FACDL AWARDS BANQUET

 The FACDL awards banquet is Saturday night. Of course we were neither invited, nor will we attend. We do not join organizations that would have us. 

There is a very deserving list of honorees and we post them in the spirit of pro bono publico: 

Judge Wolfson won the Kogie- our favourite award. Well deserved.  Justice Kogan was a gem- a true one of a kind man and jurist. And Judge Wolfson is truly deserving of an award named after a man of intelligence, honor, integrity, and devotion to justice. 

Daisy Serrano should be so proud to win the Marcia Cooke award.  A great award named after a great woman - and Daisy is so deserving of this recognition. 

And Michele Borchew has been everywhere the last couple of years kicking the ass of the Dade SAO ASAs. Her award is well deserved. 

And it is nice to see Regional Counsel lawyers win the Rodney Thaxton Against All Odds Award. Rodney was someone we practiced with. He was committed to Indigent Defense and the RC3 lawyers did a great job in a case with truly awful facts.  

Rothman has been doing it as good as anyone and many times better for a long long time. 

Did we miss anyone?  Once again no one wins The Rumpole award for misanthropic behavior while winning cases. Maybe someday. 

Well done everyone. 
Well done indeed. 

FACDL WINNERS

The envelope please....
This is what we wait for all year.
The anticipation...the thrill of victory...the agony of defeat.

The FACDL annual award winners are...

The Daniel Pearson-Harry Prebish Founders Award:
Jane Moskowitz and the late Gregg Toung.

The Rodney Thaxton "Against All Odds Award"
Michelle Estlund for her work in a Graham/Miller resentencing issue.

Gregg Wenzel Young Lawyer's Award:
Abbie Waxman.

And our favourite award...
Known by it's eponymous name The Honorable Gerald Kogan Judicial Distinction Award (affectionately known as "The Kogie") to United States Judge Patricia Seitz.

The award banquet is May 12, 2018.
Tickets, which are sure to be a hot ducat, go on sale March 1, 2018.

AWARDS

It's that time of year again when the country holds its breath in anticipation of the announcement of two sets of awards: The Academy Awards and the Miami Chapter of the FACDL's awards. See below for details.  (ed. Note. As detailed below the award ceremony is open only to DUES paying members of FACDL. As such we regretfully cannot receive any award nor vote. We are allergic to paying dues. And if nominated we will not accept. If awarded, we shall not appear. )

Dear members,

This serves as a call for nominations for the FACDL-Miami Awards which are presented each year at our annual banquet.  This year's 54^th Annual Awards and Installation Gala will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at the JW Marriot Marquis in Downtown Miami.  Once again, we will gather to celebrate and honor attorneys and judges whose character and work merits recognition from our criminal defense organization. 

Below are brief descriptions of the criteria for each of the FACDL-Miami awards.  If you know a lawyer(s) or judge deserving of one of these honorable distinctions, please forward me your nomination no later than Tuesday,  February 14, 2017.  Please include a statement why you think such person or group is deserving of the Award and other material you would like the Board to consider.  

RUMPOLE SAYS: Leave your nominations in the comments section and sign your name and we will forward them to the FACDL big-wigs.

THE HONORABLE GERALD KOGAN JUDICIAL DISTINCTION AWARD – This award is presented to a Judge in recognition of an extraordinary career contribution and dedicated service to the improvement of the criminal justice system and for the preservation of constitutional rights.

THE DANIEL S. PEARSON-HARRY W. PREBISH FOUNDERS AWARD – This award is given, when appropriate, in recognition of a lifetime commitment to preserve the constitutional rights of all citizens and for manifesting the very best principles for which FACDL-Miami stands -- an open-hearted devotion to justice, civility, discretion, courage, respect for human dignity and mercy.

THE RODNEY THAXTON “AGAINST ALL ODDS” AWARD – This award is given, when appropriate, to a criminal defense lawyer, who having undertaken a particularly difficult or unpopular client or cause, represents the heart and spirit of criminal defense, and who epitomizes the courage of the criminal defense lawyer to stand apart (and often alone) as Liberty’s Last Champion.

  

THE GREGG WENZEL YOUNG LAWYER’S AWARD - This award is given to a young lawyer who exemplifies hard work in the legal arena and in service to the community.

There will be a vote at our February Board Meeting on the 15^th of the month to decide who will be selected for the awards. The meeting is open to the general membership and any member can nominate someone they think is worthy, speak on behalf of their nominee and vote. This is not a closed meeting (no FACDL-Miami meeting is a closed meeting). The meeting will be held at the Federal Public Defenders office in the 15^th floor conference room in the Bank of America Building. The address is 150 West Flagler.

  

Brian Kirlew, Esq.