Washington, DC (July 29, 2015) – New York City attorney Rick Jones was sworn in as First Vice President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association's 58th Annual Meeting in Denver, Colo., on July 26. Jones previously served two terms on NACDL’s Board of Directors, and one year as Parliamentarian. This past year he served as NACDL's Second Vice President. And in 2014, Jones received NACDL's Champion of Justice Award.
Jones currently practices criminal defense in New York City, where he is the Executive Director and a founding member of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (NDS). NDS is celebrating its 25th Anniversary year and since its founding has gained national and international recognition for its innovative, holistic, community-based approach to public defense. NDS combines criminal defense work with the services of civil, family and immigration attorneys, social workers, investigators and others to meet the needs of its clients. Jones teaches the criminal defense externship at Columbia Law School as well as a trial practice course. He also serves on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia.
In addition to his many years of service to NACDL, Jones also co-chaired NACDL's Indigent Defense committee and the Task Force on Problem-Solving Courts. He currently serves as co-chair of the Task Force on the Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction and he is a member of the State Legislative Affairs and Budget Committees. Through his work at NACDL, Jones has traveled to every region of the country, as well as abroad to Liberia, promoting fairness, equality and justice for the poor and indigent.
He is a member of the inaugural steering committee of the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) and sits on the boards of the New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Executive Committee, the New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA), and the Sirius Foundation. Jones has been engaged with the Brennan Center for Justice's Community Oriented Defender Network and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Jones also serves on the Editorial Board of the Amsterdam News. Jones completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan and earned his law degree at the Rutgers University School of Law.
Contacts
Ezra Dunkle-Polier, NACDL Public Affairs & Communications Assistant, (202) 465-7656 or edunkle-polier@nacdl.org for more information.
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 justice system.