Daniel-Paul Alva graduated from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville in 1972. He began his career in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office assigned to the newly formed Narcotics Unit, which followed cases from investigation through trial. He became associated with Stephen Robert LaCheen Esq., in 1974 and thereafter became partner in the firm of LaCheen and Alva. He founded his own firm in 1987, now known as Alva & Associates, which handles all areas of trial work, concentrating in state, federal, local and national criminal trials. Mr. Alva belongs to the National and Pennsylvania Associations of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws. He was selected by Philadelphia Magazine as one of the "78 for 78". He has tried more than 5,000 cases, the majority in Pennsylvania, but also in eleven (11) other states. In 1988 he served as Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section, and was honored to repeat the role in 2002. Mr. Alva also has served on the Bar Association's Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention for ten (10) years. In 2003, he was elected to a three-year term on the Board on Governors of the Bar Association. In 2006, Mr. Alva served as the Chair of the Board of Governors. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, Mr. Alva was Co-Chair of the Municipal Court Committee. For the last fifteen (15) years, Mr. Alva has served as an adjunct professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law, teaching in the nationally rated number one School of Trial Advocacy. For the last five years, Mr. Alva has been selected to teach the Advanced Trial Advocacy Course. In 2003, Mr. Alva was appointed by his Honor, Mayor John Street as a member of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee representing all Philadelphia attorneys, a position he held until 2007. This committee oversaw the Philadelphia Criminal Justice System (courts, prisons, judges, attorneys, etc.)

He has created, chaired or been a panel member on eight continuing legal education courses in Philadelphia, including Five-County Criminal Practice (created and chaired); Cross examination in homicide cases, Mitigation in homicide cases, Defending narcotics cases, as well as The Ethnics of Criminal Cases (co-creator and panelist, three times.) In 2005, Mr. Alva along with USDC Judge Bruce Kauffman and Mark Mendell, Esq. addressed the Philadelphia Bar Association on "Civility in the Courts". Lectured (CLE) three times at National NORML conferences, first on Cross-examination Techniques for the Very Young or Old witness, secondly on Selling Ones Client to the Courts and lastly, on "Burn Out"- Rekindle the Fire in the Belly." Mr. Alva has lectured on cross-examination techniques for the Young witnesses on two occasions before individual sections of the Bucks County Bar Association (Family and Criminal Law).

In 1984, Mr. Alva received an Honorarium to speak at his alma mater, Brandeis School of Law, to much acclaim. The topic, "Life after Law School" has been modified (to fit various topics) at Temple University, Beasley School of law, and most recently at Widener School of Law in 2006. Although the motivational speech was entitled "Trials and Tribulations of a Criminal Trial Lawyer", it dealt heavily with ethics and civility in the courtroom. In December 2011, Mr. Alva received the Philadelphia Bar Association' "Fidelity Award." Recognized as one of the "Deans" of Criminal Law and selected as a "Super Lawyer" every year since inception, he maintains an active practice today.

Denis DeVlaming was educated at the Ohio State University where he received a B.A. in Psychology (1969). He graduated from Stetson University College of Law in 1972 with a Juris doctor degree. He accepted an appointment as a Florida Assistant State Attorney where he prosecuted in the Sixth Judicial Circuit from 1972 through 1975. Thereafter, he started his own law practice and has specialized in criminal defense ever since.

Mr. deVlaming is the past president of the Pinellas County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (1987), the Pinellas County Trial Lawyers Association (1991) and the Clearwater Bar Association (1994-1995). He also served as Chairman of the Criminal Law Section of the Clearwater Bar. He was elected statewide President of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2002-2003) and is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2001 he was named senior counsel in The College of Master Advocates And Barristers and in 2010 he was inducted in to the American College of Trial Lawyers. He currently serves as president of First Step, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping needy men and women who are on probation.

