Allen S. Popper
Staff Attorney
The Legal Aid Society , Criminal Defense Division
Allen S. Popper is a Cum Laude graduate of the University of Miami (Florida) Law School where he was an Associate Editor of the Inter-American Law Review and is admitted to practice both in Florida, 1985 (presently on inactive status) and in New York, 1986. He has been employed as a Senior Staff Attorney for the New York City Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division, since 1987. Mr. Popper is presently a member of the New York City Bar (formerly on Criminal Law Committee and presently serving on the Criminal Courts Committee); Kings County Criminal Bar Association; Brooklyn Bar Association; New York State Defenders Association; National Association Criminal Defense Lawyers; and the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Bella S.Kang
Senior Associate
Jones Hirsch Connors & Bull P.C
Bella Kang, a 1999 graduate of St. John's University Law School and a 1991 graduate of Duke University, Ms. Kang has been an associate with a civil litigation firm since 2002. Prior to her firm, Ms. Kang was an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, where she prosecuted all aspects and types of criminal cases, including grand jury presentations and Complaint Room. Presently, Ms. Kang is a senior associate at a downtown firm that represents a security company involved in the WTC litigation. Ms. Kang has handled also various aspects of motor vehicle, aviation, and premises liability. At the City Bar, Ms. Kang serves as a member of the ABCNY Criminal Courts committee, the Task Force on Women in the Court committee, and is also an active member of the New York State Defenders Association. Ms. Kang is admitted to practice in New York State, and the United States District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York.
Gabriela Lukas
Court Attorney for Hon. Sheryl L. Parker
Kings County Supreme Court Criminal Term
Gabriela Lukas, Principal court attorney to Acting Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Parker in the Kings County Supreme Court Criminal Term. Justice Parker is currently presiding over the Juvenile Offender Part where 13, 14, and 15 year olds are prosecuted as adults for violent felonies. Ms. Lukas has been the court attorney to Judge Parker since December of 2004. Currently Ms. Lukas assists in researching and drafting decisions and orders, assessing grand jury presentations for their legal sufficiency and multiple responsibilities related to the indictments of the juveniles and adults pending before Justice Parker. Prior to being a court attorney Ms. Lukas was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society criminal defense division in Brooklyn for seven years. In addition to trying several misdemeanor and felony cases, Ms. Lukas represented hundreds of defendants in arraignments and up until disposition of their case. Ms. Lukas has been a judge for the New York University Law School lawyering program. Ms. Lukas is admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars. Ms. Lukas is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. This is Ms. Lukas¿s second year as a member of the ABCNY Criminal Courts Committee.
Honorable Anthony J.Ferrara
Judge of the Criminal Court
New York City Criminal Court
Honorable Anthony J. Ferrara has been a Judge assigned to the Criminal Court in Manhattan since his appointment to the bench in January 2004. Before that he spent 25 years in private practice including both federal and state criminal defense, preceded by five years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney under Robert Morgenthau. He is past Chair of the City Bar's Criminal Justice, Operations and Budget and Criminal Courts Committees.
Frank R. Dudis
Counsel on Public Assistance Crimes
Kings County District Attorney's Office, Investigations Bureau/ Public Assistance Crimes Unit
Frank R. Dudis, is an Of Counsel Assistant District Attorney in the Office Of District Attorney, Kings County. He is currently working as a Felony Assistant in the Office's Investigations Bureau /Public Assistance Crimes Unit prosecuting cases ranging from welfare fraud through attempted murder. He had been a Misdemeanor Assistant in a Trial Zone and was an intern in the Appeals Bureau where he drafted NYPD Search & Seizure training materials. And as an intern with the Essex County Public defenders Office where he created the Office's first computer-based Capital Case File/ Brief Bank Directory. Mr. Dudis is also member of the ABCNY Criminal Courts Committee and has previously lectured at the ABCNY's December 2002 CLE presentation on "Trying a Case in Criminal Court: Trial Techniques That Will Save Your Client", has lectured at the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators 2002 Seminar on "Prosecuting Serostim Traffickers" and lectured NYC Human Resource Administration Investigators on effective testimony techniques. He also coached the 2006 NYC Explorers mock trial team to the national competitions in St. Louis. Mr.. Dudis was admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey in 2001. Is also admitted to the Eastern and Southern District Federal Courts of New York. He is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School with a MBA from Seton Hall University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.