Puerto Rico Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Founded in 1991, the Puerto Rico Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PRACDL) is an NACDL affiliate. Many of the top criminal defense lawyers in Puerto Rico are members of PRACDL including attorneys in private practice and public defenders practice in state or federal court.

Benefits of membership in PRACDL include:

• the PDF newsletter “Punch & Jurists”;
• CLE workshops and seminars;
• PRACDL Blogs and Group Listserv;
• Brief Bank;
• Strike Force;
• Amicus Curiae Committee;
• Mentoring Program; and
• Invitations to the Annual Assembly And Elections for the Board of Directors.

Contact Information

Requirements of Membership in the PRACDL

To join PRACDL, attorneys must certify that they are:

• admitted to practice, in good standing, before the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, or the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and who maintains an office and criminal defense practice in Puerto Rico; or
• an attorney who is a member of the state or federal public defenders’ offices Puerto Rico.

To join PRACDL must certify that they are not disqualified from membership because of employment as an attorney in Puerto Rico with any of the following groups:

• offices of prosecutors
  • United States Attorneys
  • Special Prosecutors
  • City Attorneys
  • District Attorneys
  • Attorney Generals
• any person employed in law enforcement or the executive branch of any government
  • police officers
  • marshals
  • correction officers
  • parole officers and probation officers
• persons engaged in a full-time judicial function
  • full-time judges
  • magistrate-judges
  • commissioners or referees
  • their law clerks

This article was last updated on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.