He is Board Certified in criminal law (1988-present) and has been approved by the Florida Bar to give Continuing Legal Education seminars on every aspect of the criminal trial. For over twenty years he has been asked to lecture at the Board Certification Seminar for criminal trial law. He has authored numerous articles touching upon matters involving criminal law in both state-wide and national periodicals. Mr. deVlaming is an adjunct professor at Stetson College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida teaching "Advanced Criminal Trial Advocacy" and is a past adjunct professor at the University of South Florida. He has also been a guest lecturer for the St. Petersburg College and the "Peoples Law School" in Pinellas County and been asked to speak at the statewide Florida Judicial Conference on criminal law (Circuit and County), the Florida Public Defender's Association (trial tactics), the Gerald T. Bennett prosecutor/public defender trial training program at the University of Florida, the National College of DUI defense held at Harvard law school and "Masters of DUI" held in Miami, Florida (2006). He has also travelled around the state giving a three hour interactive ethics seminar to the combined offices of the state attorney and public defender. And has coordinated, produced, directed and acted in several mock trials for cable television.

Mr. deVlaming has been inducted into "Who's Who In American Law" (1989-present) and has been included in the book "Best Lawyers In America" (Naifeh and Smith, 1995-present). He was selected as one of the best criminal defense lawyers in Florida by the Florida Trend magazine (July 2004-6), Florida Monthly magazine (Sept. 2003), the Tampa Bay magazine (1997), the Tampa Metro magazine (2003-4) and Florida Super Lawyers magazine (2006-present). The Tampa edition of the Business Review newspaper included him as one of the Gulf Coast's most influential lawyers (Oct. 2003). The national rating service of attorneys (Martindale-Hubbell) has given him an "A" rating since 1987. He is also listed in that publication's "Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers". His peers have presented him with awards for professionalism and excellence in the field of criminal law by awarding him "The Barney" award (Inns of Court, 1997), "The Hindman" award (Pinellas County Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1998), "The Richard T. Earle" award (voted on by all Pinellas County Florida judges, 1998),"The William Reece Smith"award for professionalism(Stetson College of Law, 2008) and the "Jack Edmund" award (The Herbert G. Goldburg Inn of Court, Tpa. 2011).

Gerald "Gerry" Harris Goldstein is a nationally known and respected defense lawyer and Past President of both the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He has served as amicus curiae for NACDL in many high-profile cases, including CNN v. Manuel Noriega and Joe Does v. United States, arguing that lawyers should not be required to disclose the identity of cash-paying clients on IRS forms. His forceful Congressional testimony during the 1996 House Waco hearings is credited with helping to turn the tide against further suppression of citizens' rights in America. More recently, he represented Dr. Al-Badr Al Hazmi, a fifth-year radiology resident in San Antonio who was arrested on September 12, 2001. Subsequently, Goldstein testified before Congress on his client's request to speak with counsel.

Gerry is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Texas Lawyer's Legal Legends, has been profiled in numerous publications, has served as an adjunct professor of law at University of Texas School of Law in Austin and at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, and is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is also Board Certified in Criminal Law. In his role as an adjunct professor, Gerry teaches a course titled: Advanced Criminal Law (Defense of a Complex Federal Prosecution). Other topics/seminar papers that Gerry speaks about are: 2008 Supreme Court Update; Crawford & the Current State of the Hearsay Rule; Crossing the Double Crosser; Federal Appeals - What will the next 50 years look like?; Hot New Trends from the Supremes; Motions to Suppress; Notable Recent and Pending Federal and TX Crim Cases; Tenth Circuit Standards of Review.

Gerry is received a certification in Criminal Law in 1975 from the State Bar of Texas. He holds the following bar admissions: Texas (1968), Colorado (1989), U.S. District Court Western District of Texas (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit (1982), U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit (1983), U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit (1979), U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit (1983), U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit (1981), U.S. Supreme Court (1975).

Gerry's education background is as follows: The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, 1968 LL.B.; Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1965, B.A., Major: Business Administration.

His published works include: Grand Jury Practice; Pretrial Release; Indictment [Joinder/Severance/Transfer]; Pretrial Motions; Suppression of Evidence; Jury Selection; Trial [Evidence]; Examination of Witnesses; Jury Instructions; Closing Arguments; Creative Trial Techniques; Criminal Issues - Civil Cases; Jury Arguments [Closings to Remember]; Search and Seizure; Life and Hearsay - Post Crawford Era; Federal Appeals; Supreme Court Review.

