Washington, DC (Aug. 17, 2022) – Sixteen individuals were elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association’s annual meeting, which was held on August 13. The sixteen Board Members below join those who are currently serving their terms on the NACDL Board of Directors.
Daniel N. Arshack – New York, NY
Daniel N. Arshack is a Managing Partner at Arshack, Hajek & Lehrman in New York, NY. Throughout his career, he has successfully defended a wide range of cases, from securities fraud and international arms-dealing to homicide and professional malpractice, in forty years of practice both as a Public Defender and in private practice. Arshack is the co-founder of the Bronx Defenders and currently serves as consulting counsel to the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, where he provides direct defense services to women charged with crimes associated with being pregnant. He is President of the Center for Community Alternatives, New York’s only statewide organization focusing on alternatives to incarceration for legal system involved adults and children. He is a Past President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a past Member of the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Defense Attorneys Association. Arshack is a Life Member of NACDL and has previously served on its Board of Directors. He is a past Co-Chair of the International Affairs Committee and a member of the newly formed Criminalization of Pregnancy and Reproductive Health Task Force and the Task Force on Defenses. He received his J.D. from the Antioch School of Law, his B.A. from Brandeis University and the University of Stockholm, and a professional certificate in Medical Bio-Ethics from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and Einstein Medical School.
Ramon de la Cabada – Miami, FL
A Life Member of both NACDL and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Ramon de la Cabada has been a criminal and regulatory defense lawyer since 1999 at his law practice, Law Office of Ramon de la Cabada. Before starting his own practice, Mr. de la Cabada was an Assistant State Attorney in the 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida; and an Assistant Statewide Prosecutor and lobbyist for the Florida Attorney General, wherein he prosecuted white collar multi-jurisdictional crimes, lobbied on criminal issues, and empaneled grand juries in cases involving Medicaid fraud and other types of white collar crime which were part of grand jury reports that resulted in legislative changes for Medicaid certification in Florida. He also trained law enforcement on topics ranging from search and seizure to fraud. He previously served on NACDL’s Board of Directors, is former Co-Chair and present member of the Diversity Committee, present Co-Chair of the Foreign Training Committee and the Puerto Rico Fact-Finding Task Force, Co-Chair of the Trial Penalty Task Force, and member of the Fourth Amendment Advocacy Committee, the White Collar Crime Committee, and the Women in Criminal Defense Committee. He also served in the Sousveillance Task Force. As an expert, he was hired by U.S. Department of Treasury to assist the Dominican Republic in rewriting and implementing changes to their money laundering laws, and by Organization of American States (OAS) to train prosecutors and judges in the development of a corruption court. He served a five-year term as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for Criminal Cases and during that time worked on numerous instructions ranging from manslaughter to money laundering, and personally drafted many instructions including Mortgage Fraud and Communications Fraud. He also served as a member of the Juvenile Justice Board for the 11th Circuit of Florida. For the Florida Bar, he was a member, Vice Chair, and Chair of a Florida Bar Grievance Committee. He was also selected to serve as a member of the Homeland Defense/Neighborhood Bond Oversight Board for the City of Miami. He has trained public defenders, prosecutors, private counsel, and judiciary throughout Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile on trial advocacy and jury selection. He received his B.A. and J.D. from Florida State University.
