Bicka Barlow - San Francisco, CA
Bicka Barlow received a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in Genetics, and an Master of Science from Cornell University in Genetics and Development. Her research as both an undergraduate and graduate student involved the use of molecular biology and classical genetic techniques in the study of plant developmental biology and breeding systems. The topic of Ms. Barlow’s Master’s thesis was the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression in yeast. Ms. Barlow then went on to the University of San Francisco School of Law where she received a JD. Since graduation, she has worked exclusively in the area of criminal law with an emphasis in DNA evidence. Ms. Barlow has acted as either DNA counsel or consultant on over 200 cases at all stages from trial to post conviction proceedings in State and Federal court. Five of these cases have been capital. Ms. Barlow, along with Michael Burt, conducted the first successful challenge to STR based DNA evidence in the United States under Kelly in the case of People v. Bokin et al., in the San Francisco Superior Court. Ms. Barlow was also involved in an admissibility challenge to mitochondrial DNA evidence in a capital case in Colorado. In 2005 Ms. Barlow was the first attorney in the country to request and obtain data from a convicted offender database in Arizona that has raised new questions about the reliability of the statistical analysis of DNA evidence. Ms. Barlow regularly trains attorneys in issues relating to DNA evidence. These trainings include the Monterey Death Penalty Seminar and the West Coast Forensic Trial College. In 2004 she was hired by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office as the office’s “DNA attorney.”

Steve Benjamin - Richmond, VA
NACDL Second Vice President Steven D. Benjamin is an attorney in private practice with the Richmond, Virginia firm of Benjamin & DesPortes. He is a member of the Virginia Board of Forensic Science and the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission. He serves as Special Counsel to the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee and to the Virginia State Crime Commission. He is Secretary of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a Past President of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is a frequent CLE lecturer on criminal justice and defense issues. He has given presentations nationally and throughout Virginia, including presentations to the American Bar Association, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Institute and Judicial Conference of Virginia. In 1996, Mr. Benjamin was counsel in Virginia’s landmark case on the appointment of experts for indigent defense, Husske v. Commonwealth. In 1998, he argued through the trial courts and on appeal that Virginia’s mandatory fee caps on compensation for court-appointed counsel deprived indigent defendants of conflict-free representation. In 2001, he won the exoneration and release of Jeff Cox, a man who served 11 years of a life sentence for a crime he did not commit. In 2003, he argued for the free speech rights of public housing residents in a trespassing case in the United States Supreme Court. In 2003, he was presented the Virginia State Bar’s Lewis F. Powell Pro Bono Award in recognition of his years of indigent defense and efforts toward indigent defense reform. In 2004, he was elected a Fellow to the American Board of Criminal Lawyers.

James Cooney - Charlotte, NC
Jim Cooney has represented individuals and businesses in some of the most difficult and high-profile cases in North Carolina. He has tried more than 50 jury cases to verdict in civil and criminal cases and handled more than 35 appeals in the State and Federal courts. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Permanent Member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. He has been selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” since 2000 in both civil and criminal litigation. He is the only attorney selected as one of the top trial lawyers in North Carolina in civil and criminal work; in 2006, 2007. 2008, 2009 and 2010 he was selected as one of the top ten civil attorneys in North Carolina. In 2007 he was the top vote recipient for criminal attorneys in North Carolina and in 2010 was voted the best attorney for “Bet Your Company” cases. Mr. Cooney has lectured extensively throughout North Carolina and the country to law-enforcement groups, attorney organizations and law schools. He graduated from Duke University in 1979 with a B.A. in History and Political Science, summa cum laude with distinction in History. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982 where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Research and Projects Editor of the Virginia Law Review. From 1982 to 1983, he was a Law Clerk to the Hon. John D. Butzner, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Mr. Cooney practiced law with Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman in Charlotte from 1983 through 2000 before joining Womble Carlyle. He is a past-President of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, and has served as the Chair of the Civil Litigation and Courts Committees of the Mecklenburg County Bar, and the Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association AIDS Task Force. He is a member of the Advisory Commission on the Rules of Civil Procedure for the North Carolina General Assembly, and a member of the Special Select Commission of the State Bar of North Carolina investigating the Hoke/Graves Ethics Prosecution.

