NewYearForCrimiNaLLawseCtioN
Criminal law Section Chairs : JustinPetredis – PetredisLaw & DiegoM . Pestana – TheSuarezLawFirm
Newyear , newco-chair forCriminalLaw section , withan excitingyearahead .
This year , the Criminal Law section welcomes a new co-chair : Diego Pestana . Justin Petredis will continue his service to the section as co-chair . Diego is an attorney with The suarez Law Firm , where his practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense and commercial litigation . Before going into private practice , Diego clerked for multiple federal judges and , most recently , at the Middle District of Florida .
Justin and Diego look forward to an exciting year for the Criminal Law section . The section always welcomes new ideas for programming and articles in the Lawyer magazine . Justin and Diego are available for
any questions about submitting articles on the section ’ s behalf and finding topics to write about . The section is currently in the process of planning our luncheons and events for this year . Information about those events will be posted and available on the Criminal Law section ’ s page of the HCBA ’ s website .
This year , we are continuing our great tradition of honoring a member of the criminal-defense bar with the Marcelino “ Bubba ” Huerta III Award for Professionalism and Pro Bono service . This award is named after the late legendary criminal-defense attorney Bubba Huerta . The award is presented to an attorney with a proven record of pursuing equal justice in the Tampa Bay community .
The award began in 2009 with Jim Felman as the first recipient . This past year ’ s recipient was shelton Bridges . To nominate an attorney for this year ’ s award , please email the nomination to Justin at justin @ petredislaw . com or David Weisbrod at dweislaw @ yahoo . com .
The Criminal Law section welcomes participation from all HCBA members . If you ’ d like to become involved , please reach out to Justin or Diego . We are looking forward to a great year with the HCBA and the Criminal Law section . n
Authors : Justin Petredis – Petredis Law & Diego M . Pestana – The Suarez Law Firm
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