He has received the following honors and awards: Best Lawyers in America, 1987 - Present; Texas Monthly - Texas Super Lawyers; Top 100 Texas Super Lawyers; Top 50 Central and West Texas Region Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2003 - 2007; Scene in SA Monthly - San Antonio's Best Attorneys, San Antonio Law, Top Ten Lawyers, 2004 - 2008; Texas Lawyer Legal Legends, 100 Best Lawyers over Last 100 years (100 Year Anniversary of State Bar of Texas), 2000; Fellow, State Bar Foundation, 1976 - Present; Recipient, Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award [Outstanding Criminal Defense Attorney in the United States] from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1991; Recipient, Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer in Texas from the State Bar of Texas, 1991; Justice Albert Tate, Jr. Award [Outstanding Contribution to Criminal Advocacy] from the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1993; Recipient, John Henry Faulk Civil Libertarian of the Year Award from the American Civil Liberties Union; Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Hall of Fame, 2002; Marquis Who's Who, Who's Who in American Law, 14th Edition, 2006 - 2007.

He is a member of the following professional associations: National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Past President (1994 - 1995); Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Past President (1992 - 1993); Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1997 - Present; Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, 1991 - Present; American Board of Criminal Lawyers, 1987 - Present; American Board of Trial Advocates, President (1997 - Present); Dean's Round Table, University of Texas School of Law, 1989 - Present; Texas Civil Liberties Union, General Counsel (1979 - 1985); San Antonio Bar Association, Board of Directors (1977 - 1978); American Bar Association, 1968 - Present; Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

John Wesley Hall, a Little Rock, criminal defense attorney, is a Past President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2008-09). He was chair of the NACDL Ethics Advisory Committee from 1990-2005, and he received the organization's prestigious Robert C. Heeney Award in 2002 for service to the criminal defense bar.

The author of the two-volume treatise Search And Seizure (Lexis Law Publishing), Hall is the only published Fourth Amendment ("I'm not dead."*) scholar and author who actively handles criminal cases. Hall writes on daily at www.fourthamendment.com. He is also the author of Professional Responsibility In Criminal Defense Practice and Trial Handbook For Arkansas Lawyers (both for Thomson-West). Because of the time spent on his blog, he's really late getting the Fourth Edition of Search And Seizure done. Look for it by the end of 2012.

Hall has tried approximately 350 jury trials, handled about 300 appeals, argued twice before the U.S. Supreme Court, and defended an African nations defense minister accused of war crimes in an international tribunal in Sierra Leone 2004-06. He is a frequent speaker and expert witness on criminal defense ethics. He is listed in Best Lawyers In America for Criminal Defense and White Collar Criminal Defense.

Since 2008, Hall has been NACDL's representative to the ABA Standards committee writing the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Prosecution and Defense Function (4th edition).

* "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975).

Elizabeth Kelley has a special commitment to representing people with intellectual disabilities (such as mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders) and mental illness (such as bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder). She has also worked on several cases of wrongful conviction, including ones where her clients were successfully exonerated. Elizabeth has hosted the award-winning weekly radio show, "Celebrity Court," for over two years. Celebrity Court counts down the top celebrity legal stories of the week and provides in-depth interviews that Elizabeth conducts with A-list guests from throughout the country.

Elizabeth is in her second term as a board member for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). She has served on numerous committees, is a Life Member, and chairs both the Mental Health Committee and the Corrections Committee. In 2009, she traveled as part of an NACDL - United Nations sponsored delegation to Liberia in order to train Liberian attorneys about courtroom strategies and techniques. A Life Member of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Elizabeth has been recognized as one of Ohio's Super Lawyers, a member of numerous bar associations, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Norman Elliott Kent, a graduate of Hofstra University, who first joined NORML as a college senior in 1971, is now a publisher and criminal defense attorney based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, handling First Amendment, constitutional rights, and media law cases. A pioneer in medical necessity defenses for marijuana users, such as Elvy Mussika, Norm has represented patients, growers, and buyer's clubs throughout Florida for over 30 years. As far back as 1982, he sued the State of Florida to stop the deadly herbicide paraquat from being sprayed on marijuana fields.

