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Log InMESSAGE FROM GEORGE GOLTZER, 2010 NYSACDL PRESIDENT
On behalf of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, it is my great honor to assume the role of President for the year 2010. To Craig Schlanger, thank you for your fine tenure; well done and thank you for your past support and future guidance.
I look forward to working with a talented and dedicated Board of Directors to further the goals of our organization. I welcome our new Executive Director, Margaret Alverson, a veteran defense lawyer who practiced for several years in New York and New Orleans. And to our outgoing Executive Director, Patricia Marcus, thank you for your years of service; we wish you well in your new position and endeavors.
This year the NYSACDL will continue its mission to mentor young lawyers, provide the best CLE available, lobby our legislature for fair and humane enactments, submit amicus briefs in significant litigation, support members during legal and professional emergencies and, most critically as far as I am concerned, provide our members with the confidence that none of them practices alone in what is often a contentious, unpopular, challenging and difficult profession. We are here for each of you and you are here for each of us. In our camaraderie lies our strength. Let us take pride in our calling and move forward with unity and purpose to uphold the great tradition of our predecessors, men and women who took on unpopular causes and clients to preserve the rights to counsel and fundamental due process.
George R. Goltzer
"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow".
- Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2.
In looking back at my message upon being sworn in President at our January 2009 Annual Dinner, I reviewed our goals for the coming year; as I look back at what the Association has done during that year, I am pleased. To give a few examples:
* Our Amicus Committee has been involved in numerous cases of state and national import.
* Our Legislative Committee has been at the forefront of Rockefeller drug law reform and other major issues. Moreover, we have a presence in Albany: legislators know who we are and want to hear what we have to say.
* Our website has been revamped and made more accessible and useful to our members; we established an e-newsletter to send important news to our members in a timely fashion. This is a work in progress, to be sure, with the emphasis on work. But we're no longer roadkill on the information highway.
* We hired a new Executive Director, Margaret Alverson, who is everything we expected her to beBand more.
* We continue to provide quality continuing legal education throughout the state.
* We have a large and active statewide membership representing the full spectrum of practiceBstate and federal, public and private, white collar and blue collarBwhich is reflected by a similar diversity in our board of directors. We are aware, at the grass roots level and at the leadership level, of the problems and issues that our members and our clients face every day.
* And whether by networking or through the listserv, no member goes to court alone. If a lawyer in Queens has a question about the new DWI laws, there's a lawyer whom she’s never met, 250 miles away in Syracuse, who will take the time to answer her question.
And the list goes on.
None of this, of course, happens by itself. I cannot give enough thanks to our hard-working Board of Directors, to the committee members, to the Past Presidents who have been generous with their experience and assistance, to the CLE lecturers who donate their time and knowledge to the cause, to Pat Marcus for her many years of service, to Meg Alverson for picking up the ball and running with it (not unlike Reggie Bush!), and, of course, to our members who do the impossible every day.
The time has come to pass the torch. This is a good thing, because two things happen when you hold a torch for too long: It gets hot and your arm gets really, really tired. That being said, I=m pleased to be passing the torch to George Goltzer, in whose capable hands, I' m sure, the torch will burn brighter than ever before.
Craig P. Schlanger