James Felman – Tampa, FL
James Felman is a partner in the Tampa Bay law firm of Kynes, Markman & Felman, P.A., and has concentrated his practice of law in the defense of complex criminal matters and related civil litigation for over 30 years. Felman has also devoted a significant portion of his professional efforts to legal reform and policy work. He has testified on an array of topics before the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and Sentencing Commission, and frequently writes and speaks on criminal justice policy issues. He is a former Chair of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section, and currently serves as Chair of the Section’s Task Force on First Step Act Implementation, the Section’s Task Force on Sentencing Standards, as well as the Section’s DOJ Dialogue Group. Felman serves as Chair of NACDL’s Task Force on First Step Act Implementation and is a member of The Champion Advisory Board. He was a founding member of the Steering Committee of Clemency Project 2014, served as Co-Chair of the Practitioners’ Advisory Group to the United States Sentencing Commission from 1998 to 2003, and served as Program Moderator of the Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines from 1993 to 2008. Felman received his B.A. from Wake Forest and an M.A. and J.D. from Duke University. Following law school, he was a law clerk to Judge Theodore McMillian of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Alice Fontier – New York, NY
Alice Fontier is the Managing Director of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem in New York, NY. In her career as a practicing defense attorney, she has served as counsel in over 70 trial cases, including high profile homicide and terrorism cases. Fontier is the Immediate Past President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a Board Member of the Chief Defenders Association of New York, and an Advisory Board Member of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services. She has conducted trainings across the country including recently at the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy Conference, the NYSACDL “Cross to Kill” Seminar, and has trained on behalf of NACDL on digital forensic evidence and facial recognition technology. Fontier is a Lecturer in Law at Columbia University School of Law and an Adjunct Professor at the New York University School of Law. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.
Jacqueline Goodman – Fullerton, CA
Jacqueline Goodman is a criminal trial lawyer in Massachusetts and California, with her principal office in Los Angeles/Orange County. She takes on hard, often notorious or broadly impactful cases, including the successful defense of a woman accused of murder for the stillbirth of her fetus; the DUI murder of an MLB pitcher (the most highly publicized case in Orange County history); the internationally renowned free speech case known as "The Irvine 11"; post-partum infanticide cases (depicted in a documentary film); and First Amendment cases including the successful defense of journalists arrested during the OCCUPY LA raids. She is a Past President of NACDL's California affiliate, CACJ, was a founding President of the North Orange County Bar Association, and was a founding member of the Orange County Chapter of the American Constitutional Society. Goodman is Chair of NACDL's Decarceration Committee, Chair of the NACDL-CA Trial Penalty Project, Co-Chair of the NACDL/CACJ's annual Forensics Seminar in Las Vegas, and Co-Chair of the annual NACDL Sex Crimes Defense Seminar since 2016. She is also a member of the Corrections and Women in Criminal Defense Committees. She regularly contributes to the Daily Journal and provides legal commentary on cases in the news. Ms. Goodman believes in the innate value of all human beings, and therefore condemns the use of torture in the form of solitary confinement and unsafe prison conditions, and advocates for a correctional system that seeks to heal instead of harm.
Vikram Kapil – South Boston, VA
Vikram Kapil is the Chief Public Defender for the Counties of Halifax, Mecklenburg, and Lunenburg, Virginia. He has served various positions including Chief Public Defender for the Counties of Henry and Patrick and the City of Martinsville, Virginia, and has worked in private practice as a criminal defense attorney in Virginia and North Carolina. Kapil is a Past President of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (VACDL) and has continued to serve as a Board Member of VACDL since 2019. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 1987 and subsequently worked at the University of Maryland Cancer Center and University of Maryland School of Medicine in the field of molecular biology developing DNA sequencing techniques and analysis. He obtained his law degree from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law in 1994. Kapil was elected to serve on the Board of Directors by the NACDL Affiliates.
