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2009 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AWARD RECIPIENTS HONORED

            NEW YORK – The New York State Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section will present its annual Awards for Outstanding Achievement today at 12:30 p.m. at the Upper Terrace and Marquis C, 9^th Floor of the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. Criminal Justice Section Awards Committee Chair Norman P. Effman of Buffalo (Wyoming County Public Defender) will present this year’s awards. Chief Judge nominee Jonathan Lippman and New York Times reporter William Glaberson are among this year’s honorees.

Award categories and recipients are:

• The Michele S. Maxian Award for Outstanding Public Defense Practitioner: Ronald Thau, Esq., Federal Defenders of New York, Putnam Valley, for his unwavering commitment to the constitutional guarantee that all must have the right to adequate counsel and equal protection under the law.
• The Charles F. Crimi Memorial Award for Outstanding Private Defense Practitioner: Joel L. Daniels, Esq., Law Firm of Joel L. Daniels, Buffalo. Widely recognized as one of Buffalo’s top criminal defense attorneys, Daniels has embodied the highest ideals of the Criminal Justice Section through his honor, integrity and zealous advocacy.
• The Vincent E. Doyle Jr. Award for Outstanding Jurist: Chief Judge nominee Jonathan Lippman, New York State Court of Appeals,New York. Recently nominated as Chief Judge of New York’s highest court, Lippman is   the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department and formerly served as chief administrative judge of New York from 1996 through 2007. Lippman received wide praise for effectively utilizing the court system following the September 11^th attacks and for making advancements in New York courts. He was the recipient of the National Center for State Courts’ 2008 William H. Rehnquist Award for judicial excellence.
• The David S. Michaels Memorial Award for Courageous Efforts in Promoting Integrity in the Criminal Justice System: Eleanor Jackson Piel, Esq., Law Office of Eleanor Jackson Piel,New York. Piel has served on several high-profile wrongful conviction appeals, such as Vincent Jenkins and Jeffrey Deskovic.
• The Outstanding Prosecutor: Robert Dreher, Esq., executive assistant district attorney, Office of the Bronx District Attorney, Bronx, for his unwavering commitment to justice.
• Outstanding Contribution to Public Information: William Glaberson, reporter, New York Times, New York, for his stories on the trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees.
• Outstanding Contribution to the Bar and Community: Klaus Epppler, Esq., Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, for his many contributions to the organized bar and the public in such areas as public confidence in the justice system, legal education and the future of the profession.
• Outstanding Contribution in Appellate Advocacy Award: Steven R. Kartagener, Esq., Law Office of Steven R. Kartagener, New York, for his legal scholarship and efficacy as an appellant advocate.

Jean T. Walsh of New York (New York Stock Exchange, Inc) chairs the 1,545-member section.

The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. Founded in 1876, State Bar programs and activities have continuously served the public and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.

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