has been a freelance graphic designer, and before that she was employed for three years as a graphic designer in the Office of Communications at California State University San Marcos. Saira graduated from Cal State San Marcos, where she earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Visual and Performing Arts and in Human Development, Counseling.

Zachary Simonetti has joined NACDL as a Charles Koch Institute Fellow in the NACDL Fourth Amendment Center. The fellowship will provide NACDL with pivotal assistance in launching the Center, and it will afford Zach an extraordinary opportunity to hone his skills in Fourth Amendment law and cutting-edge privacy and digital technology issues. He is a recent graduate of Tulane University School of Law. While studying at Tulane, Zach spent a summer at Humboldt University of Berlin, where he earned a Certificate of Advanced Study and Training in Dispute Resolution and Mediation. Additionally, during his law school years, he served as a student attorney in the Tulane Juvenile Litigation Clinic and as a law clerk for the Orleans Public Defender, where he assisted attorneys in all aspects of criminal litigation and factual investigation. Zach earned his undergraduate degree at Furman University.

Jessica Stepan has been appointed to the new position of associate executive director for strategic marketing. In that position, Jessica will oversee the development of interdepartmental initiatives that enhance the visibility and benefits of NACDL, its programs, and its products. She will also establish and maintain a strategic plan to increase membership and enhance nondues revenue streams. Jessica will head up a new department that will include Membership as well as Sales and Marketing. Jessica came to NACDL from Arizona, where she served as corporate marketing and communication director-global initiatives for AmeriFirst Financial, Inc. Prior to that, she served for several years as the director of marketing for the American Association for Justice. And before that, Jessica was the marketing and communications manager for the National Association of Realtors. Jessica earned a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications at Towson University, and a Master of Arts in Global Marketing Communications and Advertising at Emerson College.

 

About the Author

Norman L. Reimer is NACDL’s Executive Director and Publisher of The Champion.

Norman L. Reimer
NACDL
Washington, DC
202-465-7623
www.nacdl.org
@NACDL
nreimer@nacdl.org