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.