The ACS Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation as recognized by the Chemistry and the Law Division of the ACS
Like “poet-warrior” or “philosopher-king,” there are lawyers of a new breed known as the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. The ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist is one who uses validated and legitimate science for the benefit of justice. These are lawyers who study the science and apply it legitimately in the courtroom. They expose invalid or non-validated science and use valid science in the courtroom. They eschew the smoke and mirrors techniques of old and embrace the science for the benefit of all. The official title is “The ACS Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation as recognized by the Chemistry and the Law Division of the ACS” but ACS-CHAL has approved a shorthand where the person who has earned the honor can say that he or she has earned “The ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation” or the person as an “ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist.” List and profiles of the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist(TM) (in order of completion of all criteria):
| State | Name | Date Earned |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Debora Lelli | 10/24/2019 |
| Arizona | Javier Alatorre | 10/27/2023 |
| Arizona | Trent R. Buckallew | 10/26/2024 |
| Arkansas | Brad Williams | 11/14/2015 |
| Arkansas | Tommy L. Bennett | 10/15/2016 |
| California | Ron Moore | 06/28/2014 |
| California | Eric Ganci | 12/20/2014 |
| California | Jeremy Brehmer | 12/20/2014 |
| California | Manuel J. Barba | 12/20/2014 |
| California | Richard Middlebrook | 12/20/2014 |
| California | Jonathan Rooker | 06/13/2015 |
| California | Terry Wapner | 06/13/2015 |
| California | Anthony Nehme | 11/04/2017 |
| California | Bo Koenig | 10/24/2019 |
| Colorado | Timothy Bussey | 04/25/2015 |
| Colorado | Emilio De Simone | 11/04/2017 |
| Florida | AnneMarie Rizzo | 11/14/2015 |
| Florida | Armando Edmiston | 11/14/2015 |
| Florida | Thomas Grajek | 11/14/2015 |
| Florida | Joseph Dernbach | 10/15/2016 |
| Florida | Daniel Cavanaugh | 09/24/2022 |
| Georgia | Clark Adams | 06/28/2014 |
| Georgia | Kim Keheley Frye | 11/14/2015 |
| Kansas | John Thurston | 10/17/2014 |
| Kansas | Tom Addair | 11/14/2015 |
| Kansas | Seth Brackman | 10/27/2023 |
| Louisiana | Glynn Delatte | 06/28/2014 |
| Louisiana | Robert D. McMillin | 10/29/2021 |
| Louisiana | Tommy Dewey | 10/27/2023 |
| Maryland | Andrew Alpert | 06/28/2014 |
| Massachusetts | Greg Oberhauser | 12/20/2014 |
| Michigan | Barton Morris | 10/17/2014 |
| Michigan | Muthu Veerappan | 10/27/2023 |
| Minnesota | Charles A Ramsay | 08/15/2015 |
| Missouri | J. Denise Carter | 11/04/2017 |
| Missouri | Greg Watt | 10/20/2018 |
| New Jersey | Steven W. Hernandez | 10/17/2014 |
| New York | Alicia Lilley | 10/30/2021 |
| Ohio | Jeff Meadows | 10/20/2018 |
| Ohio | Jeffrey C. Kakish | 10/15/2016 |
| Ohio | Joseph Hada | 11/04/2017 |
| Ohio | Ronald Annotico | 11/04/2017 |
| Ohio | T. Douglas Clifford | 11/04/2017 |
| Ohio | Daniel J. Sabol | 06/09/2018 |
| Oklahoma | Josh D. Lee | 05/21/2014 |
| Pennsylvania | Justin J. McShane | 05/21/2014 |
| Pennsylvania | Katherine McShane | 05/21/2014 |
| Pennsylvania | Brian Manchester | 06/28/2014 |
| South Carolina | Joe Good | 10/29/2022 |
| Tennessee | Marcos Garza | 06/28/2014 |
| Tennessee | Doug Aaron | 11/04/2017 |
| Tennessee | Graham F. Cox | 10/20/2018 |
| Tennessee/GA | Mat Brock | 10/26/2024 |
| Texas | Tad Nelson | 06/03/2014 |
| Texas | Amber Spurlock | 06/28/2014 |
| Texas | Mark Thiessen | 06/28/2014 |
| Texas | Mark Kelly | 10/17/2014 |
| Texas | Jamie Balagia | 12/20/2014 |
