Not only is Donna Aldea, the Queens district attorney’s counsel for special litigation especially competent and therefore desirable – Barket, Marion, Epstein & Kearon LLP were thrilled to have her join their team recently – but she is especially conscientious and thorough: despite acquiring new work, she will continue to clean up and follow through on her former cases, pro bono. Therefore, her five years working as Special Litigation and 15 years as Assistant District Attorney didn’t come to an abrupt end when she made her move to Barket, but will slowly curtail as she finishes her business.
“We are pleased to have one of the most respected prosecutors in New York City join Barket Marion,” said Bruce Barket, the managing partner at Barket Marion. “Donna is an outstanding lawyer. This addition underscores our commitment to excellence and puts us in a position to provide unmatched resources for anyone facing allegations of criminal wrong doing, and anyone who is seeking appellate review of a criminal conviction.”
Amidst the boasts, he also added that “Ms. Aldea continuing to work on select cases at the Queens DA office is unconventional. We admire Ms. Aldea’s commitment to her work, recognize her unique abilities and are happy that she can join us while finishing the work she started on several of Queen’s most important cases.”
Her career for Queens, after all, was marked by a catalog of relevant and influential work, managing litigation for the U.S. Supreme Court, the New York Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the Appellate Division, Second and Fourth Departments, and the New York State Supreme Court, litigating, among other things, upon defining the point when a suspect’s indelible right to counsel attaches under New York’s Constitution and the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty statute.
“My career so far has been marked by amazing opportunities,” she said “I have learned from and worked alongside the most talented attorneys, have served in the finest DA’s office in the State, and have litigated some of the most significant and interesting cases of the past decade before the most respected judges. Joining Barket Marion is another such amazing opportunity. I look forward to being a part of this distinguished firm and helping it grow and develop.”
Grateful, it seems, for the opportunities she had, and perhaps a bit modest as to why she keeps getting them, she nevertheless received plenty of praise from the team she is leaving behind. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, “Over these past fourteen years Donna has handled some of our most difficult and challenging appellate matters. She has briefed and argued more than 250 criminal appeals and habeas corpus applications and, in the process, has made a significant contribution to our state’s criminal jurisprudence. She is among the best appellate lawyers in the state and we will very much miss her. Fortunately, she has agreed to continue to handle pro bono some of the important appellate matters upon which she has been working on our behalf.”
Whether out of a sense of industry, duty, or completeness, she will wrap up her old career pro bono, before taking the next step in her career’s journey.