Washington, DC (Aug. 2, 2018) – Sixteen individuals were newly elected or re-elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association’s annual meeting in Miami Beach, FL, on July 29. The sixteen board members below join those who are currently serving their terms on the NACDL Board of Directors, a complete listing of whom is available here.

Huda Ajlani-Macri—Fort Lauderdale, FL 

Huda Ajlani-Macri is a solo practitioner at the Macri Law Firm. She is Board Certified in Criminal Trials and is the Immediate Past President of the Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She serves on the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as a Director at Large and is the Chair of its Criminal Rules and Jury Instructions Analysis Committee. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of NACDL’s Immigration Law Committee. Ms. Ajlani-Macri graduated from the University of South Florida and received her J.D. from Nova Southeastern University.

John Arrascada—Reno, NV 

John Arrascada is the appointed Public Defender for Washoe County, Nevada. Mr. Arrascada is a former law clerk to Judge Procter R. Hug, Jr., for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He began his career as a Deputy Public Defender for Washoe County and has since been in private practice. He practices in state and federal court, the Nevada Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Arrascada currently serves on NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Advocacy Committee. He graduated from Boston College and received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Charles Atwell—Kansas City, MO 

Hon. Charles Atwell is a private practice attorney at Foland, Wickens, Roper, Hofer & Crawford PC. Mr. Atwell joined the firm after serving over 16 years in the judiciary, most recently as the Presiding Judge for the Jackson County Circuit Court. Atwell was recognized as the “Best Circuit Judge” by Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly in 2007 and appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to serve on several committees during the tenure of his service. Since joining the firm he has been involved in representing individuals and corporations under investigation as well as individual defendants in state and federal court. He currently serves on NACDL’s Amicus Curiae and Fourth Amendment Advocacy Committees, and previously served on NACDL’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 1996. Mr. Atwell graduated from the University of Kansas and received his J.D. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law.

Benjamin Au—San Francisco, CA 

Benjamin Au is a private practice attorney and partner at Durie Tangri, LLP, focused on white collar defense. Mr. Au’s practice focuses on white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation, particularly for tech-facing clients in the areas of trade secrets, breach of contract, and funder and founder disputes. Mr. Au’s currently serves on NACDL’s White Collar Crime Committee. He graduated from Duke University and received his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Jonathan Brayman—Chicago, IL (Affiliate Representative)

Jonathan Brayman is a partner at Breen & Pugh, with a focus on criminal defense, Section 1983 civil rights actions, class actions, and asset forfeiture defense. Mr. Brayman currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Justice Council for Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, and on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Justice’s Forms Committee for Civil Asset Forfeiture. He received his J.D. from University of Iowa College of Law in 2010 with the Willard L. Boyd Public Service Award (Highest Honors).

Robert D. Butler—Bellingham, WA (Affiliate Representative)

Robert Butler is a private practice attorney at Butler Beschen Law PLLC, with a focus on criminal defense, employment law, and civil rights litigation. Mr. Butler has served as a member of the board of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is currently its President-Elect. He received his J.D. from University of Puget Sound School of Law.

Kobie Flowers—Washington, DC  

Kobie Flowers is an attorney at Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Washington, DC. He specializes in representing individuals and businesses in complex criminal and civil matters when trial is a very real possibility. Mr. Flowers’ additional involvement at NACDL includes service as a DC Circuit Vice Chair of the Amicus Curiae Committee, Co-Chair of NACDL’s Diversity Committee, and a member of NACDL’s Audit Committee, Body Camera Committee, and Sousveillance Task Force. Mr. Flowers is a former Peace Corps volunteer, federal civil rights prosecutor, and federal public defender. Mr. Flowers completed his undergraduate degree at Stanford University and received his graduate degree from Georgetown University.

Daniella Gordon—Marlton, NJ  

Daniella Gordon is a partner at Hyland Levin LLP, where she leads the firm’s criminal defense and construction litigation practices. Ms. Gordon currently serves on NACDL’s Amicus Curiae, Women in Criminal Defense, Fourth Amendment, White Collar, Membership, Title IX, and Public Defense Litigation Oversight Committees. Ms. Gordon graduated from Connecticut College and received her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law.

