Norman Reimer
Executive Director, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Norman L. Reimer is the Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). NACDL is the preeminent organization in the United States advancing the mission of the nation’s criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for all and to advocate for rational and humane criminal justice policies. As executive director, Norman Reimer leads a professional staff based in Washington, D.C. serving NACDL’s more than 11,000 direct members and 90 local, state and international affiliate organizations with another 35,000 members.
Prior to assuming this position Norman Reimer practiced law for 28 years, most recently at Gould Reimer Walsh Goffin Cohn LLP. A criminal defense lawyer throughout his career, with expertise in trial and appellate advocacy, in both state and federal jurisdictions, Mr. Reimer is also a recognized leader of the organized bar, and a spokesperson in behalf of reform of the legal system.
In May 2004, Norman Reimer assumed the presidency of the New York County Lawyers’ Association, (NYCLA), one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious metropolitan bar associations. In his work at NYCLA, Mr. Reimer played a pivotal role in undertaking litigation against the State and City of New York that upheld the right of a bar association to sue on behalf of indigent litigants and resulted in a judicial decision declaring New York’s under-funding of indigent defense services unconstitutional. (NYCLA v. New York, 294 A.D.2d 69 (1st Dept. 2002); NYCLA v. New York, 196 Misc. 2d 761 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2003). In recognition of this effort the New York County Lawyers’ Association received the ABA’s Harrison Tweed Award in 2003.
Norman Reimer served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School, where he taught Trial Practice from 1990 until 2004. He is a graduate of New York University School of Law. Mr. Reimer is a recipient of the prestigious Champion of Indigent Defense Award, presented by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2003 and the Gideon Award presented by the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2002. In 2005 Mr. Reimer and the New York County Lawyers’ Association were honored by the New York City Council for their dedication to expanding access to justice to all persons without regard to economic status. In 2007 Norman Reimer received the Robert Louis Cohen Award for Profession Excellence from the New York Criminal Bar Association and the David S. Michaels Memorial Award for Courageous Efforts in Promoting Integrity in the Criminal Justice System from the New York State Bar Association.