Drew Findling - Atlanta, GA
Drew Findling spent the first three years of his career as a lawyer as a Fulton County, Georgia, public defender assigned to the courtroom of the late Judge William Daniels, known throughout Georgia for having authored three fundamental treatises on Georgia criminal practice. Just a few years after graduating from law school, in 1987, he “hung out a shingle” and went into private practice. Since then, he has represented clients in state and federal courts in many states, including Georgia, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, as well as handled international matters. Further, Drew Findling served as chair of the NACDL Forensic Evidence Committee for nearly a decade, allowing him to meet and work with the nation’s leading forensic experts, investigators, and support personnel, providing a resource to find the right person to assist in the smallest to the largest case. Drew Findling has enjoyed great success as a trial lawyer representing clients with charges ranging from minor offenses to multi-million dollar federal conspiracy cases. Over the years, his reputation for zealous and skilled representation has resulted in his being retained to represent several high-profile clients, including Grammy-nominee Faith Evans, Former Fulton County, Georgia, Sheriff Jackie Barrett, Former President of Morris Brown College Dolores Cross, NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal and former NBA great Dennis Rodman. In his nearly 25 years of practice, he has published numerous articles and given speeches in 30 states on such topics as defending battered woman syndrome cases, jury selection in high profile cases, forensic preparation for a criminal trial, giving effective opening and closing statements, and cross-examination, including several on the cross-examination of the homicide detective. He has lectured at Emory Law School, Georgia State University College of Law, the National Criminal Defense College, the Georgia Institute of Trial Advocacy, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Criminal Defense College. Respected for his legal analysis and trial abilities, Drew Findling is also regularly invited by Shepard Smith and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News to serve as legal analyst on their programs. He has also earned a local reputation for his abilities and is often invited to appear on Atlanta-based CNN Headline News. Drew Findling’s professional memberships include the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association, and the Atlanta Bar Association. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the prestigious National Clearing House on Science and Technology of Law. He has been named as one of Georgia’s Legal Elite in Georgia Trend Magazine and as a Georgia “Super Lawyer” by Atlanta Magazine.

Dr. Simon Ford - Fairborn, OH
Trained primarily in molecular biology and biochemistry, Dr. Ford is the Founder and President of Lexigen Science and Law Consultants, a firm that specializes in providing advice to lawyers about genetic evidence since 1988. He has personally reviewed the DNA evidence from thousands of criminal investigations and has conducted numerous workshops for agencies on the analysis of STR test results.

Dr. Rich Kaplan - Minneapolis, MN
Dr. Kaplan is the Medical Director of The Center for Safe and Healthy Children - the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital Child Abuse Program. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Rich is also the Associate Medical Director at Midwest Children's Resource Center, a regional medical child abuse evaluation program at Children's Hospitals and Clinics in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Kaplan received a Masters in Social Work degree from St. Louis University and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of South Dakota. He completed his pediatric residency in Phoenix, Arizona. First, as a social worker and then as a pediatrician, Rich has been working with child abuse victims for over 30 years. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a charter member of the Ray Helfer Society and a former member of the Society's executive committee. Dr. Kaplan is a 2003 recipient of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner's Award for Outstanding Service in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Child Abuse and Neglect.

David Lynch - Location, TBA
Bio to come....

Michael Newman - Location, TBA
Bio to come....

Steven Oberman - Knoxville, TN
Steven Oberman is currently serving as Dean of the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD). He has served as Chair or Co-Chair of NACDL’s DUI Committee since 1995, and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tennessee Law School. Certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the Tennessee Commission on CLE and Specialization, he has successfully represented nearly 2,000 clients charged with alcohol-related driving offenses. Oberman is the author of DUI: the Crime & Consequences in Tennessee (Thomson Reuters), and co-author with Lawrence Taylor of Drunk Driving Defense (Aspen Publishers).

