NYCDS strives to ensure that our staff reflects the diversity of the communities we represent. Our diverse team speaks more than 20 different languages, including Arabic, Bangla, Bengali, Cantonese, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Mandarin, Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Tamizh, Telugu and Urdu.
Meet Your Defenders
Leadership
Stan Germán
Executive DirectorStan Germán has spent his entire career as a criminal defense attorney. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1995. Upon graduation, Mr. Germán went to work as a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of New York City in Kings County. Thereafter, he worked as a staff attorney at New York County Defender Services. In 2002, he went into private practice where he litigated criminal cases before the United States District Courts in New York, Washington D.C. and Florida. In 2015, Mr. Germán left private practice and returned to New York County Defender Services to serve as Executive Director.
Mr. Germán currently serves as co-chair of the Defense Function Committee for the American Bar Association and chairperson of the American Council of Chief Defenders. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Chief Defenders Association of New York, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and New York County Defender Services. He is a lifetime member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the New York City Bar Association. Mr. Germán has been honored as one of the Top 100 Lawyers for Criminal Defense by The National Trial Lawyers.
Carolyn P. Wilson
DirectorCarolyn Wilson has been a public defender for her entire career. Upon graduation from Brooklyn Law School in 1980 she joined the staff of the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society. She remained at Legal Aid for seventeen years working first as a staff attorney in Queens County and later as a supervising attorney both in Queens and Brooklyn.
In 1996 she wrote a proposal to form New York County Defender Services in response to an RFP issued by the City of New York. NYCDS came into existence on July 1, 1997, and began taking cases in September of that year. Ms. Wilson has served as its director from the beginning.
Ms. Wilson has been a long-term member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the New York City Bar Association.
Christopher W. Boyle
Director of Data Research & PolicySergio De La Pava
Legal DirectorWendy Fisher
Director of AdministrationDeborah Cook
Director of Human ResourcesRenate Lunn
Director of Training
Gina Rodriguez
Operations Manager
Supervisors
Joseph Conza
Supervising AttorneyJen M.R. Doman
Supervising Forensic Social WorkerBasima Hafiz
Supervising AttorneyStan Hickman
Supervising AttorneyC. Sidney Lester
Supervising AttorneyErnesto Papaleo
Criminal Court SupervisorBrad Sage
Criminal Court SupervisorLarry Spollen
Supervising Attorney
Trial Attorneys
Casey Anis
Trial AttorneyAndrej Bajuk
Senior Trial AttorneyKatherine LeGeros Bajuk
Senior Trial Attorney, Mental Health SpecialistAmanda Barfield
Trial AttorneyBethany Bonsu
Trial AttorneyBrittany Brown
Attorney, Immigration UnitEric Burse
Trial AttorneyMarie Calvert-Kilbane
Trial AttorneyStephanie Conners
Senior Trial Attorney, Integrated Domestic Violence SpecialistCasey Dalporto
Policy AttorneyMargaret DaRocha
Trial AttorneyChantol Edwards
Trial AttorneyAdam Freedman
Senior Trial Attorney, Homicide/Major Crime Defense UnitScott Gallagher
Trial AttorneyAlex Garber
Trial AttorneyNicole Guliano
Trial AttorneyCaitlyn Hall
Trial Attorney, Legal RecruiterSharyn L. Henry
Senior Trial AttorneyJessica Heyman
Trial AttorneyJessica A. Horani
Senior Trial Attorney, Homicide/Major Crime Defense UnitMeagan Hu
Attorney, Immigration UnitNicole Jardim
Trial AttorneyMolly Kalmus
Trial AttorneyThalia Karny
Senior Trial AttorneyAngela Kerins
Trial AttorneyJonathan Ko
Trial AttorneyLindsey Laveaux
Trial AttorneyPaul Lee
Trial AttorneyDiane Lopez
Attorney, Immigration UnitErin Malone
Trial Attorney, Juvenile Defense UnitMariah Martinez
Trial AttorneyCara Mazor
Trial AttorneyKristin McAlpin
Trial AttorneyTiffany McDuffie
Trial AttorneyShantal McNeil
Trial AttorneyGabriela Mejias
Trial AttorneyMildred Morillo
Trial AttorneyAmy Munro
Trial AttorneyVickie Mwitanti
Trial AttorneyAndrea Nieves
Senior Policy AttorneyMichael Papson
Trial AttorneyJoseph Payne
Trial AttorneyCatherine Perrone
Law GraduateAustin Perry
Trial AttorneyLaisa Pertet
Trial AttorneyRebecca Phipps
Trial AttorneyBernadette Rabuy
Trial Attorney, Homicide/Major Crime Defense UnitAaron Ratoff
Trial AttorneyMaria Camila Rodriguez
Trial AttorneyChristopher Roland
Trial AttorneyVictoria Ruiz
Law GraduateH. Mitchell Schuman
Senior Trial Attorney, Homicide/Major Crime Defense UnitHillela Simpson
Trial Attorney, Juvenile Defense UnitSam Sloane
Trial Attorney, Veterans Court SpecialistKayla Smith
Trial AttorneyMelissa Sopher
Trial AttorneyMichelle Tsang
Trial AttorneyChristopher Van Zele
Trial AttorneyShari Vrod
Senior Trial Attorney, Homicide/Major Crime Defense UnitDorothy Weldon
Trial AttorneyJoshua White
Trial AttorneyApril White-Small
Trial Attorney, Legal Recruiter
Investigators
Daniel Blair
Investigator, Homicide UnitJay Corredor
Investigator, Homicide UnitVincent Giaimo
InvestigatorTravis Knoppert
InvestigatorCarlos Mateo
InvestigatorDhariana Rosario
InvestigatorRafael Vargas
Investigator
Corrections Specialists
Natalie Fiorenzo
Corrections SpecialistRachel Sznajderman
Corrections Specialist
Paralegals
Katelynn Bright
Paralegal, Homicide/Major Crime Defense UnitSamuel Clark
ParalegalFelix Espinal
Senior ParalegalAisling Flaherty
ParalegalLillian Gilpin
ParalegalAriel Lam
ParalegalAhliaa Moore
ParalegalIsaura Severino
ParalegalJulia Tecotzky
Paralegal
Administration
Karine Avila
Administrative AssistantJheni Cruz
Administrative AssistantJackie Giron
Finance AdministratorKatherine Giron
Administrative AssistantMarcy Green-Eubanks
Administrative AssistantSergio Lozano
Social Media CoordinatorIan Luna
Executive CoordinatorJamie Martinez
Administrative CoordinatorJulissa Piantini
Administrative AssistantGabriel Vélez
Finance AdministratorNadia Williams
Administrative Assistant
Data Research
Celia Joyce
Data AnalystEstee Rubien-Thomas
Research Lead
Information Technology
Michael Bronstein
Network AdministratorMihaela Lisov
Senior Network Administrator