Steven Hernandez

This week's Member in the Spotlight is Steven Hernandez of New Jersey. Steven graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Administration in 1998, from the Rutgers University School of Business. He earned his Juris Doctorate in 2004, from the Rutgers University School of Law. Steven was born in Columbus, Ohio. He grew up traveling all around the world, as his father served our country as an Air Force officer. He even spent time living in Tehran, Iran. He was raised primarily in Riverside, California. It was there that he was inspired by his friend's parents (a pair of civil rights and criminal defense lawyers) to become an attorney. As Steven puts it, "Even though I did not understand what they were doing, I knew they were doing important work. The work, their sense of accomplishment, made me want the same thing."

Steven relishes the most difficult challenges. This is evidenced by his majoring in accounting, and delving into the most difficult facets of DWI science. He has earned the American Chemistry Society's (ACS) "Lawyer-Scientist" classification by receiving the prestigious Golden Column plaque. This evidences his successful passage of an exam as well as successful completion of the ACS's Forensic Chromatography course (both), Forensic Solid Drug Dose course, and the Forensic Chromatography DUI-Drug course. In addition, he has completed an instructor's course on the National Highway Safety Administration's standardized field sobriety testing, a Drug Recognition Evaluation (DRE) overview course, and is a certified operator on the Draeger, Alcotest 7110 evidentiary breath testing machine. In the past, he has also held a Forensic Sobriety Assessment certificate.

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Lynn Gorelick

This week's member in the Spotlight is Lynn Gorelick of Berkeley, CA. She has practiced law for over 31 years. Lynn earned her B.A from the University of California, Berkeley in 1978 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1982. Lynn grew up in a family that was actively involved in politics out of a spirit of caring for others. Her father and mentor Allan was a respected defense attorney and worked in the Alameda Public Defender's office before starting his own firm. He inspired Lynn by always reminding her that "… but for the grace of God go we…" and that our clients are not just clients but "… our people". Lynn's legal work can best be described in her own words: "I want my clients to know that I care about them."

Lynn is a sustaining member of the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD), as well as a faculty member. She is the immediate past Vice President of the California DUI Lawyers Association, serving on its board for 15 years. She is a member of the California Attorneys of Criminal Justice, and a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She makes it a point to give back to the legal community that needs it most. She has conducted training sessions for the Alameda County Public Defenders Office, the Alameda County's court appointed program, and the women defenders program. She is the "in court" contact for the Alameda County Public Defender's Office on DUI/DMV issues. Lynn holds certifications relating to preliminary alcohol testing devices, the National Highway Safety Administration's (NHTSA) standardized field sobriety tests and completed blood analysis training at Axion Analytical Laboratories. She takes pride in serving her community by being on the board of a women's recovery and treatment program gaining much satisfaction "in being able to watch the successes of those who work so hard to achieve recovery."

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Lenny Stamm

This week's Member in the Spotlight is Lenny Stamm of Greenbelt, Maryland. Lenny grew up in New Rochelle, New York. For four years he started as a goalie on the high school soccer team. Funny how life takes twists and turns, he was selected for the Program for Inquiry, Involvement and Independent Study (a gifted "school without walls" program) in which they made a visit to the United States Supreme Court barely arriving after it had just recessed only to return years later as the coauthor of some of the nation's most important DWI case briefs: Missouri v. McNeely, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Bullcoming v. New Mexico. This gifted kid from New York grew up to become Maryland's most respected DWI/DUI lawyer earning the first annual Fred Bennett Zealous Advocacy Award by the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney's Association (MCDAA). In October of this year, he was awarded the prestigious Legal Excellence Award for Advancement of Professional Competence by the Maryland Bar Foundation. For 12 years straight, he started and has put on the annual Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association's Advanced DUI Defense Seminar, giving back to the Maryland bar and elevating its knowledge and practice level. The defense bar of Maryland is top rate and we can thank Lenny Stamm for his esteemed contributions. He also wrote the book. He is on his 8^th volume of Maryland DUI Law.