| Texas | Tyler Flood | 08/15/2015 |
| Texas | Dane Johnson | 11/14/2015 |
| Texas | Deandra Grant | 11/14/2015 |
| Texas | Drew Prisner | 11/14/2015 |
| Texas | RC Pate | 11/14/2015 |
| Texas | Jay Cohen | 08/05/2016 |
| Texas | Craig Greening | 10/15/2016 |
| Texas | Jessica Joyner | 10/15/2016 |
| Texas | Andrew Deegan | 09/09/2017 |
| Texas | Carl David Ceder | 09/09/2017 |
| Texas | Erik Smith | 11/04/2017 |
| Texas | Frank Powell | 11/04/2017 |
| Texas | Rene A. Flores | 11/04/2017 |
| Texas | Sean Evans | 11/04/2017 |
| Texas | Shane Phelps | 11/04/2017 |
| Texas | Alli Cannon | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | Chris Hesse | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | Jason Sosa | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | Phil Baker | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | Lisa Gonzalez Salceda | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | Andreea Ionescu | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | Chris Denuna | 10/20/2018 |
| Texas | John Cook | 06/07/2019 |
| Texas | Jante Langan | 09/07/2019 |
| Texas | Cailey McLain | 10/24/2019 |
| Texas | John Anderson | 10/24/2019 |
| Texas | Sean Darvishi | 10/24/2019 |
| Texas | Steven W. Wright | 10/24/2019 |
| Texas | Nnamdi Ekeh | 10/24/2019 |
| Texas | Tony Sun | 10/24/2019 |
| Texas | Javier Guzman | 10/30/2021 |
| Texas | James Fletcher | 10/30/2021 |
| Texas | Rick Ramos Jr. | 10/30/2021 |
| Texas | Sanjay Biswas | 10/30/2021 |
| Texas | Brian Ayson | 10/30/2021 |
| Texas | Stephanie Morales | 10/29/2021 |
| Texas | C. Stephen Stewart | 10/29/2021 |
| Texas | Douglas Huff | 10/29/2022 |
| Texas | Flint Schneider | 10/29/2022 |
| Texas | Phillip W. Goff | 10/27/2023 |
| Texas | Joseph Ruiz | 10/27/2023 |
| Texas | Reilly Garrett | 10/27/2023 |
| Texas | Jim Butler | 10/27/2023 |
| Texas | Makenzie Zarate | 10/27/2023 |
| Texas | Adam Tisdell | 10/27/2023 |
| Texas | 10/27/2023 | |
| Texas | 06/22/2024 | |
| Texas | 10/26/2024 | |
| Texas | 10/26/2024 | |
| Utah | Matthew L. Nebeker | 11/14/2015 |
| Virginia | Jeff Martin | 06/09/2018 |
| Virginia | T. Kevin Wilson | 10/20/2018 |
| West Virginia | John D. Wooton Jr. | 10/27/2023 |
| Wisconsin | Michael Cohen | 10/17/2014 |
| Wisconsin | Nathan J. Dineen | 10/17/2014 |
| Wisconsin | Casey Hoff | 04/25/2015 |
| Wisconsin | Sarah M. Schmeiser | 04/02/2016 |
| Wyoming | R. Michael Vang | 06/13/2015 |
About the Program With more than 161,000 members, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the world’s leading sources of authoritative scientific information. The Chemistry and the Law Division (CHAL) has over 1400 members. A nonprofit organization, chartered by Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemical enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers and related professions around the globe. The ACS is dynamic and visionary, committed to “Improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.” This vision ─ developed and adopted by the ACS Board of Directors after broad consultation with the membership ─ fully complements the ACS Mission statement, which is “to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people.” Together, these two statements represent the ACS’s ultimate reason for being and provide a strategic framework for our efforts. As all of you are aware the ACS sponsors and approves the series of three courses that are offered for lawyers through Axion Analytical Labs in Chicago, IL. The ACS Education Committee has previously approved all 3 courses. Details on the 3 classes can be found here: https://forensicchromatography.com/
- The first class “Forensic Chromatography” involves DUI ethanol based analysis by HS-GC-FID.
