Monthly Newsletter · Vol. 1, No. 1 · October 2026

SACDLA Monthly

News From the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association: the events calendar, new additions to the Member Library, the features we build for the Bexar County defense bar, and the colleagues who give this association its character, once a month.

Nuts and Bolts Friday October 30 Over 500 Library Documents In Trial Now

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Members receive every issue as a benefit of membership. Colleagues and friends of the association sign up here. One issue a month.

From the Executive Director

What's New on SACDLA.com

Counselors and Colleagues,

The association's website at SACDLA.com has a new design, a Member Library of more than 500 documents shared by members who practice in the same courts, and a members only page where colleagues post their trials in the Bexar County criminal courts. Every library page opens with the member sign in used for dues, and the Member Login button sits at the top of every page.

The Jim Greenfield Memorial Nuts and Bolts CLE returns Friday, October 30, in the Double Height Courtroom of the Bexar County Courthouse, with seven sessions and 6.5 hours of Texas MCLE, including one hour of ethics. Law student members and new members in their first year of practice attend free.

SACDLA Monthly arrives once a month with the events calendar, new additions to the Member Library, the features we build for this bar, and the work of colleagues worth knowing. It is also a place to contribute: a case note, a CLE idea or a document for the library is welcome at [email protected]. Thank you for the work you do for the people of Bexar County.

Best,
Forrest Good
Executive Director, San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

On the Calendar

Nuts and Bolts 2026

The Jim Greenfield Memorial Nuts and Bolts CLE, the association's annual fundamentals seminar for lawyers in their first years of practice.

  • Friday, October 30, 2026. Registration 8:30 a.m. Sessions 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Double Height Courtroom, Bexar County Courthouse, 100 Dolorosa, Room 2.01, Second Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205
  • 6.5 Hours Texas MCLE Including 1 Hour Ethics
Law Student MembersFree
New Members Practicing Under One YearFree
Members$100
Non-Members$200

Members sign in first for the member rate, and guests continue as guests. Law students and lawyers in their first year attend free as SACDLA members, and membership applications are online at SACDLA.com/join.

The Lineup

  1. 9:00Building a Tribe: Turning Strangers Into Allies Through Voir DireJessica Joyner
  2. 9:45Tick Tock, State: Litigating the Right to Speedy TrialJessica Gonzalez
  3. 10:45DWI 101: What Every New Lawyer Needs to KnowBryan Orihel
  4. 12:00Defending Everyone but Yourself: Burnout, Balance and the Criminal Defense LawyerMatt Allen · The Ethics Hour
  5. 1:00Family Violence 101: Handling Your First Capital MisdemeanorKellye Fernandez
  6. 2:15Hanging a Shingle: Building Your Practice from the Ground UpDayna Jones
  7. 3:30Weed CollegeJonathan Chavez

In Trial Now

The In Trial Now Thread

The In Trial Now thread lists which members are in trial in the Bexar County criminal courts, so colleagues can come watch, offer a hand at recess or send a word of support. Posts carry docket facts only: court, cause number, judge and trial days.

Sample Layout
Court
Court Name
Judge
Judge Name
Courthouse
Courthouse, Floor
Cause Number
Through the expected last day
Trial
Jury Trial, Day 2 of 4 Expected
Come Watch
Welcome

Membership

What Membership Includes

Membership opens the library, the listserv, the directory, member rates at every CLE and the Local Strike Force, and it puts a lawyer in a room of colleagues who practice in the same courts. A membership keeps full member access for 90 days past its renewal date, and renewal starts at Member Login.

$100Regular MemberA Year
$150Contributing MemberA Year
$25Public Defender's Office RateA Year
$30St. Mary's Law Student or First Year LawyerA Year
$10St. Mary's Criminal Clinic StudentA Year

Follow SACDLA

One Issue a Month in the Inbox

Members receive SACDLA Monthly by email as a benefit of membership. CLE announcements and association news post on these accounts as they happen, and a colleague's news, a CLE idea or a document for the library is welcome at [email protected].

Bexar County Courthouse (Photo by Lily Thomas, CC BY-SA 4.0).