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Peter Carini

This week's member in the spotlight is Peter Carini of Medford, Oregon. Peter hails from Brooklyn, New York where he was born and raised. At age 17, he was living in his own apartment in Manhattan, New York. He started working summers at the age of 11. He chose to go to college in Manhattan, graduating in business studies from Pace University. After obtaining his degree he tried his hand at sales- which would later come in handy as a criminal defense trial lawyer. Peter sold home heating equipment, including furnaces and boilers. After a few years (with a thirst to see the world) he sold all his belongings and moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands, without knowing a soul. He soon found a job as a yacht crew member and traveled all throughout the Caribbean. When he returned to his native New York, his grandfather had passed. At the funeral, perchance, he was reintroduced to the beautiful girl who had stolen his heart at his cousin's wedding right before he had moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands. This time, not missing an opportunity, they eloped to Martha's Vineyard. It has been 26 years and counting.

Always having a natural knack for the law, he aced three law courses in his undergraduate business studies at Pace University. He took the LSAT and headed towards scenic Oregon with a 3 month daughter in tow. Peter had two more daughters before graduating from the Williamette University College of Law. Peter is a true defense lawyer through and through, having never served a day as a prosecutor. After graduation, he worked for the Public Defender's Office in Medford, Oregon. In five years, he tried 75 jury trials before opening up his own practice. Over the first six years, he and his wife sacrificed a 3.5 hour commute to make it all happen working in between Salem and Medford.

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John Hunsucker

This week's member in the spotlight is John Hunsucker of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.John was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and thirty days later his military family moved to Germany. With his father in the army, he "pretty much lived all over the world." At 15, his father retired and he came back to Oklahoma. John worked many interesting jobs including as an EMT, funeral embalmer, ship hand on a 150 foot two-masted schooner which sailed all over New England, in restaurant management, a District Executive with the Boy Scouts of America, and in a juvenile rehabilitation program called Vision Quest in Pennsylvania. Through all this, he eventually obtained his Bachelor's from the University of Oklahoma, and went on to graduate from the Oklahoma City University School of Law. John originally planned on tax law, but after interning with the Public Defender's office he found his calling in criminal law. Before focusing on DUI, he served as an assistant district attorney. John has flourished as a natural businessman. He has grown his business to 4 associates (trained 5 others) and is celebrating the recent ribbon cutting of his gorgeous multimillion dollar, multilevel office building of Art Deco design which conforms to the architecture of the historic Film Row district in Oklahoma City.

Also quite the scholar, he has authored and co-authored 18 publications on DUI defense including: Oklahoma DUI Defense: The Law and Practice (Lawyers & Judges Publishing 2008), The Oklahoma DUI Survival Guide (Whitehall Publishing 2007), The Oklahoma DUI Survival Guide, 2^nd Edition (Whitehall Publishing 2010), The Georgia DUI Survival Guide (Whitehall Publishing 2009), and finally The Minnesota DWI Survival Guide (Whitehall Publishing 2010). His academic prowess even earned him a stint as an adjunct professor at Northeast State University on Homeland Security and Terrorism. His credentials on DUI include training on the National Highway Safety Administration's (NHTSA) standardized field sobriety as a practitioner and an instructor. He is also an operator and maintenance specialist of the Intoxilyzer 5000 (owning 12) and has an Intoxilyzer 8000.

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Manny Daskal

This week's member in the spotlight is Manny Daskal of Eureka, California. Manny is originally from Detroit, Michigan. He spent a number of years involved in community organizing. This was all part of a natural evolution from growing up in Detroit Michigan and being close to those who formed the auto unions. After graduating with his B.A. from Wayne State University, he got involved in the initial start up of a community food co-op that now numbers about 30 thousand members. He was on the original board of directors and incorporated a quite successful rural health center. In addition, he was an officer and board member of a very substantial public land trust. He describes this public service background and having gone to college in the 60's in the heart of downtown Detroit, as giving him an affinity to the "counter-culture". So he moved to far Northern California (Humboldt County in particular) which was, to many, the center of the United States marijuana culture. After spending a number of years in this rural environment he broadened his horizons by setting forth on world travel and resided in Switzerland, Spain and Morocco.

He chose to earn his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, which allowed him on the job experience. He worked for the Massachusetts Public Defenders office at both the Boston and Roxbury locations, handling his own arraignment calendar. By the time he graduated, he represented over 100 clients at arraignments. After graduation, he dove right in by opening a solo practice in Boston handling primarily Federal drug cases. With a little experience under his belt, he returned to California where he practiced with and took over Robert Cogen's practice. Robert then held a reputation as one of the best marijuana defense lawyers in the country. Manny started out successfully defending the first marijuana cases in a number of California counties. His success grew into some of the largest marijuana cases, ranging from 13,000 plants (the largest grow at the time in California) to most recently suppressing the evidence in a 600 plant case. Manny states, "I believe that marijuana growers and people charged with DUIs aren't criminals as neither wants to intentionally harm people". So, it was a natural transition for Manny to expand his practice to representing people charged with DUIs.

