NACDL - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Life Member Directory
Life members are attorneys who have made an extraordinary commitment to support the work of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. By supporting NACDL at the highest dues level, they are accorded a lifetime membership as long as they continue to meet the standards for NACDL membership. In addition, they are listed in this special expanded life member directory, including bio and photograph, and receive a special award in recognition of their support for NACDL’s work.
Michael Diaz, Jr. is a skilled, business lawyer,multilingual litigator, trial lawyer, and arbiter with over 30 years ofexperience advising clients, trying cases, and negotiating complex civil andcriminal disputes, including visa recovery and defense of OFAC violations andSpecially Designated Nationals classifications. He represents U.S. andinternational clients in business matters including, joint ventures,acquisitions, and other commercial transactions, where he is deeply experiencedin domestic and international trade, customs, finance, and banking.Additionally, he counsels on preventative litigation strategy and conductsparallel investigations in complex, high-stakes regulatory and compliancematters, including instances of financial fraud, international assetrecoveries, white-collar crimes and the recovery of U.S. visas and legalstatus. While acting as special counsel on behalf of U.S. receivers, financialinstitutions, foreign government entities, and individual victims of financialfraud, his sophisticated asset recovery techniques have netted millions ofdollars in stolen proceeds. He is qualified to represent clients before U.S.administrative and governmental agencies, arbitral bodies, U.S. state, federal,and appellate courts, and frequently serves as advisory co-counsel outside theU.S. in international litigation and arbitration matters in Latin America, theMiddle East, and China. He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist(ACAMS) and is admitted to practice before U.S. federal courts andadministrative bodies, Florida courts, and the Dubai International FinanceCenter (DIFC).
Professional Memberships:
Florida Bar • American Bar Association • International BarAssociation • Cuban American Bar Association, Past-President, officer, anddirector • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow • Dubai InternationalFinance Center (DIFC) • International Association of Lawyers and ProfessionalAdvisors • Miami International Arbitration Society • National andFlorida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers • Florida International BankersAssociation • Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists
Past President, ACDL NJ - 2009-2010Master/Past President, Richard J. Hughes Amer. Inn of Court -2003-2005; President of Union County Bar Association - 2018; Former Chairman, Union County District XII Ethics Committee; Special Ethics Master, appointed by Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1998-Present; Former Adjunct Professor, Seton Hall Law School; Recipient Lawyer of the Year Award in Union County, 2004, and ACDL-NJ - 2010; Recipient-First Annual Walter R. Barisonek, J.S.C. Criminal Attorney of the Year Award-2016; Recipient-Equal Justice Award-2017; Member, American Board of Trial Advocates, 2005-PresentCertified, Criminal Trial Atty. Civil Trial Atty.Publications, "New Jersey Trial and Evidence: Relevancy, Prejudice or other Countervailing Factors in Criminal Cases"; Member, Supreme Court Criminal Practice Committee-2004-2006 and 2010-2014; Vice Chair-New Jersey Sentencing and Disposition Commission-2018-2021. Â
Education
Undergraduate: St Peter's College, B.A., 1973
Law School: Fordham University Law School , J.D., 1976
Former Member, Board of Directors, NACDL (1990-92)Past President, Georgia Assn. of Criminal Defense LawyersFaculty, Natl. Criminal Defense Coll.Co-Author, "Cross- Examination: Science and Techniques" and "Cross-Examination for Depositions"
Education
Undergraduate: Bucknell University, BA, 1973
Graduate: Stetson University, LLM-Advocacy, 2015
Law School: University of Pittsburgh School of Law, JD, 1976
Bar Information
State Bar of Georgia, State Bar of Florida, State Bar of Utah, State Bar of Montana, State Bar of Oklahoma
Member, Board of Directors, NACDL (2004-07)Board of Directors, Missouri Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1997-99, 2005-2010)NORML Legal CommitteeNACDL Public Affairs Director (2000-2004)Champion Advisory Board (2008-present)
Education
Undergraduate: Univ. of Missouri Sch. of Journalism, B.J., 1983
Law School: University of Illinois Champaign, J.D., 1987
