Puerto Rico Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

PRACDL Blog Redesign in Progress

I was tired of the look of the blog, and think it kept me from wanting to post more, so I'm giving this place a makeover. Also keeping me away from blogging more is the fact that I do most of my posting now via the PRACDL Group listserv (members only), where we get much more membership interaction, keeps me busy enough to be only too tempted to stay away from the blog. So maybe I'll get going again with the new look and "entertaining" myself reorganizing all the links, adding some, deleting others, and so on.

Anyhow, come by more often, as I do intend to post new stuff here more regularly.

Additions to PRACDL Blog

We have added two new lists to the right sidebar of the blog - Booker in the First Circuit (includes District and appellate cases) and Booker Elsewhere. As the number of cases are likely to grow exponentially, we will in time start trimming these  lists to the most important cases.

Other addition (see left sidebar under heading For the Jury) are the Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions for the District Courts of the First Circuit, Judge D. Brock Hornby's 2005 Revisions to Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions for the District Courts of the First Circuit (updated 2/17/05), and the Fifth Circuit District Judges Association Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal Cases) (2001). We will be adding more shortly.

Also, we remind those of you not familiar with the blog that you can search for information contained in previous posts by using the items listed under Categories heading in the left sidebar. That will take you back to any posts under any particular category from the time we started the blog in July 2004. Posts are often listed under more than one category.

A Gift from Jorge L. Arroyo to Us

We have added a new section to the Sidebar - From Our Members - and will provide content that can be useful to us all. The first item added comes from Jorge L. Arroyo, who has generously provided us with his Legal Topics Bibliography - a subject matter index to several magazines such as The Champion, ABA Journal, Litigation, The Federal Lawyer, Criminal Justice and others, dating back several years. Jorge has explained that he often uses this as a starting point in seeking out good materials in particular subject areas he has reviewed earlier, rather than reinventing the wheel each time, and that this allows him to know exactly where to look.

Moreover, Jorge has provided this to all of us with the additional offers that he will provide us a new list every time he updates it, and that anyone wanting to review any of the listed materials may do so at his offices.  This is the PRACDL spirit in action.  Jorge, many thanks!

PRACDL Assembly & Elections

PRACDL's Annual Assembly and Elections were a complete success! We had many new members. In particular, many of us were pleased at the number of younger lawyers who joined PRACDL. Maria H. Sandoval, who has served as PRACDL Vice President, was elected President of PRACDL, replacing Jorge L. Arroyo, who graciously (and with many thanks from all) passed the baton.  The rest of the elected Board Members were:

• Mariangela Tirado-Vales (new)
• Irma Valldejuli (new)
• Rachel Brill (previously on the Board)
• Juan R. Acevedo-Cruz (new)
• Jorge Rivera-Ortíz (new)
• Juan Matos (new)
• Joseph C. Laws, Jr. (FPD-PR, permanent seat on Board)
• Tom Lincoln (that's me, previously on the Board)

Other than for the President, the by-laws provide that the Board will select the officers from among its members.  It was a very good evening of exchanging ideas and suggestions, as well as a great time sharing with the best group of lawyers - the criminal defense bar.

Linda Backiel and Maria H. Sandoval addressed the need for all of us who are more experienced to assist the younger lawyers among our ranks, and for these to have no fear about approaching the rest of us to ask for help, to get ideas, since we all must learn from each other. Very serious consideration will be given to a mentoring program.

I, for one, have never forgotten the time when I started out practicing law and all the advice I received from some of the most experienced attorneys in Puerto Rico.  In particular, I owe a great debt to friend and outstanding attorney Harry Anduze, who was always there to help and share his knowledge and experiences whenever I needed it. He was never too busy. I have tried to emulate him in doing the same for other lawyers.

We also heard from Esther "Tati" Castro-Schmidt how she is being helped by PRACDL's Lawyer's Assistance Strike Force, modeled after NACDL's, and I will publish some of the work done on her behalf by Strike Force members Linda Backiel, Rachel Brill and Juan R. Acevedo-Cruz, all spending long hours to do this as a service to a fellow criminal defense lawyer.

And to all of those fellow lawyers who applauded the work put into this blog by me, I am humbled by your praises, although I must confess I enjoy doing it a lot.

I have a very strong feeling that this coming year will be a very good one for PRACDL.

Welcome to PRACDL's new blog!

Welcome to PRACDL's new blog.  All of our old posts can be found at Puerto Rico Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Be sure to create a link to our new URL at http://pracdl.typepad.com/pracdl/.

This will be a group blog of PRACDL members, and I will continue to be the administrator for the same.

Glad to have you visit us, and come back frequently!

Tom Lincoln

Update: We have completed moving all of our posts from the previous blog.

Welcome!

To all PRACDL members and all who are interested in the criminal law, we hope you visit often for good insights from a group of criminal defense lawyers here in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

There will be a number of PRACDL members  who have been invited to post their views, questions, and anything they feel may be of interest to us all.  Their names will be announced upon acceptance.

For the rest of our visitors, we strongly encourage you to post any comments you may have and make this as interesting as possible.

Tom Lincoln

"Administrator"