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John Menzel

This week's Member in the Spotlight is John Menzel of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. After graduating with his B.A. from Monmouth College, John was working for an investment firm on Madison Avenue in New York City when he decided to go to law school at nights. He graduated with his Juris Doctorate from New York Law School in 1984. After winning his first drunk driving case in 1987, John decided to concentrate his practice of law exclusively to drunk driving defense. Early on, he earned the nickname "Motion Menzel" by the judges he practiced before, as well as their respect. John's work ethic is ferocious. On top of a very demanding practice (of which he has appeared in more than 300 courts in all of New Jersey's 21 counties) he has argued over 100 appeals and has lectured on DWI at 153 seminars across the country. His technical writing background also lends expertise to his writings, including in the New Jersey Law Journal.

John's cases boast immense legal capital. The famous Chun (2008) case established necessary conditions before a breath test can be admitted. In Cummings (2005), the Court declared "preponderance of the evidence" in a specimen refusal case unconstitutional. Farrell (1999) still exists as the leading case in New Jersey on speedy trial and DWIs. John's eloquence in brilliantly arguing the law on Chun can be seen here: http://www.dwi1dwi.com/StateVsJaneChun.wmv

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Tracey Wood

This week's member in the spotlight is Tracey Wood from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tracey graduated with a B.A. from Marquette University in 1988. She earned her J.D. at the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1992. Before Tracey decided on a career in law, she wanted to be a doctor. When she scored better on the LSAT than the MCAT; the decision was made. Being in the spotlight always appealed to her from a young age, so choosing a career in courtroom litigation was a natural fit. When Tracey was in the seventh grade she starred as Patty in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.

"I got to wear the pretty pink dress and cute pigtails, and I got to sing… stuck with it." What also stuck was a natural gift to entertain, persuade, and delight her captive audiences- her jurors!

Tracey is a seven time recipient of the distinguishing Wisconsin Super Lawyers award, and has been named to the "Top 25 Women in Law" by Super Lawyers. She has a perfect 5/5 on the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Rating Scale. She is past president of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL). Tracey is a sustaining member of the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) since 2001, and also formerly served as a Regent. Her other professional memberships include the American Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Wisconsin State Bar. Tracey is the author of several articles regarding drunk driving, including "Challenging Prior Under the Influence Convictions," and is a contributing author of "Drunk Driving Defense" by Lawrence Taylor and Stephen Oberman. She frequently serves as a criminal law commentator and legal analyst to local media and has lectured on intoxicated driving nationwide.

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James Bickford

This week's member in the spotlight is James V. Bickford IV of San Diego, California. James earned his Juris Doctorate from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Hamden Sydney College, majoring in psychology. He also attended Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for two years and takes great pride in being a 4^th generation Cadet. James comes from a long line of attorneys and an Appellate Judge. One of 4 boys, he knew at the age of six that he wanted to be a trial attorney. While his brothers grew up watching Bugs Bunny, he watched Perry Mason. James' idyllic life came to a crashing halt when at age 20, he suffered from a near fatal car accident. In the middle of his college career, it suddenly became questionable whether or not he would ever be able to read again. With massive brain injuries accompanied by an iron will, honed from his VMI disciplinary training and his indomitable spirit, he conquered the odds. Prior to engaging in law school, James took his natural gift of persuasion with people and academic psychology prowess to try his hand at sales. He was "schlepping everything from cars to vacation rental properties." What he discovered was "Training on sales is the best education you will get for being a trial lawyer".

After graduating law school, he began his career as an intern at the San Diego County Public Defender's Office. His first jury trial was defending a woman accused of DUI with a BAC of .16 and .17. After a 3 day trial, she was found not guilty of all charges. He went on to pursue DUI specialized training in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standardized field sobriety tests as a practitioner and instructor, Intoxilyzer 5000 for breath test operators and the Robert F. Borkenstein Course on Alcohol and Highway Safety for government toxicologists. As founder of The Law Office of James Bickford, he has dedicated his practice solely to defending DUI cases. He is both proud and dedicated to be a DUI defender of the National College of DUI Defense. Since becoming licensed in 2000, he has attended 13 summer NCDD sessions at Harvard, possibly holding the record of most attendances for years practiced.

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