Education Foundation (GCDLEF)

At the end of 2008, The Foundation, Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers Legal Education Fund “GCDLEF” was formed. The Foundation is a tax exempt, 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation formed for the purpose of supporting Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GACDL)-sponsored educational programs with particular focus on, the Al Horn Scholarship, Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program, and Debra Blum Program. Contributions to The Foundation are tax deductible and enable scholarships to be awarded for criminal defense lawyers to attend valuable educational programs.

The Al Horn Scholarship enables deserving criminal defense lawyers in Georgia to attend the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC), a two-week, intensive trial practice program held each summer and run by Bill Daniel faculty member Natasha Perdew Silas and Karen Smolar. A number of GACDL members and attorneys from outside of Georgia serve on the faculty of NCDC. The Al Horn Scholarship enables several GACDL members to attend NCDC each year, which is designed to train experienced lawyers with substantial trial experience, having tried as many as fifty trials.

The Al Horn scholarship began in 1985, as a tribute to Atlanta legal legend and founding GACDL member, Al Horn. In addition to being colorful, Al was a dedicated and gifted criminal defense lawyer, practicing out of the Healy Building in downtown Atlanta with current and former GACDL members, judges, and attorneys including Bruce Maloy, Jim Jenkins, Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane, Amy Totenberg, and others. Al Horn believed in confronting the inequities in the legal system head on. Al knew how to fight hard, but fair, and won the respect of judges and prosecutors. Al Horn was a pioneer in attacking “unwinnable” cases with motions to suppress, jury challenges, and motions for independent lab analyses.

Al waged a courageous fight with cancer, but died at age 55, long before his time. At his memorial service, Andrew Young said, “Al Horn saw it as his duty in life to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.” Since 1985, the Al Horn Scholarship has helped send more than 190 GACDL members to NCDC. Donations to assist lawyers in attending NCDC help improve the quality of criminal defense in Georgia and continue to honor the memory of a gifted trial lawyer and even better person, Al Horn

The Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program was created in 1999 and invites 30 criminal defense lawyers to attend each year. This four-day, intense program is designed for criminal defense lawyers with little trial experience. From 1999-2007, the program was directed by Tony Cueto, a New York criminal defense lawyer and charter member of GACDL, Jill Travis from 2008-2021 (with a sabbatical in 2018 and a coronavirus pandemic thwarting it in 2020), Wes Bryant & Zanele Ngubeni in 2022, and Wes Bryant & Christine Koehler in 2023. Many GACDL members serve as faculty for this program.

The Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program is named for GACDL founding member William W. “Bill” Daniel. His vision launched GACDL by holding a breakfast meeting at the cafeteria of the First National Bank Building in downtown Atlanta in about 1971. Daniel’s vision for a collegial group of criminal defense lawyers has ultimately grown into our current organization with more than 1,400 members.

Daniel later served as Fulton County Superior Court Judge and began publishing Criminal Trial Practice, an essential criminal law reference book which, as defense attorney Jack Martin once observed, is the “Old Testament,” while Georgia Criminal Law Case Finder, a work of GACDL member, Don Samuel, serves as the “New Testament.” Contributions to the GACDL Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program improve the quality of criminal defense in Georgia, while honoring the name of GACDL founder, Bill Daniel. Nearly 600 scholarships have been awarded to the Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program.

The third and most recent program produced by GACDL is the Debra Blum Scholarship, created in 2005. Initially a GACDL member was sponsored to attend a weekend program in New York based on the New York School of Law’s “Survey of Mental Disability” law, a semester-long course. Now, GACDL produces a seminar that includes a thorough analysis of all aspects of mental health law within the criminal legal system. The last in-person seminar occurred in Atlanta in 2014 with 70 criminal defense lawyers and judges able to attend due to scholarships from The Foundation. Another seminar was held virtually from Atlanta in May 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

This scholarship is named after Debra Blum, a dedicated and talented attorney committed to mental health advocacy. Debra was instrumental in forming the Mental Health Advocacy Division of what was then the Georgia Indigent Defense Council (now the Georgia Public Defender Council). The division is now known as the Office of the Mental Health Advocate (OMHA) which oversees the treatment and review process for those acquitted in Georgia courts by reason of insanity. Debra had previously attended the New York School of Law’s mental disability law course and found it valuable. Debra was married to 2016 GACDL President Bob Rubin when she died in 2005 after waging a lengthy and brutal fight with cancer. Because mental health issues are so often intertwined with criminal defense matters, this scholarship improves the quality of criminal defense in Georgia, while honoring the memory of Debra Blum.

Each of these scholarship programs were created to honor the legacy of someone special whose efforts contributed substantially to the quality of criminal defense, while enhancing the GACDL in the process. Each donation serves the dual purpose of continuing to improve the quality of criminal defense while honoring individuals whose good works are worthy of remembrance and tribute.

All contributions to GCDLEF support these very worthwhile programs and enable persons to attend who may otherwise not be able to do so. Please donate! Make your check payable to GCDLEF and mail it to 215 Church St. Suite 111, Decatur, Georgia 30030. Indicate your preference as to which scholarship you wish to support. If you do not indicate a preference, your donation will be included in the general fund.

GCDLEF may also be part of your estate planning. Will Codicil

Ryan Swingle serves as the current Chair of the Board of Directors of GCDLEF. Wes Bryant is the Vice Chair. Jason Sheffield is the Secretary/Treasurer. Other Board members include: Joe Habachy, Joe Cargile, John Garland, Erin King, Christine Koehler, Christian Lamar, Suesan Miller, and Derek Johnson-Gage.