Chris Plourd - San Diego, CA
Christopher J. Plourd is a sole practitioner in his law firm, The Law Offices of Christopher J. Plourd, located in San Diego. In addition to maintaining a trial practice Plourd belongs to numerous legal and scientific organizations. Mr. Plourd is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society of Forensic Odontology. Plourd is also a member of the State Bar of California, the San Diego County Bar Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Plourd is also committed to lending his talents in educating fellow members of the bar. As forensic scientific evidence consultant Plourd regularly lectures attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers and law students on the subject of forensic scientific evidence. Plourd has been a practicing litigation attorney for the past 23 years, specializing in cases involving forensic scientific evidence. Plourd has engaged extensively in scientific evidence consulting in legal matters involving forensic DNA identity testing throughout the United States and is considered one of a handful of attorneys in the United States who is proficient in the use of forensic DNA technologies. In addition to DNA evidence Plourd has considerable experience in cases involving bite mark identification evidence and blood spatter evidence. He is frequently asked to appear on television news and radio talk show programs to comment upon DNA and other forensic scientific evidence. Plourd is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson College of Law in San Diego, California.

Mark Prothero - Kent, WA
Mark W. Prothero graduated from the University of Washington in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He then attended law school at the University of San Diego, where he earned his J.D. in 1981. In 1983, Mr. Prothero began working for the Associated Counsel for the Accused (ACA). He began by defending people in the municipal and district courts accused of such crimes as D.U.I. and Domestic Violence. He moved on to defend juveniles, and in 1987, joined the felony unit. While at ACA, he participated in many pro bono projects for accused criminals and was a member of the Innocence Project Northwest. In his professional capacity, Mr. Prothero is perhaps best known as the lead defense attorney in the landmark case against Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. As a founding member of the Criminal Defense Law Department at Hanis Irvine Prothero PLLC, Mark Prothero’s extensive courtroom experience qualifies him to defend a range of crimes from D.U.I. to Aggravated First Degree Murder. Admitted to the Federal Bar, he is able to defend those accused of federal crimes and is one of the select few attorneys on the Washington Supreme Court's panel to defend individuals faced with the death penalty.A frequent lecturer at legal education seminars, he is recognized for his expertise on subjects such as: sentencing, evidence, forensic DNA, the mental health of criminals, and the death penalty. He is a member of the Washington Defender Association (WDA) and the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL), serving on their Board of Governors since 2003 and authoring three articles for the WACDL publication, DEFENSE. Mr. Prothero has also served as a Judge Pro Tem in Tukwila, Des Moines, Kent, and SeaTac Municipal Courts. In addition to his professional activities, Mark Prothero is committed to community involvement. As a volunteer speaker at local high schools on criminal law and law as a career, he has served on several Kent School District committees. A renowned swimmer who represented the United States in international competition, he is co-founder of the 2003 Kent Citizens for Water Safety Organization, which successfully saved the Kent Meridian swimming pool from county closure.

Laura Schile - Tulsa, OK
As a nationally renowned expert, Laura Schile brings more than 16 years of experience in research and the forensic sciences to our clients. She is court qualified as an expert in DNA analysis, serology, crime scene investigation, evidence collection and handling, and hair comparison. Ms. Schile has worked with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson research center, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and as the DNA Lab Manager for the Oklahoma City Police Department. Her most recent affiliation was with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, consulting on all aspects of the forensic sciences in relation to trial and appeal processes. Ms. Schile is ASCLD certified as a technical leader, and a member of various professional organizations. Her comprehensive mix of knowledge and experience enables her to advice on how to use many different types of information and evidence to support a competent defense or effective prosecution. Based on case review, she will recommend strategies for witness interviews, inclusion, exclusion or further testing of evidence, court testimony or other expert assistance.

Steven Schorr - Location, TBA
Bio to come....

Dr. Alex Stalcup - Lafayette, CA
Dr. S. Alex Stalcup is a graduate of Whittier College and a graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics, and in Addiction Medicine. He is certified as a Medical Review Officer by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (A.S.A.M.). In 1990, after three years as Medical Director Medical Director, Drug Detoxification, Treatment & Aftercare Project, Haight Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco, Dr. Stalcup opened a private practice in addiction medicine. Since 1996, he has served as the Medical Director of the New Leaf Treatment Center in Lafayette, California.

Mark Taylor - Location, TBA
Bio to come....

Ted Vosk - Location, TBA
Bio to come....