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MACDL'sPURPOSE ANDOBJECTIVES
| 2017-2018 MACDL Sponsors Thank you for your extra support! Benefactors Walter F. McKee Sustaining Members Tina Heather Nadeau Stephen J. Schwartz Supporting Members Edwin Chester Jamesa J. Drake Scott F. Hess Christopher Northrop John S. Webb Christopher J. Whalley Contributing Members William Bart Peter J. Cyr Andrew Dawson Andrew S. Edwards Kristine C. Hanly Thea Johnson Matthew D. Morgan Logan E. Perkins Richard Regan Hunter J. Tzovarras Robert Van Horn |
MACDL's ANNUAL AwARdsEach year at its annual meeting in June, the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers presents two awards. President’s Award This award is given each year to the criminal defense attorney who best exemplifies the goals and values of MACDL and the legal profession. Past recipients: Stephen Schwartz, Neale Duffett, David Beneman, Walt McKee, Tim Zerillo, Ed Folsom, Virginia Villa, Matthew B. Nichols, Jamesa Drake, Jonathan Handelman, and James Mason. Unsung Hero Award This award is given each year to the criminal defense attorney who best exemplifies the highest level of commitment, passion, and tireless pursuit of justice in the representation of indigent defendants. Past recipients: Sherry Tash, Rob Ruffner, Amy Fairfield, Jeremy Pratt, Robert A. Levine, Lisa Whittier, Joe Mekonis, Ned Chester, Chris Ledwick, and Chris Northrop. To submit a nomination, please send a letter outlining the candidate’s qualifications based on the criteria above. Nominations should be submitted to: Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Executive Director P.O. Box 17642 Portland, ME 04112-8642 mainemacdl@gmail.com | MACDL'S FORMATION & HISTORY "It’s time." With those words in the summer of 1992, prominent Bangor criminal defense lawyer and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers board member Marshall Stern signaled that better education, resources, lobbying, and a statewide voice on matters of importance should be available to Maine criminal defense lawyers and their clients. Portland criminal defense lawyer Stephen Schwartz heeded the call from his mentor, gathered several of his friends in the Bar as incorporators, including Lenny Sharon, Gail Latouf, Vilean Taggersell, and Tom Van Houten, and founded the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, becoming its first president. Steve and Lenny, our second president, were the driving forces behind the proliferation of the organization, gaining hundreds of members by traveling throughout the state, and traveling with their families to Rhode Island to obtain affiliation with NACDL in 1993. Steve also founded and was the first editor of the professional publication, Maine Defender, the newsletter of MACDL. Maine has no public defender and the defense of those charged with crimes, be they indigent or not, falls on the shoulders of private defense lawyers. Marshall and Steve were passionate in their desire to bring the defense bar together through an organization dedicated to the needs of criminal defense lawyers and their clients. Today, MACDL meets as a group at an annual legal seminar held in June. We have published a quarterly newsletter, hold training sessions and meetings around the state assisting our members through a sharing of ideas and resources, and lobby in the Legislature on criminal defense matters. When called upon, we also provide amicus briefs to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Upcoming events
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