Lisa Mathewson – Philadelphia, PA
Lisa Mathewson has defended clients in criminal matters for more than twenty-five years. She has an active appellate practice spanning multiple circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court. She also represents clients from the investigative stage through trial and sentencing, and co-counsels with colleagues who value her appellate expertise to present and preserve legal issues at the grand jury and trial stage. Mathewson is currently a Vice-Chair of NACDL’s Amicus Curiae Committee, with responsibility for the Third Circuit; Co-Chair of NACDL’s White Collar Committee; and a member of its Bylaws Committee. Outside of NACDL, she recently completed her service as a long-time member of the Selection Committee for the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mathewson is consistently recognized in Best Lawyers in America, and as a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer,” in the area of white collar criminal defense. Before forming Mathewson Law LLC in 2009, she was a partner in a boutique Philadelphia white collar defense firm and practiced with a large international law firm. She graduated with highest honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law and clerked at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
JaneAnne Murray – Minneapolis, MN
A former state and federal public defender, JaneAnne Murray has spent most of her professional career as a criminal defense attorney. She is an associate clinical professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, where she teaches evidence and directs the clemency clinic she founded. She is versed in all aspects of criminal defense practice, as well as the challenges of training the defense lawyers of the future. Murray’s career began in 1994 as a state public defender in New York. In 2005, she formed her own criminal defense practice, Murray Law LLC, which focused on criminal trials, and now focuses on criminal appeals and post-conviction proceedings. Murray has served on NACDL’s board for four years, is a member of the National Security Committee, the Women in Criminal Defense Committee, and the Task Force on First Step Implementation. Murray is Co-Chair of the Sentencing Committee and heads its Second Look Taskforce. She is also the director of NACDL’s Trial Penalty Clemency Project. Murray sat on the Steering Committees for NACDL’s Clemency Project 2014 as well as NACDL’s State Clemency Project. Murray regularly presents at NACDL’s CLE programs. She received her Bachelor of Civil Law Degree from University College Cork, and her Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge.
Katherine Tang Newberger – Baltimore, MD
Katherine Tang Newberger is the First Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland. Before starting as an assistant federal public defender in 2005 in Baltimore, Newberger clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago and Fourth Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz. As a public defender, Newberger represents indigent defendants charged with felony offenses, including firearm and drug violations, carjacking, robbery, fraud, sexual exploitation, and murder. She also oversaw the office’s efforts to obtain relief for federal defendants through retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act and compassionate release. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the District of Maryland has more compassionate release grants than any other district in the country. Newberger won the 2020 Leadership in Law Award from the Daily Record and Maryland State Bar Association. She received her B.S. from Northwestern University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.
Catharine O'Daniel – Chicago, IL
Catharine O'Daniel is a sole practitioner at the Law Offices of Catharine D. O'Daniel in Chicago, IL with over 25 years of experience handling complex criminal and appellate litigation across the United States. She is the 2015 recipient of the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award for Outstanding Service in recognition of her pro bono representation and acquittal of a man charged with first degree murder, as featured in the book “Long Way Home” by Laura Caldwell. O’Daniel is actively involved with the American Bar Association, the Chicago Inn of Court, and the Women's Criminal Defense Bar Association in Chicago. She is the 7th Circuit Representative for NACDL’s Lawyers Assistance Strike Force. She received her J.D. from John Marshall Law School and her B.A. from Indiana University Bloomington.
H. Eugene Oliver, III – Harrisonburg, VA
H. Eugene Oliver, III is a Partner at Evans Oliver, PLC in Harrisonburg, VA, where he practices primarily state and federal criminal and traffic defense, along with serving as a guardian ad litem for children, and handling family law matters. Because his primary jurisdiction does not have a public defender’s office, he handles a significant number of court-appointed indigent cases along with his private practice and has advocated for legislative changes to lessen the trial penalty and increase resources available to indigent defendants, including bills on eliminating mandatory jury sentencing and increasing access to mental health defenses. He is a Board Member and Past President of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (VACDL), and has served as Chair of its Judicial Nominations, Indigent Representation, and Executive Committees along with being an active member of its Legislative Committee. He is a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the Harrisonburg/Rockingham Bar Association. Oliver received his B.A. from The College of William & Mary and his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
Amanda Clark Palmer – Atlanta, GA
Amanda Clark Palmer is an attorney at Garland, Samuel & Loeb in Atlanta, GA, where she represents clients in both criminal and civil matters in state and federal courts. Her practice primarily focuses on criminal defense and she has defended all types of cases from DUI to violent felonies to white collar crime. Palmer is an active member of the NACDL Affiliate, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GACDL) currently serving on the Board of Governors and several committees. Previously, she held various positions such as Co-Editor of "The Defender" (GACDL’s quarterly newsletter), Media Chair, serving on the Long Range Planning Committee, and Executive Committee. Palmer is a Life Member of NACDL. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law. Palmer was elected to serve on the Board of Directors by the NACDL Affiliates.
