Atticus - Winter 2021

Page 31

Q&A with Mildred Morillo Staff Attorney at NYCDS and new member of NYSACDL

Millie and I are colleagues at NYCDS. She joined our office in December 2019 and recently moderated an office wide discussion related to Black Lives Matter and the system wide effects of racism both inside and outside of the institutions we both work in. I was impressed with how she took on that role of leading and moderating the discussion as one of many first steps within our office to reckon with conscious and unconscious racial bias and wanted to engage in more of a dialogue with her and give her a platform to be heard by all our members. JH: Millie, welcome! Can you start by just sharing your path to NYCDS?

MM: I graduated from John Jay College with a bachelor in criminology and went to New York Law School. During my time at New York Law School I also worked as a substitute teacher and began my legal career as a defense attorney with Queens Law Associates in 2015. JH: What drew you to the practice of law and criminal defense in particular?

(CONTENT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR LENGTH AND CLARITY)

MM: My dad owned a bodega in the Bronx in the ‘90s. He was robbed at gun point two times before buying a gun of his own. During a random lotto check, the Continued on next page

Atticus | Volume 33 Number 1 | Winter 2021 | New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

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