Dispatches from 90 State

EDITORS

John S. Wallenstein Ben Ostrer Russell Schindler

A publication of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ©2020 NYSACDL 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, New York 12207 Phone: 518-443-2000 Fax: 888-239-4665 www.nysacdl.org atticus@nysacdl.org

Read a good book lately?

Write a review of it, and submit to our Editor, John S. Wallenstein. Contact John at jswallensteinesq@ outlook.com Dispatches from 90 State

Jennifer Van Ort Executive Director

January 19, 2021

“Alone we can do so little; Together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller

A year ago, I was getting ready for NYSACDL’s annual great celebration in New York City – another spectacular dinner honoring great criminal justice reformers and introducing our new President. January 2020 started out like any normal year for NYSACDL. We were planning for a full slate of 2020 activities across New York State – including some of our traditional seminars and new events designed to focus on key issues we were expecting to face. The Board of Directors, members, and friends joined us in anticipating a productive year to come.

Then, as you all know, in March the world turned upside down – and shut down – because of the global pandemic. About a week after the first shutdowns began, NYSACDL’s Executive and CLE Committees held the first of many Zoom calls to discuss our response. The health and safety of our members and colleagues were foremost on our minds. We immediately responded with programming designed to provide relevant educational opportunities and to nourish a new need to connect with colleagues and cope with the changing circumstances.

CLE & Other Events:

In 2020, NYSACDL led the way in providing web-based training and programs for criminal defense lawyers. In total, we had over 85 events, including the Annual Dinner and Lobby Days. These events included 60 CLE programs: our traditional programs including Cross to Kill and Weapons for the Firefight were adapted to be presented over Zoom and, because of that, we were able to attract a wider audience; we developed our Law @ Lunch program, which launched almost immediately following shutdowns, to provide easy access not just to training, but to connections with colleagues across the state; lastly, we responded to immediate concerns with programs focused on legal issues arising from COVID-19.

Additionally, we had 21 free programs, for members only, focused on business issues – both relating to COVID-19 (the Paycheck Protection Program and other financial relief programs) and not (school loan forgiveness, investing, and more.) Along with those, we kept other initiatives moving; for example, the newly formed NYSACDL Women in Criminal Defense Committee starting meeting and planning how they could provide a positive impact. As I mentioned above, always in the back of our mind was supporting our members’ practices and their mental health – we look forward to continuing those efforts in 2021 as we adjust to our new normal.

Membership:

In early October, NYSACDL once again celebrated reaching over 1,000 members