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This month I am pleased to introduce one new counsel, and re-introduce
another. Maureen Dimino has been appointed Indigent Defense Counsel,
taking over the position from Malia Brink, who has been appointed
Counsel for Special Projects.
Maureen Dimino is an experienced public defender who joins NACDL
following several years in the Miami Public Defender’s Office, where she
tried nearly 40 cases and managed an annual caseload of between 60 and
150 cases. Prior to that she worked with low income urban youth as a
counselor for the San Francisco Conservation Corps. Maureen also
completed internships with both the San Francisco Public Defender and
the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. She has a B.A. in
Sociology from Brandeis University and a J.D. from American University
Washington College of Law. She brings talent, experience and
irrepressible zeal to the Indigent Defense Counsel position.
Maureen sees her new position as one that can produce systemic change,
and is determined to “make the system better for clients, for their
lawyers and for the poor in general,” and “ensure that the Constitution
works for all people, regardless of how much money they have.”
Confronted soon after her arrival with deep cuts in indigent funding in
Minnesota and Florida, two of the better-funded systems, Maureen noted
that “it is going to be even more of an uphill battle than I
anticipated, but I am determined that NACDL will provide steadfast
support for both public and private indigent defense counsel wherever
and whenever we can.”
Malia Brink, who has served brilliantly as NACDL’s Indigent Defense
Counsel, has assumed the newly created position of Counsel for Special
Projects. She now has a diverse portfolio that will include significant
development responsibilities for both NACDL and the Foundation for
Criminal Justice, and myriad special projects requiring sophisticated
legal analysis. Malia is perfectly suited for this position. She brings
extensive experience as a catalyst for indigent defense reform and an
impressive career serving legal non-profit organizations.
Prior to coming to NACDL, Malia was a staff attorney for the American
Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Pennsylvania, and a Jerome J.
Shestack Public Interest Fellow, dividing her time between the ACLU of
Pennsylvania and serving as an associate in the litigation department of
Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, LLP. Prior to that, Malia clerked
for the Hon. Norma L. Shapiro, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania. She has an A.B. in Philosophy from Dartmouth
College and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
When I proposed the creation of the new position and asked Malia about
her interest, she jumped at the opportunity. She noted that “as Indigent
Defense Counsel I saw NACDL’s potential to grow its reform and public
policy initiatives, but no one had the time to pursue that effort. I
realized that the Association is perfectly poised for growth if we can
pursue development initiatives.” Malia believes that “for an
organization to pursue a vibrant legal reform agenda, alternative
funding sources are essential to augment membership dues.”
Since assuming her new position, Malia has played a pivotal role in
supporting the Foundation for Criminal Justice and articulating its
development strategy, planning and executing the 50th Anniversary Dinner
Gala, and addressing complex legal issues related to NACDL’s effort to
provide legal defense teams for the so-called “high value detainees” at
Guantanamo Bay. As she settles into her new position, Malia will be
asked to bring her outstanding legal talents and communications skills
to a vast array of subject areas. She has gleefully noted that “in my
new position I have not left my old substantive area completely. Now I
will have the opportunity to conceive of what more NACDL can do to
pursue its mission, and help garner the resources to make those
aspirations a reality.”
NACDL is fortunate to have Maureen and Malia, two remarkably talented
and committed attorneys, on the staff pursuing our institutional
mission. No doubt, in the years to come you will read often of their
achievements in the pages of this publication.