- The second class “Forensic Drug Analysis” involves the instrumental analysis of solid drugs in their pre-consumption form using FTIR, GC-MS, Colormetrics, Microscopy, Thin Layer Chromatography, etc.
- The third class “Forensic Principles of DUID” involves the pharmacology of drugs, also driving issues in drugs, as well as instrumental analysis using GC-MS.
All three classes are hands-on classes with labs and actual sample development, testing, and data interpretation. We use the instruments in the same way, using the same matrices in the Axion Laboratory as an analyst would in a forensic laboratory. They are wonderfully educational and wholly unique. In talking with many, both inside and outside of the ACS, the instructors of these courses wanted to recognize the accomplishment and time commitment of the attorneys who truly learned the science. It had to be something beyond simply an attendance based achievement, but also recognized retention of the highly specialized knowledge. We are proud to announce that after many months of petitioning and meeting with various entities of the ACS, we achieved our goal. On May 21, 2014, there was a unanimous vote to approve the recognition. It is formally called “The ACS Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation as recognized by the Chemistry and the Law Division of the ACS” but has also been approved to be called simply having earned “The ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation” or the person as an “ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist.” These titles are collectively known as “The Designation.” Eligibility: To earn an ACS Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation as recognized by the Chemistry and the Law Division of the ACS, the prospects must complete coursework outlined below and then take and pass a proficiency test based upon what is learned in those courses. The official qualification criteria are as follows:
- You must be and remain a member in good standing with the ACS-Chemistry and the Law Division.
- You must be a lawyer in good standing with your state bar.
- You must answer questions put to you by CHAL about your bar status upon demand as well as your compliance with all terms and conditions of the designation.
- You must successfully complete the ACS Forensic Chromatography Course TWO TIMES.
- You must successfully complete the ACS Solid Drug Dose (Forensic Drug Analysis) Course.
- You must successfully complete the ACS Forensic DUID (Forensic Principles of DUID) Course.
- You must pass a proficiency and knowledge examination based upon the courses.
- You must agree that the advertising and display of any credentials will be done only in a tasteful and ethical manner per the ACS and your state bar rules and per the language of “ACS Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation as recognized by the Chemistry and the Law Division of the ACS” or shortened simply to having earned “The ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation” or referring to the person as an “ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist.”
- You must agree that that these rules and terms may change without future notice or right to appeal.
The ACS as well as Axion Laboratories, Inc. at all times complies with the spirit and the law of non-discrimination. You do not need to belong to any particular organization other than the ACS-CHAL. Each person who has earned this designation is responsible for knowing and adhering to their state’s ethical rules for advertising and agrees to hold harmless and indemnify ACS, ACS-CHAL, Axion Labs and the instructors in any litigation that may arise out of the use of the designation. In addition to earning the designation:
- Your name will be entered into the CHAL meeting minutes to officially note forever that you have earned the Designation.
- You will receive a custom made and individualized award known as the “Golden Column” that is fit for display in your office and on your website, and/or social media.
- You will receive a badge that you can use on your website and electronic signature card.
- You will receive a page on the forensic chromatography website that will include a photo of you, a brief profile, and a link to one website of your designation
About The Golden Column
The Golden Column was designed by attorneys Josh Lee, Justin McShane, and Katy Kennedy. It was manufactured by Society Awards, the same people who make many well known awards for such groups as CMT, BET, MTV, The Voice, The Golden Globes, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Academy of Country Music, and Emmy Awards just to name a few.
About Society Awards: Society Awards is the premier designer and manufacturer of awards and objects of art for the most renowned and prestigious artists, brands and organizations. We believe in a luxury experience for our clients, with approachable service backed by unmatched expertise and the drive to push creative and manufacturing boundaries. We know that when the product carries the Society Awards name, that means it’s the best. From concept to final creation, packaging, logistics, we make the magic happen. Experience our world at www.societyawards.com.