Norm has authored 'The Pot Warriors Manifesto', contributes marijuana advocacy columns to Counterpunch.org, and has lectured at multiple NORML legal seminars, conferences and other events on cannabis law issues. A member of the NORML Legal Committee for over twenty years, Norm is a cancer survivor who is an open and out medical marijuana user himself, crediting marijuana with ameliorating the harsh nature of chemotherapy treatments.

A noted advocate for gay rights who has appeared as a commentator on CNN and FOX News, Kent is also presently the publisher of The South Florida Gay News, the largest weekly LGBT newspaper in the State of Florida.(www.southfloridagaynews.com)

Mr. Kent serves on NORML's Board of Directors.

Lewis Maltby is president of the National Workrights Institute (formerly the national employment rights project of the ACLU). He has testified before Congress and numerous state legislatures and helped draft most of the state laws restricting drug testing. His ACLU report, Drug Testing: A Bad Investment, showed that drug testing is not only an invasion of privacy, but does nothing to increase workplace safety and productivity. Maltby's remarks on drug testing have been featured in media articles from the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal to the Brownsville (Texas) Herald.

E. X. Martin has been practicing criminal law in state and federal courts for over thirty eight years. He is in private practice in Dallas, Texas. He has successfully represented a spectrum of clients including both N.F.L.team owners and players, country and western stars, and best of all the stage manager for the Rolling Stones! He is a respected trial lawyer and computer guru. E. X. is an extraordinary lecturer at criminal defense seminar and has spoken in over 40 states on defending computer crime cases and on using technology both in the office and the courtroom to effectively represent the citizen accused. He has received the President's Commendation Award from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's and the Presidential Award from the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

Kyndra S. Miller obtained her undergraduate degree from UC San Diego in 1994 and her law degree from the Lincoln School of Law in 2002. She worked as a volunteer lawyer for Americorps before opening her own law firm specializing in entertainment law in Los Angeles. Today she is part of the Pier 5 group of lawyers in San Francisco, providing business, corporate and civil litigation services to medical marijuana patients in CA. She is dedicating her time, energy and spiritual resources to educating the public about the dangers of prohibition and the benefits of marijuana and industrial hemp. Miller is the West Coast coordinator of the NORML Women's Alliance.

Marvin Miller has been defending criminal cases for more than 25 years, including drug defendants, political radicals and government officials. Based in Alexandria, VA, Marvin has represented clients from Maine to Florida, including an alleged ringleader in the Attica prison riot and Joan Little, an African-American woman charged with killing a white jail guard in rural North Carolina.

William H. "Billy" Murphy, Jr. has practiced law for 35 years, including three years as a judge on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the highest level Maryland trial court. Mr. Murphy has tried numerous high-profile criminal and civil cases, including some of the most celebrated cases in Maryland history and in the country. In 2004, Mr. Murphy received the Charles Hamilton Houston Award for Lifetime Achievement in Litigation from the University of Baltimore School of Law in "recognition of his career of excellence, innovation and achievement in courtroom advocacy."

Mycki Ratzan

William Rittenberg of New Orleans, LA, is a well known civil rights lawyer who has successfully defeated every attempt to restrict a woman's right to an abortion in Louisiana for 30 years. He has also won cases declaring drug testing statutes to be unconstitutional, and protecting the rights of children, minorities, street musicians, marijuana farmers, message parlors, paraphernalia dealers, political groups, school teachers and even a few middle-aged white men. Mr. Rittenberg is a past president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Alan Silber, a long time member of the NORML Legal Committee and former NORML Board member, has litigated cases in Federal Courts and numerous State Courts across the United States. He has tried not only sophisticated drug cases, but also major white-collar cases involving RICO, bank, securities, telemarketing, health care, wire and mail fraud, as well as significant money laundering cases, kidnapping (representing a police officer), and murder. His practice is concentrated on federal and state complex criminal litigation. Mr. Silber, who will be lecturing on ethics, also represents lawyers in disciplinary cases.