President, MTACDL (2006-08)Member, Montana Innocence Project Board of Directors Recipient, The Charles F. (Timer) Moses Award, Montana State Bar (1997)Montana Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year(2009)Counsel of Record for the Petitioner, Old Chief v. United States, 519 US 172 (1997)
Education
Undergraduate: University of California Berkeley, B.S., 1971
Law School: Univ. of Cal. Hastings College. of Law, J.D., 1976
Panel Member, Nevada Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction CommitteeMember, Clark Cty. Bar Assn., Nevada Attorneys for Criminal JusticeFrequent news legal analyst and lecturer on various criminal defense and trial advocacy subjects
Education
Undergraduate: University of Nevada Las Vegas, , 1994
Law School: Brigham Young University School of Law , , 1997
NACDL Delegate to ABA Criminal Justice Section Council, 2011-presentMember, Board, NACDL (2003-2009)Parliamentarian, NACDL (2005-06)President, NYSACDL (2005)Co-Chair, NACDL Amicus CommitteeMember, Advisory Board, The ChampionCapital Punishment Committee, Assn. of the Bar of the City of NYRecipient, Robert C. Heeney Award, NACDL (2005) Co-Author, "Practice Manual: the Fedl. Sentencing Guidelines", 2003 Supplement Chapter One (Aspen Law Publishers)Co-Editor, "The Torture Paper
Education
Undergraduate: Columbia College, , 1978
Law School: Harvard Law School, 1981
Bar Information
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. 5th , 8th, Cir., E., So., & No. Dist. NY
Governor, South Dakota Trial Lawyers Assn.Recipient, Trial Lawyer of the Year, South Dakota Trial Lawyers Assn. (2006)Editor in Chief, South Dakota Law ReviewGuest Lecturer, University of South Dakota Law SchoolCo-Author, South Dakota Law Review, "Jurassic Farce: A Critical Analysis of the Governmnet's Seizure of a Sixty-Five Million Year Old Tyrannosaurus Rex Fossil" (39 SD L. Rev.)
Education
Undergraduate: South Dakota State University, , 1980
Benjamin has been practicing criminal defense for more than 20 years and has extensive courtroom experience in both the federal and state courts. He has represented defendants in all types of criminal cases, including high-level drug trafficking, sexual assault, and murder. In the course of his career, Benjamin has defended several high-profile prosecutions in Las Vegas, including such defendants as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Aryan Warriors, and Rolling 60's crips.  He has obtained dismissals of federal money laundering charges, drug trafficking charges, and he has won an acquittal in a first-degree murder trial.Â
AV rated by Martindale-HubbellBoard Certified Criminal Trial, The Florida BarListed, Top 100 Trial Lawyers, ATLA (2007-present)Listed, Nation's Top One Percent, National Association of Distinguished CounselPast Juris Consult, La Chaine des Rotisseurs des Etat-UnisRecipient, "Pro Bono" Award, Brevard Co. Legal Aid (2000-02)Recipient, Law and Leading Attorneys (1996-Present)Past Director, East Coast Zoological SocietyPast Director, YMCA
Education
Undergraduate: University of Florida , , 1974
Law School: Univ. of Florida, Holland Coll. of Law, 1977
Editor-in-Chief, "Wake Forest Law Review",(1985-86)Past President, Knoxville Bar Assn.Past Chair, TBA Criminal Justice SectionListed, Best Lawyers in America (2005 - Present), Mid-South Super Lawyers Top 100 in Tennessee (2006-Present), Certified Criminal Trial SpecialistFellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, 2013Faculty Member, Tenn.Crim. Defense CollegeSpeaker, ABA, NACDL, TACDL, TBA, KBA
Education
Undergraduate: University of Tennessee, BS Business, 1982
Law School: Wake Forest, JD, 1986
Bar Information
US Supreme Ct., 5th, 6th and 7th Cirs., E. Dist. TN,, M. Dist. TN
Marissa Elkins is from western Massachusetts and focuses her practice on criminal law, civil rights litigation, and appellate advocacy. She began her legal career as a public defender and is a member of NACDL’s Indigent Defense and Mental Health Committees.
Past President, NACDL (1990-91)Founder, NACDL Lawyer's Assistance Strike Force & Amicus Curiae Committee for which he received NACDL's Robert C. Heeney Award, for outstanding service to the criminal defense barRecipient, Fulbright Award, US State Dept. (2007)Contributing Editor, ABA's "Criminal Justice" magazine, Federal SentencingCo-Author, "Alan Ellis' Federal Prison Guidebook"; "Alan Ellis' Federal Sentencing Guidebook"; "Alan Ellis' Federal Post-Conviction Guidebook"
Certified Criminal Law Specialist by Minnesota Bar Association; President Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL) 1994; Distinguished Member Award from MACDL 2004; Member Board of Directors MACDL - various terms; Graduate Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, Wyoming 2005.
Education
Undergraduate: Gustavus Adolphus College, B.A., 1973
Law School: William Mitchell College of Law, J.D., 1983
