Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 6-25-21

Local
Tampa’s Native Son Is Florida’s First African-American Federal Defender
Federal Defender Alec Hall, left, with his daughter, Maiyah and Honorable Charles R. Wilson, Eleventh Circuit Judge.
On Tuesday, June 15, 2021,
Attorney Alec Fitzgerald Hall received his appointment letter from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Chief Judge William Pryor, formally in- stalling him as the new Federal Defender for the Middle District of Florida. This is history for both the Middle District of Florida and for the State of Florida as there has never been an African-American to lead the Defender’s Office and one to be named in the State of Florida.
The Honorable Charles R. Wilson, Eleventh Circuit Judge, swore Attorney Hall in as the new Federal Defender on June 21st. The Middle District of Florida’s jurisdiction extends from Jacksonville south cover- ing all areas including Ocala, Orlando, Tampa, and Ft. Myers. The Middle District is the sec- ond largest district in the coun- try. The motto for the Federal Defender’s Office is “Represent- ing Those Who Cannot Repre- sent Themselves.”
Attorney Hall is a native of Tampa and was reared by his maternal grandmother, the late Maggie Cleggette, along with his two brothers and sister in the Riverview Terrace Housing Projects in Tampa, Florida. At- torney Hall is a graduate of Hillsborough Senior High School, and Project Upward Bound, and he later attended and graduated from the Univer- sity of Florida in Gainesville, Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History (post-bellum America). Attor- ney Hall formerly worked for the Florida Department of Cor- rections as a probation officer and later worked for the Florida Parole Commission as a parole examiner prior to attending law school. Attorney Hall received his Juris Doctor degree from Nova Southeastern University, Shepherd Broad Law Center, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
At Nova Southeastern, Attor- ney Hall was his first-year sec- tion winner for Moot Court and he was on the Moot Court and Trial Advocacy traveling teams. Attorney Hall subsequently received his Master’s of Divinity degree (in ministry) from Luther Rice University and Seminary in Lathonia, Georgia. Attorney Hall has practiced
law for over 23 years beginning his career as a state assistant public defender for Seminole and Brevard Counties. He has been an Assistant Federal Pub- lic Defender for the Middle Dis- trict of Florida for over 20 years. Attorney Hall specializes in vertical criminal representation, which includes trial, appellate, and habeas corpus practice. He has tried numerous cases and is known as a tough litigator.
He is a member of the Florida and District of Columbia Bars. He is also a member of the United States Supreme Court, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eleventh Circuit, and D. C. Cir- cuit Courts of Appeals, and the U. S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Florida. Attorney Hall has appeared before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Ap- peals for oral argument on sev- eral occasions and had his client’s conviction reverse/va- cated in United States v. Mc- Carrick, 294 F.3d 1286 (11th Cir. 2002) (published opinion) and obtained a certificate of ap- pealability from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, revers- ing the district court, in Barrett v. Secretary Florida Depart- ment of Corrections, Case No. 13-15153-EE (first-degree mur- der - life case).
Attorney Hall is an over 31- year and life member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He has previously received the Omega Man of the Year Award for his chapter, Pi Iota, for the State of Florida (two times), for the Seventh District (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Missis- sippi), two times, and has re- ceived the Superior Service Award three times. He was rec- ognized with the Hometown Hero Award by the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau of Tampa, Florida for his efforts in helping to secure the Omega Psi Phi Fra- ternity, Inc.’s 82 Grand Con- clave now rescheduled for Summer 2024.
Attorney Hall wishes to thank all of his supporters for their support over the years and in the instant achievement espe- cially his wife, Yvette Renee Evans Hall, and their daugh- ter, Maiyah, and a host of oth- ers which are too numerous to name.
PAGE 10-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 2021