Shazzie Naseem—Kansas City, MO  

Shazzie Naseem is a former Navy JAG lawyer and current partner at Berkowitz Oliver LLP, focused on federal white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and large-scale eDiscovery cases. Mr. Naseem was selected by the Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to serve as the Panel District Attorney Representative for administration of policies and issues related to the Criminal Justice Act panel and also serves as a Criminal Justice Act Panel attorney for the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Mr. Naseem graduated from Truman State University and the Notre Dame Law School. 

C. Melissa Owen—Charlotte, NC  

Melissa Owen is a partner at Tin, Fulton, Walker & Owen, where her practice areas include representation of individuals’ rights, civil rights, and criminal defense. Ms. Owen currently holds leadership roles in statewide professional organizations including serving on the Board of Governors for NCAJ and on the Ethics Committee at the North Carolina State Bar. She has served on NACDL’s Title IX, White Collar, and Women in Criminal Defense Committees. Ms. Owen graduated from Miami University and received her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law.

Robert Patillo—Atlanta, GA  

Robert Patillo is a private practice attorney at The Patillo Law Group, LLC, with a focus on civil litigation and criminal defense. Mr. Patillo also serves on the Research Committee as a Legal Consultant for the Rainbow/Push Coalition. He previously served as speechwriter for Rev. Jesse Jackson and worked on the 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards. Mr. Patillo graduated from Clark Atlanta University and received his J.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Sonya Pfeiffer—Charlotte, NC  

Sonya Pfeiffer is a partner at Rudolf Widenhouse where she represents criminal clients in white collar investigations, individuals in government and corporate investigations, and indigent clients in federal cases, among others. Ms. Pfeiffer’s service to the organization includes reviewing cases for Clemency Project 2014 and serving as a member of NACDL’s Health Care Fraud Subcommittee. She currently serves on NACDL’s White Collar Crime Committee. Ms. Pfeiffer graduated from Ohio University and received her J.D. from University of North Carolina School of Law.

Gabriel Reyes—Dallas, TX  

Gabriel Reyes is a private practice attorney at The Law Office of Gabriel Reyes, PLLC, with a focus on federal criminal law. Mr. Reyes is a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panels for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas and currently serves as a member of NACDL’s Public Defense Committee. He formerly served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Northern and Western Districts of Texas. Mr. Reyes graduated from Colby College and received his J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Addy R. Schmitt – Washington, DC  

Addy R. Schmitt is the Vice Chair of the Litigation Department at Miller & Chevalier and practices in the areas of criminal and civil litigation. Ms. Schmitt focuses on representing individuals and corporations in white collar criminal matters (including internal investigations, grand jury proceedings, trials, sentencings, and post-conviction proceedings) and in complex civil litigation. She also conducts internal investigations. Before joining the firm, Ms. Schmitt served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Ms. Schmitt currently serves as the Chair of NACDL’s Task Force on Discovery Reform and is also a member of NACDL’s White Collar Crime Committee. She graduated from Georgetown University and received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law.

Tony Thedford—Chicago, IL  

Tony Thedford is a trial lawyer and partner at Thedford Garber Law, LLC, with a focus on criminal defense and civil rights. Mr. Thedford also serves as the Director of Trial Advocacy at Valparaiso School of Law and is the Immediate-Past President of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Thedford received his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law.

Ian Wallach—Los Angeles, CA  

Ian Wallach is a private practice trial attorney at the Law Offices of Ian Wallach, P.C., focused on criminal defense and civil rights. Mr. Wallach currently serves on NACDL’s Corrections Committee. He has represented prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay and previously served in the Office of the Public Defender in Los Angeles County. Mr. Wallach graduated from the University of Oregon and received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.

Contacts

Ivan Dominguez, NACDL Senior Director of Public Affairs and Communications, (202) 465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org

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.