Washington, DC (Aug. 7, 2012) – Harris County Chief Public Defender Alexander Bunin was sworn in as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the association’s 54th annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif., on July 28. Bunin currently sits on the Advisory Board of NACDL’s magazine, The Champion, in addition to serving on NACDL’s Rules and Fourth Amendment Advocacy committees.

Alexander Bunin, a Torch of Liberty Award and Thurgood Marshall Award recipient, has had 25 years of experience as a criminal defense lawyer. Before establishing the Harris County Public Defender office in 2010, Bunin was appointed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to create the Federal Public Defender offices of Northern New York and Vermont. He went on to serve three terms as Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of New York. As an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School of Union University, Bunin taught Trial Practice from 2003-10. In 1995, he established and managed the Federal Defender Organization in the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile. Bunin has previously chaired the Joint Working Group for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) and the Department of Justice on Electronic Technology as well as serving on the AO Defenders Services Advisory Group and Defender Automation Working Group.

Bunin has practiced and served as an officer in criminal defense organizations in Texas, Alabama and New York. He received his J.D. from South Texas College of Law and A.B. from Bowdoin College.

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.