Jeffrey Steinborn graduated from the Yale Law School in 1968. For the last 35 years he has been defending citizens accused of drug crimes -- mostly marijuana. Jeff's seminal double jeopardy/forfeiture case, United States v. McCaslin, had the government on the run for a few years, but is now an exhibit in the Museum of Short-Lived Legal Anomalies. His victory in State of Washington v. Thein, forced the government to stop using boiler-plate search warrants for the homes of suspected drug traffickers and put an end to the practice of searching the residences of suspected drug dealers based upon conduct occurring outside of the home. Jeff maintains an informational website for pot users - www.potbust.com.

Allen St. Pierre was hired by NORML in early 1991 as Communications Director, in 1993 he became the organization's Deputy National Director and he currently serves as the Executive Director of NORML and the NORML Foundation. Mr. St. Pierre's experience is unparalleled in the field of drug policy reform. He has been cited in hundreds of international, national, and local news publications (New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, London Times, Le Monde, Der Speigel, Economist, Newsweek, Time). He has appeared on dozens of nationally televised news programs (ABC, CBS, NBC, C-Span, Fox, PBS) and hundreds of radio shows representing NORML.

Calvin Williams has been at it for 28 years, started in general practice but now limited to criminal defense most of that in the drug defense arena. Because of his location on I-70 in western Kansas he does a lot of "mule" cases. This kind of case leads to an interest in profiling, warrantless searches, coerced consent, and the "stand and deliver" forfeiture attitude of the highway robbers calling themselves drug intervention officers.

Adam Wolf is the Principal and Founder of Wolf Legal, which specializes in appellate litigation and civil rights matters. Mr. Wolf has developed a national reputation as a leading appellate and civil litigator who has focused on drug policy. He successfully argued a case in the United States Supreme Court, Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364 (2009), that defined the scope of the Fourth Amendment for school officials who strip search a child in pursuit of drugs. The Court's opinion in Safford marked the first time in forty years that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a student who claimed that her school violated her constitutional rights. For his efforts in this case, Mr. Wolf was named Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer Magazine. Mr. Wolf has argued in numerous federal and state courts of appeals, in addition to the United States Supreme Court. He has represented groups and individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated, as well as organizations who seek to vindicate their rights. An established appellate and civil rights litigator, Mr. Wolf has lectured around the country regarding constitutional law and civil rights, and he has been quoted in hundreds of domestic and international newspapers. He is very proud to have represented San Diego NORML in defending the validity of California's medical marijuana laws.

Dr. James Woodford of Tennessee is a research chemist who has done chemical analyses of marijuana, alcohol and drugs at New Scotland Yard in London, the U.S. Army Forensic Testing Lab in Wiesbaden, Germany, and state crime labs all over the country. He is author of numerous peer reviewed published articles, and has testified as an expert witness in many court cases. An expert in drug odor chemistry and odor detection, Woodford holds the U.S. Patent on the synthesis for the odor of cocaine, which is used as the standard in odor screening devices and as the scientific standard in drug detection K-9 training and proficiency testing of K-9s.

John Kenneth Zwerling practices law with Zwerling, Leibig & Moseley, P.C. in Alexandria Virginia. For the past 35 years, Mr. Zwerling has been defending individuals and corporations who have run afoul of the law in the trial and appellate courts of state and federal judicial systems. His clients include the famous and the infamous. Rock stars and lawyers, politicians and protesters, the innocent and the not so innocent on charges ranging from murder to misdemeanors, including espionage, terrorism, mail fraud, bribery, cyber sex and unwanted sex. He is a nationally recognized and respected criminal defense attorney. His ability to speak persuasively to prosecutors, judges and juries has yielded the type of success that resulted in his peers evaluating him as one of the Best Lawyers in America, a Pre-eminent Lawyer, and a Super Lawyer. He is sought out on the CLE lecture circuit and well as the national media including The Today Show, Firing Line and the NBC, ABC and CBS evening news.