Brady Skinner – Baton Rouge, LA
Brady Skinner is the Founding Attorney at the Law Office of Brady Skinner, LLC in Baton Rouge, LA, where he practices in the areas of criminal defense and personal injury law. He previously worked as a Conflict Defender with the Office of Public Defender of the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge and a Felony Attorney with the Office of Public Defender of the 14th Judicial District Court in Lake Charles, LA. Brady Skinner has served as a faculty member and is a graduate of the Trial Lawyer’s College. He is a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College. He has taught law courses in Criminal Law and Trial Advocacy, as an adjunct professor at Southern University Law Center. He is a Member of the Board of Directors for the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and serves on their Legislative Committee, Communications Committee, and Membership Committee. He is an active member of NACDL’s Public Defense, Diversity, Membership and Police Accountability Committees. He received his JD from Southern University Law Center and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Addy R. Schmitt – Washington, DC
Addy R. Schmitt is the Vice Chair of the Litigation Department at Miller & Chevalier Chartered in Washington DC, where she represents individuals and corporations in criminal and civil matters and conducts internal investigations. She is a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, a member of the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, a Board Member of JusticeAid, and a Program Committee Member of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association. Schmitt has served on NACDL’s Board of Directors since 2018 and is the Chair of NACDL’s Discovery Reform Committee and Co-Chair of the Strategic Litigation Committee. She recently co-chaired NACDL’s 2022 West Coast White Collar seminar and is an active member of the White Collar, Women’s, Governance, Diversity, and Decarceration Committees, as well as the Task Force on the Criminalization of Pregnancy and Reproductive Health. She received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
Jennifer Small – Riverside, CA
Jennifer Small is a criminal defense attorney in Riverside California. She is currently in private practice. Before turning to private practice, Small served as a Deputy Public Defender in Riverside for 15 years. In her role, Small represented indigent individuals in all aspects of their criminal cases for charges stemming from misdemeanors to serious and violent felonies, including motions, arraignment settlement conferences, preliminary hearings, and trials. Additionally, from 2015-2022, Small represented individuals civilly committed under psychiatric holds pursuant to California Welfare and Institutions Code section 3500, et al., along with select sections of the Probate Code. She advocated for individuals who suffer from extreme and debilitating mental illness and communicated with clients and their families. Small was instrumental in creating and updating court forms, which are now used by the Probate Division. She is a member of NACDL’s Diversity Committee. Small received her J.D. from California Western School of Law.
Timothy Zerillo – Portland, ME
Tim Zerillo is a criminal and civil litigator, practicing in state and federal courts from his home base of Portland, Maine. Tim has represented people from all walks of life, from actors to athletes, lawyers to doctors, lobstermen to laborers. Tim's cases are often notable and have at times been the subject of national, and even international, media coverage. Tim has been featured in newspapers throughout Maine and the United States, including the Boston Globe and New York Times, the Daily Mail in London, and in magazines such as Vanity Fair. Zerillo is listed in the "Best Lawyers in America" under the category of "White Collar Criminal Defense." He has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of their “Top 100” attorneys. He has been elected to New England Super Lawyers every year since 2010. He is the author of the book, Defending Specific Crimes, now in its first revision and published by James Publishing. He has an upcoming article in NACDL's The Champion, and frequently contributes criminal defense-focused articles to various publications. Zerillo is in his second term on NACDL's Board, where he serves as Co-Chair of NACDL's Membership Committee. He is a Past President of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is a recipient of their President's Award. He is Chair of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers CLE Committee. He also serves on the Court Operations Advisory Committee for the United States District Court in Maine and is a Fellow of the American Bar Association. Zerillo is a frequent speaker at criminal defense conferences and is next speaking at the upcoming NACDL Defending Sex Crimes Seminar on the topic of "Beating a Stacked Deck: Attacking Electronic Evidence in Digital Searches."
Contacts
- Jessie Diamond, NACDL Public Affairs and Communications Associate, (202) 465-7647 or jdiamond@nacdl.org
- Kate Holden, NACDL Public Affairs and Communications Associate, (202) 465-7624 or kholden@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
